Health blog Category: neck
Back or Neck Pain?
When you have an ache or pain it can leave you scratching your head as to where the pain is truly coming from. Just because it hurts in that part of your leg or arm, doesn’t mean that is where the problem is coming from. Is it a bulging disc, muscle strain or did you just over do it?
Being a physical therapist is much like being a mechanic for the body. Where is that pain coming from, what type of pain is it, are you out of alignment, what are you not able to do that you want to get back to, how is your body moving incorrectly, etc.?
Here’s What to Do If Surgery Is Coming Up!
Pre-op physical therapy can help prepare you for what is going to happen. It will help you establish your goals before and after surgery as well as determine what your expectations are.
What to expect?
- Examination to set a plan of care and determine a baseline
- Set goals for before and after surgery
- Plan and education of post op and recovery
- Progression of range of motion and strength to improve overall function
- Use of any assistive device currently using or that may be needed after surgery
- How to perform transfers and get around if weight bearing status will be different after surgery
The importance of exercises prior to surgery:
- Being able to set and target muscles around the surgical site before surgery will improve ability to perform after surgery
- Strengthen above and below the surgical area
- Range of motion of the area to enhance mobility
Why should you come to physical therapy before surgery?
Read full blogCommon Neck Injuries
Your neck is a vital yet vulnerable part of your body due to its ability to move in many directions while holding the weight of your head (average wt 10 lbs). While neck pain (cervical spine) is not as commonly treated as low back pain (lumber spine) millions of people will experience it at some point in there lives. While the majority of everyday neck pain and stiffness will alleviate over time without surgery it is important to understand neck pain and causes.
Read full blogCan Stress Cause Neck Pain?
Many people experience neck pain but aren’t sure what is causing their pain. They may not recall changing anything in their routine or moving differently that could cause them to be in pain. One source that could be to blame is stress. There are many stressful influencers in our life right now. There are many uncertainties that can cause your stress levels to be higher than usual. Could stress really be causing me to physically hurt?
Read full blogHow Your Desk is Set Up, Could be the Reason For Your Discomfort
Do you ever experience pain or discomfort while working at your desk? Do you experience headaches, eye strain, shoulder, neck or back pain while sitting at your workstation? If you answered yes, then your office may have some shaping up to do.
So what exactly is ergonomics?
Ergonomics is defined as “an applied science concerned with designing and arranging items people use so that people and things interact most efficiently.” So, how do we apply ergonomics to our everyday workplace settings?
Common Causes of Neck Pain and What You Need To Do About It
Neck pain can present itself in many different ways. You may first notice pain/tightness when turning your head in certain directions. Then it may progress to where you start to lose range of motion. Range of motion loss is often first seen when driving and it becomes difficult to look over shoulder when changing lanes. Sometimes neck pain can manifest itself in tension headaches. You may feel the headaches on the top of your head and even into your forehead.
Read full blogNo More Aching Neck
‘Pain in the neck’ is a common neck problem complaint. As a society, our posture has continued to decline as the use of phones and computers has increased. Poor posture can lead to many neck injuries. Think back to the times when you have fallen asleep in an awkward position and had the unexpected pleasure of waking up to a “crick in your neck.” You know when you have an aching neck it makes it very difficult to turn your head to check your blind spots when driving, bend your neck forward to check your cell phone, or enjoy knitting or crocheting without discomfort or pain.
Read full blogHeadaches – Poor Posture May Be To Blame
Poor posture may be causing us headaches, discomfort, and stiffness. Headaches can be debilitating and prevent us from playing with our children, having dinner with our families, and completing our daily tasks such as doing the dishes or laundry.
How is your posture? Many of us have sedentary jobs at a desk and/or use mobile technology for day-to-day communications. Think about how you sit when you do these things. It’s easy for us to slip into a poor posture when we’re mindlessly reading emails or sending texts. If our posture issues are not addressed, it can contribute to neck pain, stiffness, nagging headaches, trouble standing up and other painful issues that will prevent us from being able to make that concert with friends or a family gathering. It may even keep us home and unable to go to work and will, most likely, continue to recur.
Morning commute have you sitting in traffic…
Neck pain and tightness is something that we all may experience from time to time for different reasons. However, chronic pain or tightness often has a deeper issue than just sleeping wrong one night. Poor posture and muscular weakness is often the culprit for neck issues. We spend so much time with our heads down and shoulders rounded while using our phones, shoulders hunched while driving or doing daily activities, and the like, that we don’t even notice we’re training our body to give us issues.
Read full blogFour Reasons There Might Be Upper Body Discomfort
Pain in the neck is a common neck problem complaint. As a society, our posture has continued to decline as the use of phones and computers has increased. Poor posture can lead to many neck injuries which can make turning our heads to check our blind spots when driving and watching our family members play sports difficult. Bending our heads forward when looking at our phones becomes challenging.
What happens if you put off addressing the source of your neck pain? It gets much worse and limits you even further from possibly being able to get a good night’s sleep, clean the house, or cook the family dinner. The good news is physical therapy can address many of these ‘pain in the neck’ problems and you can avoid exacerbating the issue.