Neck Pain: Symptoms, causes and relief strategies - including pillow advice
Neck pain, medically termed cervicalgia, is a common affliction that disrupts daily life and hinders productivity. Whether it's a dull, persistent ache or a sharp, stabbing pain, the effects can be debilitating. We spend hours hunched over screens or carrying heavy loads in today’s fast-paced world, so it’s no surprise that neck pain has become increasingly prevalent.
But what exactly causes this discomfort? And more importantly, how can you find relief? In this blog, we delve into the intricacies of neck pain, exploring its various causes, symptoms, and effective strategies for alleviating its grip on your life.
Affecting the cervical spine's muscles, you might have axial neck pain which is felt mostly in your neck, or radicular neck pain - a pain that shoots into other areas, such as your shoulders or arms. The symptoms may range from mild stiffness to severe pain and limited mobility, often exacerbated by prolonged sitting, repetitive motions, or stress. Other symptoms can include headaches and numbness/tingling in your shoulders, arms and hands.
The pain can last from days to weeks (acute), or it can last much longer (chronic). Many different factors can cause neck pain, including poor posture, muscle strain, injury, mental stress, and degenerative diseases like osteoarthritis or herniated discs, as well as underlying medical conditions such as meningitis or fibromyalgia.
Although neck pain can interfere with your daily activities and reduce your quality of life, fortunately most causes of neck pain aren’t serious and improve with conservative treatments, like pain medicine, exercise and stress management. Treatment typically involves rest, gentle stretching, heat or ice therapy, over-the-counter pain relievers, physical therapy, and in severe cases, prescription medication, steroid injections or surgery.
Chiropractic care offers non-invasive solutions for neck pain, aiming to alleviate pain, restore function, and prevent recurrence. Through personalised treatment plans, Chiropractors use manual adjustments to realign the spine, reducing tension and improving mobility in the neck. They may also employ techniques like soft tissue therapy and ergonomic advice to address underlying causes.
Proper posture and ergonomic practices can aid in prevention, specifically finding a pillow that supports your neck properly and transforms your sleep. We all know that feeling of waking up with neck pain!
Without doubt, orthopaedic pillows are top of the list when it comes to providing contoured personalised support and helping with a neutral spinal alignment for neck pain relief as they contour to the unique shape of your head and neck, however did you know that selecting a pillow based on your sleep position is critical for neck pain relief?
Back sleepers need medium-loft support with a height typically between 3 and 5 inches, which holds the head at the correct angle relative to the shoulders, promoting proper spinal alignment. To stop the head from tilting too far back or forward (a common cause of pain for back sleeper), a medium-firm pillow should be chosen. An example of this would be the Harley Orthopaedic Neck Support Pillow.
Side sleepers require a higher loft and firmness for alignment to provide the necessary support to prevent the neck from bending at an awkward angle, such as the Simba Hybrid Firm Pillow.
Stomach sleepers rely on a low-loft pillow to avoid upward bending of the neck, and a soft pillow that allows the head to rest in a neutral position can significantly reduce the risk of waking up with neck pain.
Customisable and adjustable pillows, with features such as removable fillings and zoned support, go even further with regards to personalised comfort, pressure relief and neck alignment. And alternatives to memory foam, like viscoelastic foam, latex and buckwheat pillows, provide additional options for temperature neutrality and support.
When other treatments have not been successful, Prolozone can be recommended. Prolozone is a more advanced form of prolotherapy - injecting a regenerative solution around the tendons and ligaments to provide a direct supply of what is needed to heal and provide pain relief. Prolozone not only incorporates the ingredients for prolotherapy, namely local anaesthetic and dextrose, but it also adds some homeopathic anti-inflammatories and an extremely powerful component: Medical Ozone Gas.
This combination has a substantial effect on surrounding tissue inflammation, as the effects of ozone not only block inflammatory chemicals, but also increase the healing of the tissue by re-oxygenating it. Damaged tissues have a low oxygen uptake, which further slows their healing capacity, and Prolozone breaks that cycle - rejuvenating the healing process.
In conclusion, addressing neck pain requires a multifaceted approach encompassing lifestyle adjustments, ergonomic options and possibly medical interventions. By prioritising self-care, seeking professional advice and implementing appropriate measures, you can mitigate discomfort and enhance your overall well-being, fostering a life of greater comfort and mobility.
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/neck-pain-and-stiff-neck/
https://www.leighinjectionclinic.co.uk/
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/symptoms/21179-neck-pain
https://www.medicalsupplies.co.uk/harley-original-contour-orthopaedic-pillow-for-neck-pain.html
https://simbasleep.com/products/simba-firm-hybrid-pillow