Neck Pain
Hillside Health
Neck Pain Relief St George Utah
Can’t Get Rid of Your Pain?
Neck pain is a prevalent issue that many people struggle with. It can be due to various factors, ranging from poor posture to underlying health conditions. However, you don’t have to bear this burden alone. There are numerous effective strategies that can assist with neck pain relief in St George.
“Approximately 80% of people experience neck pain during their lifetime, and 20% to 50% deal with it annually”
HARVARDEDU
Neck Pain Causes
Before we delve into treatment options for neck pain relief in St George, it’s crucial to understand some of the primary causes of neck pain, which include:
Poor Posture
Prolonged periods of poor posture, especially during work or while using electronic devices, can contribute to neck pain. The complications of poor posture include back pain, spinal dysfunction, joint degeneration, rounded shoulders and a potbelly. Suggestions to improve your posture include regular exercise and stretching, ergonomic furniture and paying attention to the way your body feels.
Injury
Trauma, such as whiplash from a car accident or a sporting injury, can result in neck pain. Pain from a motor vehicle injury may be caused by tears in muscles or injuries to the joints between vertebrae. Other causes of pain are ligament rupture or damage to a disc.
Pinched Nerves
Pinches nerves can cause pain throughout the body, treating these nerves can benefit your entire body.
Aging
As you age, natural wear and tear can cause parts of your cervical spine to deteriorate, or degenerate, causing pain. Degenerative conditions such as osteoarthritis and spinal stenosis can lead to neck pain.
Whiplash
Whiplash can have lasting effects on the body. Based on the severity of the accident, whiplash can be temporary or last for years. We can alleviate the continuous pain in St George.
Additional Causes of Neck Pain
Neck pain can stem from a wide variety of causes. One of the most common sources is muscle strain and tension, often resulting from activities and behaviors such as poor posture, working at a desk for too long without changing position, sleeping with your neck in a bad position, or jerking the neck during exercise. Muscle strains can cause persistent discomfort and may also be accompanied by muscle spasms, causing a significant amount of pain.
Options for Neck Pain Relief in St. George Utah
Treatment Options For Neck Pain St George
How do you know if the pain you experience warrants pain management consideration? Here are six signs we recommend you look out for:
Physical Therapy
A physical therapy (PT) program may include ultrasound treatments, therapeutic massage, and exercises to improve range of motion, flexibility, and strength in your neck and shoulders. Starting with physical therapy as a conservative treatment approach. PT is also a valuable component of rehabilitation following treatments for conditions or injuries that caused your neck pain.
Epidural Steroid Injections
Used to relieve pain in the neck, shoulders, and arms caused by compressed nerve(s) in the cervical spine, epidural steroid injections are delivered to the epidural space surrounding your spinal cord in the area of the inflamed and irritated nerve(s). These injections contain a steroid to reduce inflammation and an anesthetic that temporarily blocks the nerve signals transmitting the pain message to your brain.
Facet Joint Injections
Facet joints act as connectors between the bones in your spine. Those in the cervical spine allow your neck to bend and twist but help keep it from moving too far in any direction. Nerve roots pass through the facet joints as they travel from the spinal cord to your head, arms, and other areas. Like those contained in epidural steroid injections, the medications used for these injections reduce inflammation and temporarily control pain.
Cervical Radio Frequency Ablation
Radiofrequency ablation is a relatively painless treatment that uses heat produced by radio waves to disrupt and prevent pain-related nerve signals from reaching the brain. The results are not permanent, but pain relief is typically much longer than expected with anesthetic nerve blocks, from nine months to two years.
Spinal Cord Stimulation
Clinically proven to provide drug-free pain relief without discomfort, spinal cord stimulation blocks painful nerve signals with a controlled electrical current. First introduced in the late 1960s, spinal cord stimulation devices have undergone significant improvements in recent years. These technological advances allow Dr. Michels to customize treatment settings for better control of your chronic neck pain.
Surgical Options
In some cases of neck pain, you may need to seek surgical options. Surgery may be necessary if you experience persistent pain or if you also experience numbness, weakness or pain in your hands, arms or shoulders. In these situations, your doctor may recommend any of the following surgeries: 1. Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion 2. Artificial Disc Replacement 3. Laminectomy 4. Laminoplasty 5. Foraminotomy
Caring for Southern Utah, One Patient at a Time
Reach out today to get the best pain management relief available!
By utilizing tremendous experience, and the most up-to-date technology we provide first-class pain management services in southern Utah.
We didn’t stumble into the business of helping people relieve their pain. We’ve experienced it, our family members have experienced it, and so many people we love have experienced pain that just doesn’t go away – so we decided to do something about it. Do you know how many people visit the ER with pain issues only to get turned away? Not anymore, we’re here to help.
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Neck Pain help in St George
Learn how we diagnose and treat neck pain - to give you a new lease on life
Diagnosing Neck Pain in St George
Medical History:
We usually start by inquiring about past neck traumas that may have resulted in conditions like whiplash or a herniated disc. We may also ask about your job or any other activities that might place strain on your neck. We’ll delve into details about your pain, such as when it began, its location, duration, and intensity.
Physical Assessment:
Hillside Health will evaluate your head and neck alignment and monitor the range of motion of your neck during movement. By physically examining your neck and its supporting muscles, they can identify areas of tenderness or strain.
While imaging tests are generally not needed to pinpoint the cause of neck pain, they may be employed if a serious injury is suspected or if severe pain persists without improvement.
X-rays:
These can help Hillside Health identify any bone or soft tissue irregularities that might be causing your neck pain. An X-ray can highlight issues such as cervical misalignment, fractures, slipped discs, and arthritis.
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI):
An MRI, might be utilized to detect problems with your spinal cord, nerves, bone marrow, and soft tissues. It can identify a displaced disk, signs of infection, and masses like cysts or tumors which might be causing neck pain.
Computed Tomography (CT) Scan:
If an MRI is not accessible or possible, Hillside Health might use a CT scan instead. It can reveal bone spurs and signs of bone deterioration.
Neck pain relief help in St George Utah
80%
Of people experience neck pain related issues.
5Years
Experience working as a pain management solution.
Looking Deeper at the Causes of Neck Pain:
Diseases such as arthritis, osteoporosis, and some cancers can also cause neck pain. For example, cervical spondylosis, also known as neck arthritis, involves changes in the bones, discs, and joints of the neck caused by the wear-and-tear of aging. In this condition, discs in the neck can degenerate over time, leading to stiffness and pain. Similarly, osteoporosis weakens bones and can lead to fractures that cause pain. Certain cancers may also invade bones or compress nerves in the neck, resulting in pain.
Finally, injuries and accidents can significantly contribute to neck pain. Automobile accidents, for instance, can lead to whiplash, a neck injury due to forceful, rapid back-and-forth movement of the neck, like the cracking of a whip. This sort of injury can damage the neck’s soft tissues, leading to pain that may persist for a lengthy period after the accident. Neck pain can also result from falls or sports injuries that affect the neck area. These sorts of injuries might strain or sprain the neck’s muscles and ligaments, or even cause fractures of the cervical vertebrae.