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Neck and back

"Neck and back pain is a common complaint and can be linked to shoulder, arm and head pain."
-Dr Scott McEvoy, Chiropractor

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What is neck and back pain?

Your neck is a very mobile area of your body, composed of seven bones and multiple muscle groups that begin at the top of your back and go up to your head.  Your upper back is the foundation for good, safe neck movement.  Think of it like the foundations of your house; you need a solid foundation to have a safe, stable home.  When you have an injury, pain or stiffness in your neck or upper back, it is essential to examine both these areas, as the cause may be either region.  In more severe cases, you can experience pins and needles, numbness, headaches or a burning sensation.  Most of the time, the pain and stiffness you are experiencing is due to dysfunction in the joints, muscles and ligaments in your neck and upper back.  This may be due to poor posture or overuse.  In more severe cases, your pain can be due to disc or nerve compression damage. This pain may radiate to your arm, back or head and is usually an intense, sharp pain.          

Middle aged male sitting at an office desk holding the back of his neck with both hands. He is resting his arms on the desk at his elbows with hands behind neck. He has a laptop in front of him. Reading glasses are on the desk
Aging
A young female is sitting on her lounge crossed legged facing the side arm rest. She is wearing blue jeans and a stripe brown and cream jumper. She has bookshelves behind her and a large window. She has a laptop computer in front of her. She is sitting holding her neck with a look of discomfort. She is bending her neck to the left as she sits.
Poor Posture
A young female sitting at her kitchen table working on a laptop. She has nek pain and is streching her neck to the left. She has light brown hair and is wearing a light grey t-shirt.
Overuse Strain

Types of neck and back injuries

Overuse strain & Mental Stress

Straining the muscles used in back and neck movement occurs through overuse, such as from long hours hunched over your computer.  Simple activities such as reading, grinding teeth or carrying your handbag can trigger muscle strains.  Leading you to neck and back pain and stiffness.  Similarly, increased mental stress or anxiety will cause tightness and pain in your neck and back muscles.  This tightness can become chronic leading to headaches or arm symptoms.

Injury from trauma

Your neck is very susceptible to trauma.  Trauma could be as simple as a sneeze or cough through to severe trauma from a car accident.  The injury occurs due to a sudden force in one direction, followed by a rebound in the opposite direction.  This leads to an overstretching of the muscles, ligaments, joints and nerves causing pain and stiffness.

Spinal Balance
 
Numerous conditions can affect your spinal balance.   Spinal balance is simply that your centre of gravity is occurring correctly.  Poor posture, sleeping position, being overweight or having a weak core and postural muscles can lead to pain and stiffness.  
Poor posture
 
Posture has a significant effect on your back and neck.  Poor posture results in increased stress on your joints, ligaments and muscles from the position you hold your body in during any activity.  Poor posture can occur even when you are at rest or sleeping.  These days hours spent looking down at a tablet or phone can cause a neck strain.  Likewise, running technique or your gym technique can have significant effects on your posture.  Any incorrect movement patterns can lead to injury over time.       

Aging

Degenerative changes due to conditions such as degenerative joint disease, osteoarthritis and spinal stenosis (narrowing of the nerve spaces) are common causes of neck and back pain.  Over time, the stresses and activities of life cause wear and tear on your body, leading to a loss of cartilage between your bones.  Your body attempts to fix this by forming bone spurs which lead to pain.  Maintaining good body flexibility and strength throughout life is an excellent way to prevent degeneration.

Herniated Disc

Injury to a neck or back disc can cause neck or back pain, shoulder pain, radiating arm pain, tingling or numbness to the hand or weakness in the arm/s.  The type of pain you will feel with a disc injury can vary depending on the severity of the damage.  You may have a deep, dull aching pain through to severe, sharp pain.  Your pain may even progress to a burning sensation.  It is important to seek diagnosis and care immediately with any of these symptoms.      

Cervical Spinal Stenosis

Stenosis occurs when there is a narrowing of the space in the spinal canal causing pressure on the spinal cord or of the space in the spinal foramen causing pressure on the spinal nerves. This may be a result of bone spurring, disc bulging, ligament thickening, spinal instability, spinal tumours, among other things. Symptoms often include nerve pain (often described as radiating and burning), muscle weakness, numbness and tingling due to nerve compression and subsequent deterioration of nerve supply. 

Middle aged African American man sitting on a grey lounge holding the back of his neck. He is wearing blue jeans and a blue and white checked shirt. He has a pained looked on his face. Auto related accidents can cause disc pain like whiplash.
Disc Injury. You may suffer this after auto-related accidents

How to Fix Neck and Back Injuries?

We are experienced in treating acute and chronic neck and back pain at Five Dock Osteopathic and Chiropractic. Our approach is to go to the root cause of the problem.

 
Acute Neck and Back Pain Treatment
 
Treating acute neck and back pain is something we do plenty of.  After diagnosing the root cause of your pain, the first step is always to restore any loss in movement.  This is the key to a quick decrease in your pain.  We achieved this through targeted soft tissue massage and mobilisations of the critical muscle and joint groups.  Our many years of experience have taught us that the position you are treated in dramatically affects your outcome.  Lying down is not always the best approach to start with acute pain.  We will assess your symptoms and modify your treatment to decrease discomfort and maximise your result.  
 
Chronic Neck and Back Pain Treatment
 
Chronic neck and back pain is pain that lasts longer than three months. Like all chronic pain, chronic neck and back pain causes a change in your brain (alteration of the sensory processing by the brain leading to amplification of pain).  Simply put, your brain increases the pain you feel.  Five Dock Osteopathic and Chiropractic has found that the key to fixing such pain is improved neck movement and retraining your spinal stability.  This, in turn, retrains your brain, so it no longer amplifies pain.  Our approach will improve your sense of well-being by decreasing the pain you feel.  
 

Neck and Back Pain Treatment Methods

  • We have several unique methods for treating all kinds of neck and back pain:
     
    • To effectively treat neck and back pain, you must treat both areas simultaneously.  Firstly we will improve your mobility through targeted soft tissue massage and stretching.  We get great results by combining these two treatment methods.  We also address any underlying joint restrictions through gentle adjustments.  Our adjustments are all performed with traction, making them gentle on your body. 
     
    • Long-term care of your neck and back is essential.  We approach this through developing good spinal and shoulder blade mobility and stability.  Neck, back and shoulder blade (scapula) stability is achieved through carefully tailored exercises that guarantee long-term change. 
    • We not only fix you. We equip you with the knowledge and skills to protect your neck and back throughout every stage of life. 

What Makes Our Treatment Of Neck and Back Pain Unique

We have our unique style of massage developed to complement our adjustments. We are experts at tracing the cause of neck and back pain to its source. Our treatment includes the front of the body (neck, chest, shoulder and arm muscles) and back (cervical spine, scapula, shoulder and arm muscles). Our approach focuses on you as a whole person, not only a region in isolation. This brings you short-term relief from pain and lasting improvements to your health and well-being. Our adjustments all use traction, making them smooth and gentle on your body. We work with you to devise a personalised functional exercise plan. Our exercise will stretch and strengthen your neck and back and build stability.  Learn more from our latest blogs about neck pain.

What type of neck and back pain do you have?

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Five Dock Osteopathic & Chiropractic is located in Canada Bay, in Sydney’s Inner West. Servicing suburbs including Burwood, Croydon, Drummoyne, Five Dock, Haberfield, Concord, Abbotsford, Chiswick, Leichhardt, Wareemba, Russell Lea, Summer Hill, Strathfield.

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212 Great North Road, Five Dock, NSW 2046

Phone: 02 9712 1736

Fax      : 02 9712 1736

Email  : [email protected]

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