Neck Injury

Any neck injury, such as whiplash should be fully evaluated by a health care provider.

In general, injuries involving soft tissues, are similar to a cut on your finger. When a tissue, such as a muscle, is involved in a neck injury, it tears and bleeds. When the bleeding stops a scab is formed. After the scab falls off a scar is left. Scar tissue is weaker, less elastic and more pain sensitive than normal tissue.

During the initial tear of a muscle in a neck injury, there is inflammation present often for the first few days, so it is important not to use heat for neck pain relief which would cause more inflammation. Cold applications are appropriate until any swelling and inflammation is gone along with a soft type of neck brace to help limit further tearing and prevent sudden temperature changes.

It is important to remember that muscles will start to weaken just a few days after motion is restricted. It is important to minmize inflammation so that motion can be restored thus minimizing scar tissue formation and muscle imbalance to limit chronic neck pain.

Causes of Neck Pain

There are many causes of neck pain. While most are related to posture and muscle strain, there are some areas of concern that one should be aware.

Initially, the history can shed some light on neck pain and it's causes. A patient's occupation, posture habits, onset of pain, charcter of pain and stress at work and home should be noted. Associated symptoms, such as gait or bladder dysfunction should be noted as certain symptom groups can indicate particular disease processes.

Acute pain (recent onset) with limited motion may, especially in a younger person, is likely to follow trauma or a persistant new activity. Neck muscles are usually tender.

Middle age persons with neck pain may present persisting or recurring pain, which is sometimes associated by tingling in the arms or fingers and may even display chest pain from an affected C6 nerve root, sometimes called cervical angina. These symptoms, without a history of trauma, is suggestive of degenerative disc disease, sometimes called arthritis or cervical spondylosis.

Neck Pain and Computer Use

For people who spend a great deal of time using computers, neck pain is a common problem. By computer, we include desktop, laptop, notebook personal computers, video display units and terminals, to include the use of keyboards and associated pointing devices like a mouse or trackball. Neck pain is pain experienced anywhere from the base of the skull at ear level to the upper part of the back or shoulders.

There has been great technological advances in computers along with an industrial shift to a more service oriented economy. This has led to more sedentary jobs as the downsizing of the number of employees is used to minimize losses in corporate profits and resulting increased demands in productivity for those who remain with a company and an increase in sick leave resulting from neck pain. This means more people use computers for work and recreation and we must find better ways of coping with neck pain associated with extended use of computers.

The computer helps a company minimize inefficiencies in the workplace by eliminating wasteful tasks as office workers no longer need to leave the desk to retrieve mail, copy or file documents. This streamlining and increase in productivity through elimination of inefficiencies related to specific tasks has some unfortunate consequences for the worker; there is a reduction in the number of breaks available from repetitive or static job tasks which help to restore health.

Chronic neck pain patients use the health care system twice as often as the rest of the population. The estimated cost associated with work related musculoskeletal problems is projected to be between $45 and $54 billion annually.

Headaches

Headaches are a common problem in todays society and in the computer era. Headaches have increased in frequency and many adults in the United States have at least one bad headache every month. In a survey of more than 1 million individuals in the general population, headaches were the most frequent current physical complaint among men and women. In a report of lifetime headache histories, 41% of men and 50% of women experienced severe headaches that rendered them unable to work.

For most people, headaches get better with rest and over-the-counter medications, however, for others, headaches occur so frequently or are so severe that they interfere with the normal activities of daily life.

There are many types of headaches, but the three most common are migraine headaches, tension headaches and neck related headaches (cervicogenic).

Whiplash Neck Injury

Common symptoms of whiplash injury are neck pain from mild muscle strain or minor tearing of muscles and/or ligaments. In more severe cases, this type of neck injury may include nerve damage, disc damage, and in the most severe cases ruptures of ligaments in the neck and fractures of the neck bones. Minor whiplash neck injuries are usually associated with pain and limited motion of the head and neck. These symptoms are usually temporary, but occasionally they may persist and include headaches, dizziness, and tingling in the arms indicating pain may be more than a minor neck strain or sprain.