If you work a 9 to 5 job and most of your day goes by sitting at your desk in front of a screen, there are high chances that you might be suffering from pain in your neck, shoulders, or back. This is usually because of a bad posture. However, there are rare cases when neck pain can be a symptom of some serious problem, so it must not be taken lightly.

In the United States, neck pain ranks in the top 5 disorders with around 10 to 20 percent of the people reporting this problem. There are multiple studies which have proved that this neck pain can adversely impact your social, mental, and physical well-being. Sometimes, the neck pain is accompanied by loss of strength and numbness in the arms/hands or an unbearable pain from the shoulder down to the arm. If you are dealing with chronic pain, consider getting in touch with Twin Cities Pain Clinic to start your path to recovery.

Many people tend to develop some kind of stiffness in their neck without any apparent reason. There are multiple reasons which can lead to this problem and we discuss most of them:

Degeneration with Age

As you age, the discs and the vertebrae in the neck wear off and degenerate. As this happens, the concerned person may experience chronic and persistent pain in the neck. There are a few medical conditions which may also lead to the breakdown of this part of your body.

If someone is suffering from problems like arthritis, inflammation, cervical fracture, pinched nerves, or cervical disc degeneration, then all these diseases lead to chronic neck pain. Spinal stenosis, osteoarthritis, cervical spondylosis, and a herniated disc are also one of the leading causes of neck pain.

Anxiety and Stress

You might have often seen people talk about holding tension in their neck and back because of prolonged stress or anxiety. If you possess the worry gene, the odds are that it’ll eventually lead to such a condition where you experience frequent neck pains.

The excess strain due to stress gets accumulated in the neck, shoulder and back muscles. If it continues for a prolonged period of time, it can eventually lead to a more serious condition and can adversely impact your overall health. It is better to get proper treatment for your anxiety or depression before it starts taking a toll on your body.

Inappropriate Sleeping Position

It is quite common to experience a tingling pain in the neck or shoulders when you wake up. The major reason behind this kind of pain is a bad sleeping position where your neck isn’t resting well.

Apart from your particular sleeping posture, the number of pillows used while sleeping and the firmness of the mattress can also lead to neck pain. You must make sure that your head is getting the right support and the neck is well-aligned so that you don’t have to wake up with a sore neck.

Whiplash or an Injury

Whiplash is a word used to describe a neck injury in which your head jolts forward and back to its place very quickly. It usually occurs during an accident when the body is subjected to a lot of stress and friction. However, it is not limited to this because you can even experience it during sporting activities or sudden movements.

Even a slight blow to the neck in any of the above-mentioned circumstances can ultimately lead to severe pain in the neck. Brachial plexus is a collection of nerves which connect the spinal cord to the neck and if this area experiences an injury, it can also affect the neck.

Undefined Neck Pain

There are a few cases in which it is difficult to identify the exact causes leading to neck pain. If the reason remains unidentified then it can be incurred that a minor sprain or tear in the muscle is leading to the problem. Posture can also play a very crucial role in this, especially if you spend your entire day at work with your head bent forward.

A few rare causes of neck inflammation include cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, infections, bone disorders, and some serious kind of damage to the nerves, spinal cord, or vertebrae.

Conclusion

Neck pain varies from being moderate to chronic, thus, its treatment heavily relies on its intensity. For mild pain, you can attend to the symptoms at home whereas a severe pain will require proper neck pain treatment from a medical professional.

It is quite possible that you may wish to try the home remedies prior to seeking professional medical help. Irrespective of the intensity of the pain, you must not ignore it. Even slight pain, when left unattended can result in a bigger problem.

If you have a minor tingling, make sure that you take the proper measures to control it because nothing is more important than your health and well-being.