Treatment For Your Acute Neck Pain

How To Ease The Pain of Acute Neck Pain In San Diego Homeowners

Acute neck pain is defined as any neck pain that has lasted less than three months. This kind of neck pain is abrupt, intense pain that can radiate to the head, shoulders, arms, or hands. Complete resolution of acute neck pain is not as common as previously reported, and the efficacy of conservative therapies such as physical therapy and exercise attenuates with time.

Acute neck pain is usually described as a sudden locking while turning the head or following sustained periods of looking up or down. Neck pain is anecdotally thought to carry a favourable prognosis. This neck pain is very common and usually nothing to worry about. One serious type of acute neck pain is whiplash – the sudden jarring motion of your head going backwards and forward. Although most acute neck pain is a relatively common ailment that usually resolves within a couple of weeks, some neck pain can persist and may be also present in the shoulder or arm.

Acute Neck Pain

Most episodes of acute neck pain are due to a muscle strain or other soft tissue sprain (ligaments, tendons). This type of injury can be caused by a sudden force (such as whiplash) resulting from a car accident, or from straining the neck (such as a stiff neck from sleeping in the wrong position, or a strain from carrying a heavy suitcase).

Most minor injuries to the ligaments, tendons and muscles in the neck usually heal with time (a couple of days or weeks) because these soft tissues have a good blood supply to bring the necessary nutrients and proteins for healing to take place. Nonsurgical care, such as ice and/or heat, medications, physical therapy, and/or chiropractic or osteopathic manipulations can help alleviate the painful condition while it is healing.  See more here.

Acute neck pain is usually caused by common day-to-day activities such as poor posture while sitting; sitting at a desk all day without taking breaks; sleeping in a wrong position; looking at a TV or computer monitor.

Acute Neck pain: symptoms and causes

Symptoms of neck pain

Muscle spasm: A spasm is a sudden, powerful, involuntary contraction of muscles. The muscles feel painful, stiff and knotted. If you have neck muscle spasms, you may not be able to move your neck — sometimes people call it a crick in the neck. Your doctor or physiotherapist may call it acute torticollis or wry neck.

Common causes of neck pain

Whiplash: This commonly follows a car accident in which the person’s car is hit from behind while it is stationary or slowing down. The person’s head is first thrown backwards and then when their body stops moving, the head is thrust forward. This type of injury can strain your neck muscles and cause ligaments in the neck to stretch or tear. Read more here.

Most studies of early treatment of acute neck pain are in patients with whiplash injury, and it is unclear whether the data can be generalised to non-traumatic causes.

Treatment Acute (short-term) neck pain

Most neck pain is caused by activities that involve repeated or prolonged movements of the neck. Nonsurgical treatment works well on this type of pain. Most cases of neck pain caused by activities get better in 4 to 6 weeks.

Home treatment includes applying heat or ice, taking it easy but staying as active as you can, and using over-the-counter pain relievers. For severe pain or muscle spasm, your doctor may prescribe stronger medicines.

Manual therapy, including massage, mobilization, and manipulation, can help some neck pain. See a physical therapist, chiropractor, or osteopathic doctor for this type of care and to learn stretching and strengthening exercises that you can do at home. Read full article here.

Acute Neck Pain Will Resolve With Early Treatment

Most acute of acute neck pain are easily managed and patients can expect significant improvement within a few days and a week is usually sufficient to complete treatment. Acute neck pain is abrupt, intense pain that subsides after a period of days or weeks. Neck pain can often be treated with rest, heat or ice therapy, and over-the-counter pain relief medication.

The ‘severe’ headaches of the first few days and the acute neck pain have subsided. Acute neck pain can come on suddenly and prevent you from managing your normal daily activities. Acute neck pain can be treated effectively with Chiropractic Care, give us a call for an appointment @ (619) 831-8777. Early treatment gives you a better chance of avoiding acute neck pain.

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