Neck pain can make even the simplest of movements that involve the neck, back, shoulders, head, and arms excruciatingly difficult. It can cause headaches and make it difficult to use your body. Immobility caused by neck pain can lead to weakening and degeneration of muscles over time.
If you are looking for safe and effective neck pain treatment in Greenville, SC, you can always count on Carolina Spine & Pain. We strive to deliver the best possible care and use treatments and procedures aimed at improving our patients’ quality of life.
Call our Greenville pain clinic today at 864-535-0144 to set up your appointment!
What Is Neck Pain?
Neck pain refers to pain in or around the spine below the head, known as the cervical spine. Neck pain is a common symptom of many different types of injuries as well as medical conditions.
Neck pain can be axial, which means that it is mostly felt in the neck, or radicular, which means that the pain shoots into other areas such as the arms or shoulders. It can also be acute, which means that it lasts from a few days up to 6 weeks, or chronic, which means that it lasts longer than 3 months to several years.
Neck pain can interfere with your daily activity and reduce your quality of life if left untreated for too long. That’s why we always recommend calling Carolina Spine & Pain at 864-535-0144 to set up an appointment for neck pain treatment in Greenville, SC.
What Are Some of the Common Symptoms of Neck Pain?
Neck pain typically involves one or more of the following signs and symptoms:
Headaches
Irritation in the neck can affect nerves and muscles connected to the head. Because of this, people with neck pain commonly experience headaches too.
Radicular Pain
The pain can radiate along a nerve from your neck into the arm and shoulder. Its intensity may vary and the nerve pain may feel like it is searing or burning.
Trouble Lifting or Gripping Objects
The problem can happen if the weakness or numbness goes into the fingers or arms.
Cervical Radiculopathy
You can experience neurological deficits, such as problems with strength, sensation, or reflexes in the arms due to compression of the nerve root. Cervical radiculopathy can also be accompanied by radicular pain.
General Soreness
It is a type of discomfort typically felt in a broader region or area of the neck and is described as achy or tender, but not sharp.
Sharp Pain
The pain may be localized to a single spot and may feel like it is stinging or stabbing. The pain typically occurs in the lower neck.
Stiff Neck
It refers to soreness and difficulty moving the neck, especially when trying to turn the head from side to side.
If the symptoms of neck pain progress, sleeping can become difficult. Neck pain can also interfere with other daily activities such as going to work, getting dressed, or any activity that involves turning the head, such as driving.
If you are experiencing any of the symptoms of neck pain, get in touch with us at Carolina Spine & Pain in Greenville, SC via phone at 864-535-0144 to schedule a consultation or learn more about our services.
What Are Some of the Common Causes of Neck Pain?
Neck pain can be caused by many different medical issues and injuries. Conditions likely to cause neck pain include:
Injury
Whiplash occurs from the forceful back-and-forth motion of the neck and can cause soreness and pain. Car accidents and other kinds of trauma can affect the ligaments, muscles, discs, nerve roots, and vertebral joints in the spinal cord in the neck.
Aging
Degenerative conditions such as spinal stenosis (narrowing of the spaces in the spine) and osteoarthritis (wearing down of cartilage in joints) can cause neck pain as you age. Over time, motion and stress can lead to spinal disc degeneration, which can cause a pinched nerve or herniated disc.
Physical Strain
The overuse of neck muscles during strenuous activities or repetitive motion can lead to pain and stiffness.
Mental Stress
Tightening of the neck muscles caused by stress often leads to stiffness of the neck and neck pain.
Conditions Affecting Spinal Balance
Being overweight, poor posture, and weak abdominal muscles can all affect spine posture and contribute to neck pain.
Growths & Other Health Conditions
In some rare cases, masses such as cysts, tumors, and bone spurs may cause neck pain. Health conditions that can cause neck pain include cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, etc.
What Are Some of the Treatments Available at Carolina Spine & Pain for Neck Pain?
The type of treatment you need will depend on whether the neck pain was caused by an injury, another medical condition, or activities. Home remedies are usually the best way to manage chronic neck pain. If the pain persists, more aggressive treatments may be required, such as:
Medication
Taking both prescription and over-the-counter medication can help manage neck pain. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen (Motrin or Advil) and naproxen (Naprosyn, Aleve) are usually the first line of treatment when it comes to neck pain. Prescription medications such as nerve pain medications and muscle relaxants are also used, especially for acute pain.
Nerve Blocks
Nerve blocks or neural blockages are a method of producing anesthesia, which is a loss of feeling used for controlling or preventing pain. Nerve blocks can be used as the sole form of pain relief or combined with a different type of anesthetic. Nerve blocks are of two main types: surgical and nonsurgical.
Surgical nerve blocks involve the deliberate cutting or destroying of specific nerves thus preventing them from sending out impulses to the central nervous system. Surgical nerve blocks may be permanent.
Non-surgical nerve blocks, on the other hand, involve injecting medication around a specific nerve or bundle of nerves. The medication prevents the nerve impulses from reaching the central nervous system and thus making you feel pain. Instead, that part of the body feels numb, or you may feel a “pins and needles” sensation.
Radiofrequency Ablation
Radiofrequency ablation is a relatively painless treatment that uses the heat generated by radio waves to prevent pain-related nerve signals from reaching the brain. The results might not be permanent, but the pain relief is usually much longer than expected with nerve blocks. Relief usually lasts from 9 months to 2 years.
Spinal Cord Stimulator
If you suffer from chronic neck pain and have tried other therapies without much success, our neck pain doctors at Carolina Spine & Pain in Greenville, SC may recommend spinal cord stimulation. Spinal cord stimulation has been clinically proven to provide drug-free pain relief without discomfort by blocking painful nerve signals with a controlled electric current.
Spinal cord stimulators are implantable neurostimulation devices specifically designed for managing both neck pain and back pain, along with other complex conditions. Spinal cord stimulators were first introduced in the late 1960s and have undergone significant improvements in recent years.
The technological advances allow our doctors to customize treatment settings for better control of your neck pain. Many patients opt for spinal cord stimulators to avoid minimally invasive spinal fusion surgery or spine surgery.
Injections
If your neck pain is caused by the compression of a sensitive nerve root, our neck pain doctors at Carolina Spine & Pain may recommend interventional injections such as:
The injections typically include a combination of a steroid and a local anesthetic. The anesthetic works almost immediately to reduce pain while the steroid works longer and is used to address inflammation.
Orthopedic Surgery
If the more conservative treatments don’t help to alleviate chronic pain after 8 weeks, or if you suffer from numbness, weakness, or pain in the arms, shoulders, or hands, it may be time to consider surgery.
Depending on your age and the diagnosis, several surgical options are available, which include:
- Disc Replacement
- Laminoplasty: Creating additional space for the spinal cord
- Laminectomy: Removing part of the vertebral bone
- Discectomy: Removal of one of the cervical discs
- Cervical Spinal Fusion.
Kyphoplasty
Kyphoplasty is a procedure that’s minimally invasive and designed to relieve mobility and pain issues associated with vertebral compression fractures. The procedure involves injecting quick-drying bone cement directly into the fracture thus restoring the strength and function of the bone. Following the procedure, patients usually report nearly immediate relief from the pain associated with vertebral compression fractures.
Visit Carolina Spine & Pain for Neck Pain Treatment in Greenville, SC!
If you are in Greenville, SC, and are experiencing neck pain, you can always count on Carolina Spine & Pain to help. We offer treatment options that can improve your recovery time and help you feel more like yourself again.
If you would like to experience relief from your neck pain, call us today at 864-535-0144 to schedule an appointment with one of our neck pain doctors. We look forward to hearing from you!
