How Physical Therapy Can Help Your Neck Pain

Neck pain can be characterized by soreness and difficulty moving the neck, particularly when turning your head to the side. You may also experience a headache, shoulder pain, and/or arm pain. Neck pain can happen for many reasons, including:

• Poor posture
• Improper workstation setup
• Sleeping with your neck in a bad position
• Injury to your neck during exercise or accident

Eliminate Neck Pain with Physical Therapy

Physical therapy treatments are usually split into two types: passive and active.

Passive physical therapy treatments for neck pain may include massage therapy or ice and heat therapies. These techniques help in relieving pain, inflammation, and stiffness.

Active physical therapy includes stretches or exercises that your physical therapist thinks would work for your condition. These help increase strength, improve flexibility, and relieve pain in your spine and affected muscles.

Our licensed physical therapist will work with you to:

Relieve Pain

Your physical therapist will create a customized treatment plan just for you, which may include manual therapy, neck exercises, or perhaps dry needling. They will also help you understand how to avoid or adjust activities that can cause injury so that healing can begin.

Increasing Strength

To aid in the strengthening of muscles in the affected area, your physical therapist will create a specific exercise plan for your particular needs to gently restore the strength and coordination of muscles around your spine.

Improved Range of Motion and Flexibility

Flexibility and stretching exercises can increase the range of motion and elasticity in your neck joints and relieve the stiffness accompanying pain. As a general rule, neck stretching is best done every day, and some stretches can be done several times a day. Your PT will decide on specific activities and treatments to help restore normal movement in your neck.

Improve Posture

Since many of us have been working from home for a while and perhaps not in the most ergonomic setup, poor posture while viewing the computer monitor or looking downward at a mobile phone for prolonged periods may be the issue. If your PT discovers that poor posture has contributed to your neck pain, they will teach you how to improve your posture.  

Physical therapy can help you return to your normal routine much quicker, allowing for an overall improvement in your quality of life. So don’t let your neck pain impact your life any longer. Contact our office today to get you back in the game of life!