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INJURY TITLE
| Postural Neck Pain |
INJURY OVERVIEW
| Common among anyone who adopts poor postures over a prolonged period(desk based jobs, cyclists). Pain can be felt generally over the neck and the shoulders. This can include headaches and pain further down the back, also pain in the arms. |
INJURY IN-DEPTH INFORMATION
| The body craves movement in any form and so to remain in any posture for too long is counterintuitive. Movement is necessary to appropriately distribute blood flow areas that need it. When sitting for example, the body becomes largely stationary and so blood flow to joints and muscles around the neck and shoulders can become stagnant. This will reduce oxygen delivery to those areas and, more importantly, reduce waste product removal. These waste products can easily produce pain. This is why you may feel the need to shuffle your bottom in your chair once or twice in your meeting!!
The problem is that people do not think they need to be ‘fit’ to do a desk based job. With the sedentary nature of the posture comes deconditioning and so your once fit and healthy tissues can now cope with less and less as the problem progresses. The pain can worsen and become more irritable. |
COMMON SIGNS & SYMPTOMS
| 1. Aches and pains across the neck and shoulders
2. Feeling stiff when trying to move 3. Pain in the middle of the back 4. Headaches
This is a fairly general condition and so the symptoms can vary from person to person. |
HOW IS IT ASSESSED
| 1. Clinical assessment to rule out any more serious problems with the structures in the neck.
2. Joint specific and global strength assessment to establish overall conditioning. 3. Possible Postural assessment (work station assessment) 4. Manual assessment to assess any joint or muscle stiffness. |
GENERAL TREATMENT
| 1. Postural advice and correction (from head to pelvis)
2. Advice and education regarding the problem and main driving factors 3. Manual therapy for pain relief and management of any soft tissue and joint based abnormalities. 4. Exercise therapy to enhance the overall conditioning of the patient. |
| Exercise Videos: i.e.
Rotator cuff strengthening Pec stretch etc |
WHICH HEALTH PROFESSIONAL TO CONSULT
| PHYSIO X | MEDIC | PODIATRY |