What to do when you suffer from neck pain, stiffness, or neck aches? This is a common problem faced by many neck pain sufferers try to find help, solution or cure to ease the neck discomfort.

First, let's take a look at the structure of the neck and the spine.

There are 33 unique vertebrae (bones) in the spinal column broken down into 5 regions namely the cervical, thoracic, lumbar, sacrum and coccyx. The cervical comprises of vertebrae C1 to C7, where C4, C5 and C6 involves the most in the bending motion when the head is tilted towards either shoulder. There are nerves exiting at each neck level, which branch out to supply muscles at the shoulder, hands, forearm, and wrist. When any nerves root at the neck level are irritated, inflammation or compressed, it can give symptoms of pain, aching, numbness, pins and needles to chest, face, arms and hands. This is called referred pain or cervical radiculopathy pain. It is recommended to get your neck treated as soon as possible to prevent any further complications.

What are the common causes of neck pain or injury?
Causes of neck pain mainly vary from sports injuries, whiplash, and emotional stress to incorrect sitting posture. In modern days, the main cause of neck pain is due to incorrect sitting posture where working adults exercise poor sitting posture and spend most of the time in front of the computer without having any breaks in between, which causes their necks to be strained. Another cause of neck pain could also be due to disc degeneration with age where bone spurs form, causing pressure on the cervical nerves which leads to pain.

What can I do for neck pain?
If the neck pain persists, it is advised to get your neck assessed by a doctor, orthopaedics specialist. Types of examination include using the tools of medical history, physical and neurological examination, X-rays, and other diagnostic tests at his or her discretion. However, it is also good to volunteer your information about how the pain started as they can provide important clues to the sources of your problem.

Once your neck problem has been diagnosed, the doctor may refer you to a physiotherapist to decide on the appropriate neck treatments for you. Treatments can come in the form of traction, or advanced spinal decompression therapy, putting on a cervical collar for support, ultrasound therapy or TENS to relief the pain, depending on the patient's condition. For relief of muscle spasms, a hot or cold pack can be advised for self-application. Manual therapy such as joint mobilisation, spinal manipulation, soft tissues massage may be adjusted to align neck to proper position by trained physiotherapist. In some cases, exercises are also prescribed by the physiotherapist in order to stretch and relax the muscles to prevent stiffness. Different types of exercises can be prescribed to focus on different parts of the neck and back muscles such as upper trapezius, sternocleidomastoid, levator scapulae and rhomboid to stretch the neck to reduce pain and stiffness.

In Singapore, there are many doctors and physiotherapist clinic that can help with treating neck pain. It is important to seek help early to prevent worsening of neck condition. Singapore Physioclinic is one of the good private physiotherapy centres with qualified physiotherapists can help to treat neck pain and has a strong network of good doctors and orthopaedic surgeons if neck operation is required.