Neck Pain & Headaches
Neck pain and headaches are common conditions that bring people in to see us. The good thing is that most causes are not serious and will usually improve over time with modification to activities and exercises or treatment.
Although not serious, neck pain and headaches can be extremely uncomfortable and limit our ability to get on with our day-to-day life.
It can affect our work and stop us from being able to take part in the things we love doing. That’s why here at Southampton Physio our focus is getting you doing the things you love as fast as possible, finding ways to work around the pain and discomfort while we find a resolution to the issue.
Common causes
Cervicogenic headaches
Mechanical neck pain
“Trapped” nerves (radiculopathy or peripheral entrapment)
Postural fatigue
Migraines (prevention)
Muscle spasms & facet joint irritation (crick in the neck)
Non-specific aches and pains
Headaches and neck pain can have a massive impact on our lives, but early intervention and treatment can save a lot of time and prevent a lot of suffering.
The first thing is to figure out exactly what is going on. Too often people end up in our clinic after multiple misdiagnoses and months or even years of misguided treatment. We pride ourselves on our thorough initial assessments, and if we’re not sure exactly what is going on, we’ve got a list of colleagues across Southampton to refer to if necessary.
Once we know what the issue is, we’ll explain everything to you.
What’s going on.
How we can help resolve it.
How has this happened.
How you can prevent this from happening again.
Once you’re confident that you understand what’s going on, we’ll work together on a treatment plan.
Treatment
Treatment can vary and will depend on your specific circumstances and preferences. From the beginning we’ll give you a clear estimate of long it will take and how many sessions it will likely be.
Treatment for neck pain and headaches might involve hands-on interventions such as massage and spinal manipulation, if deemed necessary and appropriate. Most treatments will involve postural, stretching and strengthening exercises to be carried out at home. Strengthening exercises for the neck muscles and upper traps specifically have been shown to have a significantly positive effect on neck pain.
We’ll always make sure any exercises we recommend are tailored specifically to you and are easy to fit into your daily life.
We’ll also investigate any lifestyle factors that might be contributing to pain, and offer suggestions on how to modify them. We might work with you on how to manage stress and its effects, how to manage long days at a desk, or on how to improve your sleep… among others. We’ll look at anything that might be influencing your experience of pain and your ability to recover.
Book now
To get started, you can follow the link below to book online, or to book in a call with one of our therapists to find out some more information.