Neck pain encompasses so many different kinds of problems that when neck pain patients come to consult with DASHA® “independent client providers”, they first try to determine which structures in the neck are causing the pain. Neck problems may involve nerves and stem from damaged spinal vertebrae and/or the cushioning disks that rest between the vertebrae. Alternatively, the pain may have nothing to do with the skeletal and nervous systems at all—it may result from discomfort in the muscles. Finally, neck pain may actually be coming from areas close to the neck, such as the head, upper arms, shoulder(s) or jaw.
How do DASHA® “independent client providers” determine whether a patient’s neck pain involves nerves? Typically, a survey of symptoms reveals that the patient feels not only pain but numbness, tingling or weakness in areas other than the neck. These are signs that a displaced disk (or muscle spasm) may be pinching or pressing upon a nerve.
Neck pain not involving nerves is often muscular in nature. These are the varieties of neck pain attributable most often to everyday activities. The patient who cranes his neck over a laptop for hours. Or the patient who twists and turns her neck a lot during exercise.
Other patients know exactly what to trace their neck pain back to. Those are the ones who experienced a traumatic injury or fall—and who came away with injuries like broken vertebrae, whiplash, or blood vessel injury.
Knowing the cause and nature of the neck pain is the first step in determining treatment. DASHA® “independent client providers” patients’ treatments plans for neck pain are as individual as the causes. A thorough examination and inquiry of the neck pain includes some of the questions below:
- How often does the pain occur? And how severe is it when it does occur?
- In what part of the neck is your pain located?
- Does the pain affect both sides of the neck in a symmetrical way?
- When did you first notice the pain?
- Is the pain constant, or does it vary in intensity?
- Can you touch your chin to your chest?
- What helps the pain? What makes it worse?
- Is your neck weak? Stiff?
- Are there accompanying symptoms such as tingling or numbness?
- Do you have swollen glands or any kind of a lump in your neck?
DASHA® “independent client providers” help patients heal from neck pain every day—and in each case the process begins with a thorough examination and patient interview.
