The cervical spine, along with its seven vertebrae, nerves, muscles, and connective tissue, is prone to a common problem: neck pain. More than an issue of aging or sports injury, neck pain can stem from poor posture, an inactive lifestyle, and other issues. When neck pain persists, it is best to find out what non-surgical treatments are available to you. Here, we will discuss the common symptoms of neck pain and how to determine which non-invasive pain treatments are best for you.

Reviewing Symptoms

Acute neck pain typically lasts a few days; however, chronic neck discomfort extends well beyond that. It can consist of muscle spasms, stiffness, headaches, noisy bone spurs and calcifications, headaches, numbness and tingling, and more.

Neck pain doctors are particularly concerned about discomfort resulting from:

• Long-standing rheumatoid or osteoarthritis
• A narrowing of the spinal canal (stenosis)
• Stiffness, or spondylosis
• Bone fragility and fractures from osteoporosis
• Slipped, or out of alignment, vertebrae
• Nerve impingement
• Intervertebral discs which decrease in size and ability to cushion the neck bones (degenerative disc disease)

Additionally, an orthopedic specialist will assess the severity of your symptoms, including their impact on your sleep, work, activities of daily living, sports participation and more. Your neck pain doctor may ask you if

your neck pain refers, or spreads and radiates, beyond the neck to the shoulders, mid-back, arms, and hands.

Determining Treatment

A physical examination and imaging can confirm your orthopedic physician’s diagnosis and help develop a treatment plan. For some people, simple interventions may include:

• Rest (but not prolonged bed rest or inactivity)
• Weight loss
• Improvement of posture while working at a computer or when standing and walking
• Exercising, particularly walking or swimming
• Stopping all tobacco usage (cigarettes impede healthy circulation, nerve function, bone strength and healing)
• A program of physical therapy

Physical therapists deliver a wide range of customized interventions which strengthen and stabilize the neck. In conjunction with your doctor, your therapist can teach you ways to avoid additional injury, improve your posture and avoid chronic strain on the soft tissues of your neck.

Non-Surgical Neck Pain Treatments

Your neck pain treatment plan will differ from anyone else’s. That is because your condition or injury, your health, your lifestyle, and other factors are unique to you.

Some of the most common non-surgical treatments are:

• Epidural steroid injections to relieve painful inflammation
• Sprint PNS, a wearable device which uses electrical impulses to target nerves to block pain impulses
• Nerve-blocking injections

Neck Doctor in Wentzville, MO

If you need treatment for your chronic neck pain, then look no further than Advanced Bone & Joint. Our team of board-certified physicians, physician assistants, and nurse practitioners apply today’s most advanced neck pain treatments to help you get the best long-term results to live a pain-free life.

To learn more about how Advanced Bone & Joint can help, call us at (636) 229-4222 and set up your personal consultation with one of our physicians. Bring all your questions and get the answers you need and deserve. You may also schedule your visit online. We have locations in O’Fallon, Wentzville and St. Peters, MO. Let us help you experience relief from chronic neck pain.