Neck pain can come in several forms:
- Muscle spasm
- Muscle ache
- Stiffness
- Nerve pain
These in turn could lead to other symptoms, such as headaches and reduced range of motion.
When you sit or walk in a poor posture, the muscles of your neck are imbalanced. One set of muscles works harder to support your head while the other side is lazy. Straining your neck muscles over time could lead to a dull ache. Without proper support, your neck bones may also start to collapse on each other, pinching the cartilage discs between them. Neck pain starts when the critical limit is crossed. This could also be a result of sudden stress as in injury or an awkward movement of the head, like a whiplash injury.
If you slouch regularly, the muscles weaken to the point that the bones/joints are actually damaged. The longer it goes on, the more stiffness and long-term damage there is to the spine. Finally you will need a specialist to help. You might also need medication or injections to manage your pain, or even surgery.
The good news is physiotherapy can help
Physiotherapy is one of the most common treatments for chronic neck pain.
Most physiotherapy programs for neck pain involve applying treatments to reduce pain and/or stiffness enough to begin an exercise program of strengthening and stretching the neck. It starts with a thorough analysis of your pain, its causes and your current limitations.
Our physiotherapists help manage severe or acute pain in the short-term by heat, ultrasound or massage. Small manual adjustments of the bones in your neck may also help in some cases. These are to relax spastic muscles and reduce pain, making for easier movement. It also helps the circulation and relieves swelling by helping any trapped fluid to drain.
Once pain is reduced, we help get your neck joints flexible and mobile again. The specific methods and exercises used in physiotherapy, as well as the duration of the treatment plan can vary from person to person. We introduce gradually harder exercises to help train and strengthen the muscles supporting your neck. We also improve your awareness of neck movements – you learn to cooperate with your body. Our physiotherapists help you avoid neck pain in the future through advice on general health, work and sleep postures and consistent exercise. Continuing this pattern will reduce your pain long-term.
Best of all, the skills we teach you make sure that if you do aggravate your pain by a careless movement, you will be able to manage it early, so you feel better quickly!
So don’t wait for neck pain to limit you – call our office on +(353)-87-295-9662 to end it effectively now!
Health benefits of golfing
Golf is a leisurely, easy-going game. Most of the time, it seems to be nothing but a walk in the grass (or through the sand, as the case may be). However, recent research shows that it not only builds endurance but also burns fat.
On a normal 18-hole course, the golfer can end up walking up to 7-10 km. While you walk, you also talk. You make new friends. This is another health benefit of golf. The open air, the companionship, and the challenge to make a better score, improve your coordination and plot your strategy in a non-threatening atmosphere, all make for a significant reduction of stress and increased mental activity.
If you carry your clubs yourself, that adds up to almost 1200 calories burned on each round you play. This helps you lose weight.
Thus this game is not just a pastime, but can confer enormous benefits for a heart-healthy lifestyle. It helps you stay fit, assists losing weight and releases stress in the clean open air of a golf course. It even reduces your risk of dying young.
Quick tip
If you have a job where you sit down most of the day, make sure you stand up and stretch every half hour or so. Many of today’s jobs are in front of a computer where you will tend to hunch up and create neck and shoulder strain.
Inspiration
I heard a definition once: Happiness is health and a short memory! I wish I’d invented it, because it is very true. ~ Audrey Hepburn
Funny thought of the day
Bad things always happen to good people because when bad things happen to bad people, you could argue it’s a good thing.