The majority of neck pain we experience is of a structural nature. What we mean by this is that a certain structure around the neck has been compromised such as a muscle, ligament, nerve, facet, disc etc and that this is contributing towards your pain. It may also be leading to referred pain, where the pain travels to another location like your shoulders, arms and hands or upper back. When this is the case, whilst it can be painful, the most important thing you can do to get pain free as quickly as possible is to keep on moving, particularly within what we call comfortably uncomfortable areas, where you might feel some discomfort, or very low levels of pain.

Neck pain can affect us in the most unusual of circumstances.  Often, many of us are guilty of having weak stabilising muscles of the neck which leads to these acute, and sometimes chronic, bouts of neck pain.  We see many patients every year who are suffering from tightness in their neck whereby our stronger external muscles work to move our neck and also to stabilise it.  This leads to a chronic overload of this area and ultimately pain.

There are also cases where the facets of our neck become locked.  This can lead to restrictions of movement and pain.  Whilst often not dangerous, it is important to get it moving sooner rather than later.  At Bodylogics we help by encouraging pain free movement through a variety of manual therapy techniques such as mobilisations or soft tissue work.  This encouragement of movement in a safe environment helps unlock the area and provide you with a more freely moveable joint area.  Once the area is unlocked, the nerves and muscles of the area do not catch any longer.

Sometimes this structural issue can come from tightness in the muscles.  It is hard to determine what came first, was it the facet locking that causes the muscles to spasm or is it the muscle spasm that creates a catching effect of the facet?  Either way, the treatment we provide is designed to relieve pain and bring back normal range of motion.

We use a variety of techniques to help alleviate your pain.  After doing a thorough assessment we will choose the best intervention based on your presenting condition.  You can usually expect soft tissue work in the form of neck massage or mobilisations of the neck joint area to free the space in between the joints.  Either way, our aim is to bring some relief to your pain and get you back to normal in the quickest time frame possible.

One thing we often get asked is ‘how do I stop this happening again’?  Whilst there is no easy answer to this and there are a number of factors and variables that can contribute to your pain, having a series of exercises and coping strategies is key to successfully managing these conditions.  Here at Bodylogics, we work hard to ensure you have all the tools to achieve the best outcomes and spend time to show you things you can do consistently which get great results.  Our team of neck pain experts can really help with showing you ways to build strength in the neck and keep pain at bay.

We work really close with a number of orthopaedic surgeons and are able to refer on for MRI images should we deem them necessary.  Although these are not included in our costs, it is good and reassuring to know that we have them at our disposal should we need them.

We often get people better without the need for MRI imaging or surgical intervention, but when it is needed, we are on hand to direct you to some of the best centres in London who will be able to help you on your pathway.  We work closely with all our partners in getting you back to full fitness and function and will be on hand to help too after these other interventions.

A member of the Bodylogics team is always available to answer any questions you may have.  Please feel free to call us and discuss how we may be able to help you and what treatments we have that would suit you and your recovery.

Bodylogics are proud partners of London Sports Orthopaedics