Neck pain is very common, but the good news is that most neck pain is not caused by serious disease. “Mechanical neck pain” is the name healthcare professionals use when joint and muscle problems result in neck pain. Like.. the pain that results from working on your computer at the dining-room table while you work from home. Like I’m doing now…
Current evidence suggests that a combination of manual therapy and exercise is effective for patients with mechanical neck pain. This is known as multi-modal care – a strategy you are no doubt familiar with if you’ve visited our clinic.
A variety of manual therapy treatments for the neck and upper back are currently used to try to lessen neck pain. These treatments include mobilization, which slowly and repeatedly moves the neck joints and muscles, and manipulation, which delivers a single, small, quick movement to the joints and muscles.
A recent study concluded that with regard to the exercise component, it was beneficial for reducing pain and disability, regardless of exercise therapy dosage. The authors “encourage clinicians to use exercise when managing mechanical neck pain“. Way ahead of you – our patients already learn about behaviour modification strategies to decrease the likelihood of developing neck pains, and strategies like exercise and manual therapy to reduce neck pain and disability.
Struggling with a home workspace pain-in-the-neck? Allow us to develop an efficient and sustainable plan for you. Then… lets put than plan in to action. Together!
J Orthop Sports Phys Ther 2020;50(11):607–621. doi:10.2519/jospt.2020.9155
