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Head and Neck Pain Q & A

What causes head and neck pain?

Neck pain is a common problem because your neck is vulnerable to injuries. Poor posture, repetitive movements (overuse), and traumatic injuries can all lead to acute (short-term) or chronic (long-lasting) pain.

Most injuries pull or tear the muscles and ligaments supporting the neck. However, as you get older, wear and tear takes a toll, and chronic degenerative conditions develop, such as:

  • Facet joint arthritis
  • Herniated discs
  • Degenerative disc disease
  • Spinal stenosis
  • Bone spurs
  • Slipped vertebrae
  • Cervical radiculopathy (pinched nerve)

Some nerves leave the neck (cervical spine) and travel to your head. As a result, pain that originates in your neck often causes head pain.

However, you may also have chronic head pain following a concussion or develop debilitating pain due to chronic migraines and cluster headaches. Alliance Spine & Pain specializes in several interventional treatments that may help with headaches.

What symptoms accompany head and neck pain?

Neck pain limits your ability to move, a problem ranging from a mild, stiff neck to extreme pain at the slightest motion. In addition to headaches, you may also experience shoulder pain and dizziness.

If you have a pinched cervical nerve, you may have symptoms like pain, tingling, and burning that travel down your arm. Severe nerve damage may result in numbness and muscle weakness in the arm and hand.

How are head and neck pain treated?

Head and neck pain treatment begins with conservative therapies. For example, you may need to change your activities, take anti-inflammatory medications, and engage in physical therapy or follow a home exercise regimen.

If your pain doesn’t improve, Alliance Spine & Pain recommends innovative interventional treatments, such as one of the following:

  • Trigger point injections (to relax a muscle knot)
  • Epidural steroid injections (to reduce nerve inflammation)
  • Radiofrequency ablation (to block pain signals)
  • Spinal cord stimulation (to block or mask pain signals)
  • Regenerative medicine (to rebuild tissues using natural healing cells)
  • Intrathecal pain pumps (to deliver pain relievers directly to your spinal cord)
  • Stryker® Disc Dekompressor® discectomy (to treat a herniated disc)

Interventional treatments succeed because they get to the root cause of your pain. Your provider uses real-time imaging and specialized tools to precisely target individual nerves or other structures, like the damaged part of a herniated disc.

You can get relief from head and neck pain at Alliance Spine & Pain. Don’t wait to call the nearest office or request an appointment online today.