Reasons for neck pain and arm and shoulder pains

Pain in the neck

Neck pain is one of the most common pains we complain about. One reason is that your neck muscles become tense when you are stressed which, if it goes on for too long or your neck doesn't get much of a chance to relax, can result in short-term or longerlasting neck pain.

Other important causes of neck pain include muscular strains from exercising, deterioration of the upper spine along with a whiplash injury. Whiplash can result from a car crash, when your head is suddenly pushed backward or forward. Only hardly ever is a more serious cause for example meningitis or bleeding inside your skull responsible for neck pain.

In the event of minor reasons for neck pain, talk to your pharmacist about available over-the-counter preparations like anti-inflammatory drugs or gels, which can help with relieving your symptoms. If your pain is muscular in nature, then a massage can help, too.

Neck pain because of whiplash injury due to a car accident is almost never due to injury to the spine itself, but rather is caused by muscle strain and stiffness. X-rays therefore are rarely helpful or necessary. If you are afflicted by neck pain, consult your doctor in the following circumstances:

Your pain is extremely severe.
Your pain starts as a result of a high-speed or high-impact injury.
Your pain keeps you awake through the night.
You're tender over one or more of the bones in your neck.
You have additional general symptoms such as unexplained fever, night sweats or weight loss.
You're also experiencing swollen lymph glands in your neck.
You're also suffering from weakness or numbness in your arms or legs.
You've fallen due to your neck symptoms.
You develop tingling or numbness in your shoulders or arms.
You've been diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis symptoms, cancer, infection or tuberculosis (TB).
Your immune system is suppressed, for instance if you've been diagnosed with HIV, you're undergoing chemotherapy or you take steroid medication.

Also visit your doctor for further assessment when you can see no obvious explanation for your neck pain, simple over-the-counter remedies don't help, the pain sensation just doesn't get better or else you have any other symptoms that you cannot explain.

Shoulder and arm pain

If you suffer from pain and stiffness in your shoulders or arms, your problem may result from the shoulder joint or its adjacent muscles, ligaments or tendons, which can easily become inflamed from injury or overuse. Shoulder pain may also occasionally be because of referred pain from the neck, heart or other structures inside your chest or abdomen. Your shoulders and arms may also ache due to conditions for example frozen shoulder, tendon inflammation or arthritis.

When suffering from shoulder and arm pain and deciding how to handle it, one from the main questions to ask yourself is 'how much does the issue affect my day-to-day life?'. If your symptoms are mild and maybe due to overuse from sport or work, rest and pain relief with soothing gels or painkillers from your pharmacy may be all that you need. However, if you suffer severe pain and do not know what's going on, and the pain really affects your capability to function as normal both at home and at work, your best strategy is to visit a physiotherapist or your doctor.

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