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• How Can I Tell If My Neck Is Causing My Back Pain?
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WHAT ACTIVITIES HAVE YOUMISSED OUT ON DUE TO BACK PAIN?
Yourspine isacomplexpartofyourbody– itrequiresproperposture,flexibility, coordination, and strength, in order to do its job correctly. When one of these elements is altered, your spine can emit painful responses that can settle in other nearby parts of the body. According to the National Institute of Health, approximately 80% of adults will experience lower back pain at some point in their lives. Back pain is actually the most commonly reported location of pain acrosstheglobe.Buthowoften isthesourceactuallyanotherpartofyourbody? Pain is usually connected: Your spine is a lengthy structure, and pain can travel along it. Let’s say you are prone to neck pain – perhaps you have a slouched posture from sitting at a desk all day and the pressure radiates in yourshoulders.Or,maybeyou’vehadaprevious injury,suchaswhiplash, that still elicits painful stings every now and then. Now, let’s say you begin feeling pain in your lower back in addition to your neck pain. Why does this happen? Basically, the pains are connected to each other. Your head weighs about 10- 12 pounds, which is roughly the weight of a bowling ball. When you slouch, or compensate pain by realigning your body, your back muscles have to work extrahard tokeepyou from toppling forward.Haveyoueverbeenso tired that your head begins to bob and it jolts you awake? That’s because your head is heavy! The weight from the motion wakes you back up because your body isn’t used to carrying it in that way.
This is also why pain in your lower back may occur as a result. Your back muscles are working in overdrive and may be constricting to try and hold you up. If you notice neck and back pain at the same time as one another, try sitting up straighter – it should help ease some of the stress! Isyourneck theculprit? Themostcommoncombinationofpain is in theneck and theback. If you areexperiencing both, it is most likely stemming from the neck. We don’t typically think about it, but we use our necks for a lot of our daily activities. Even simple things, such as turning to grab something out of the cupboard or looking over your shoulder when backing out of a driveway, use a lot of neck muscles. When you do simple tasks such as these, do you find yourself turning your entire body, as opposed to just your head? If so, you could experience back pain along with your neck pain. Whenyouhave limitedmotion inyourneck,yourbodycompensatesby twisting more than it usually would, thus over-rotating your lower back. This could cause a source of pain or general discomfort in the area, due to abnormal overuse. If you are experiencing neck pain, back pain, or a combination of both, our physiotherapists would be more than happy to meet with you for a consultation to discuss how they can help. Call us today to talk to an expert about how we can relieve your aches and pains!
www.coresolutionsphysiotherapy.com
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