HEALTH & WELLNESS The Newsletter About Your Health And Caring For Your Body
IS STRESS A PAIN IN YOUR NECK? Does stress cause neck pain? The short answer is no! At Restore Physical Therapy, we like to say “contributes to” instead of “cause.”
The casual way healthcare professionals throw around terms can lead to confusion and, worse still, ineffective treatment. Fortunately, our highly skilled therapists know how to dig deep and find the root cause of your neck pain, and this information helps you find relief!
Let’s discuss Nicole, a 40-something- year-old working mother of two. Nicole was used to being very active, balancing her work schedule with getting her kids to all the various activities and school functions that come with being a mom nowadays. Her neck pain first started as a crick in the neck when she woke up one morning. As the day progressed from driving her kids around to sitting at her desk, she noticed turning her head became more difficult and painful, making focusing on work nearly impossible. Nicole struggled to figure out why her neck started hurting and came to the conclusion that stress “must be” the culprit. The more pain and difficulty moving she had, the more convinced
turning when driving in the car. It is also common for people to notice tightness in their upper back and neck after a long day. So, what is actually the source of the pain? In most cases, there is an issue with the neck joints or the neck muscles due to prolonged positions. Our neck joints don’t like remaining in any position for extended periods. In Nicole’s case, she first noticed her pain in the morning, which may have been related to her neck position while sleeping. It is also important to note that in Nicole’s case, the first sign of any issue was in the morning when she woke up, unrelated to stress. As Nicole’s day progressed, her pain got worse. But this also was more likely related to how she held her neck while driving or sitting at her computer. In both cases, her posture, specifically how she held her neck, seems to have contributed to her pain. Prolonged sitting can lead to a forward head position, resulting in tension to soft tissue (i.e., muscles, tendons, and ligaments) or negative changes to our blood flow. The muscles of our neck function best when we move them. So, holding her head in one position likely led to irritation of the muscles and affected her ability to move her neck, which in turn caused stress.
she was that stress was to blame. Understanding Nicole’s Neck Pain
One of the most common things we hear from our patients is that their pain started for “no apparent reason.” Like Nicole, people will wake up with a crick in their neck or notice a stiffness
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