There’s a good reason we use the expression “Pain in the neck” to describe something annoying — at the best of times, neck pain is annoying. At the worst of times, neck pain can severely limit your life.
Unfortunately, neck pain is prevalent — about 203 million people around the world reported neck pain in 2020 alone, and about 13% of adults in the United States have ongoing neck pain.
While being in good company regarding neck pain may be comforting, this safety in numbers doesn’t relieve the discomfort. We turn to the experienced spine health experts at Texas Spine Consultants — Dr. Michael Hennessy, Dr. Chester Donnally, Dr. Heidi Lee, Dr. Andrew Park, and Dr. Robert Viere.
Improve your neck support while you sleep
It’s tough when the first thing to greet you in the morning is neck pain. If this happens frequently, it’s time to look hard at how you sleep. For example, if you sleep on your stomach, you crank your cervical spine into an unnatural position, which can lead to neck pain in the morning. So, sleeping on your back or side is an excellent place to start your neck pain prevention efforts.
Also, consider swapping your pillow for one that doesn't crank your head up — you want one that keeps your entire spine in alignment.
Watch your tech
We know it’s called a laptop, but working on a computer in your lap isn’t doing your neck any favors. And that goes for all of your screens, including that phone in your hand.
Americans spend more than 7 hours each day looking at screens, and they’re often looking down at the screen. And for every inch your head moves forward, you’re placing an extra 10 pounds of pressure on the support tissues in your neck.
One of the best ways to combat neck pain is to ensure that your screens are at eye level. So, hold that phone high, get your laptop out of your lap and onto a desk, and raise all monitors to eye level.
Watch what you’re carrying
People tend to lug around a lot, from huge backpacks kids use at school to handbags full of everyday needs. Carrying heavy bags can strain your neck, so be mindful of switching your shoulder carrying and look into using bags you can strap around your waist. You can also use a backpack and two arm supports rather than one, which spreads out the workload and keeps your shoulders back.
Get the right spine team in your corner
If your neck pain is chronic, it’s best not to grit your teeth and soldier through. At the first signs of trouble, we want you to come to see us so that we can identify the source of your pain and work quickly to counteract it.
For degenerative issues like arthritis and stenosis, we can start with quick-and-easy interventional injections that relieve pain and inflammation in your cervical spine.
If your neck pain is caused by soft tissue strain, we can use trigger point therapy and physical therapy.
Our team also excels in surgical solutions for neck pain, so we have you covered for almost every type and degree of neck problem.
Between our efforts through targeted treatments and the steps you take at home, we feel confident that we can find the solutions you need to address — and eliminate — your neck pain.
To put neck pain in the rearview mirror, you can start by making an appointment at one of our offices in Addison, Cedar Hill, or Plano, Texas, to sit down with one of our spine health experts.
It started as a minor nuisance — occasionally, you felt some numbness in one of your hands or maybe some tingling that traveled down your arm. Now, this minor nuisance is becoming more of an issue as the numbness is more constant, interfering with your ability to use your arm and hand.
There are many routes to numbness and tingling in the upper extremities, and problems along the spine are among the most common.
Since we specialize in all things spine-related, the team at Texas Spine Consultants, which includes Dr. Michael Hennessy, Dr. Chester Donnally, Dr. Heidi Lee, Dr. Andrew Park, and Dr. Robert Viere, will focus on three conditions that can lead to numbness in the arm and hand and stem from the spine.
Degenerative disc disease and herniated discs
Your cervical spine, or neck, contains seven small vertebrae separated by six soft discs that provide cushioning and support. The anatomy in this region also includes eight pairs of cervical nerve roots that exit your cervical spine.
If you have degenerative disc disease, which affects about 90% of people by age 60, discs lose moisture and become more brittle. As a result, they are far more prone to herniation, which means a piece of the disc escapes its space where it can run into and press up against one of the nerve roots.
When you experience nerve compression in your neck, the side effects can travel the length of the nerve, leading to numbness and tingling in one of your arms or hands. This nerve entrapment issue, called cervical radiculopathy, typically only leads to symptoms on one side of your body.
Cervical spinal stenosis
Another common degenerative issue in your issue is spinal stenosis, which describes a narrowing in your spinal canal due to degenerative changes. These changes can include bone spurs and thickened ligaments — and both can lead to crowding in your spinal canal. When this occurs, nerves can become compressed, leading to numbness that travels down the nerve and into your arm and hand.
Thoracic outlet syndrome
Another problem that counts numbness in your arms and hands as a primary symptom is thoracic outlet syndrome.
Your thoracic outlet is an opening between your neck and chest where your brachial plexus nerves, subclavian artery, and subclavian vein pass through. If something disrupts or narrows this passageway and presses up against the nerve group, people report numbness and tingling in the upper body, especially in the arms and hands.
Also called neurogenic thoracic outlet syndrome, this condition accounts for 95% of all cases of thoracic outlet syndrome.
Now that we’ve set the scene for some of the primary culprits behind numbness in your arm and hand, your next step is to come see us so that we can figure out what’s behind your symptoms. Once we identify the problem, we can work quickly to free up the nerve entrapment to relieve your numbness.
To get started, we invite you to make an appointment at one of our offices in Addison or Plano, Texas.
