Last Updated on Tuesday, 20 October 2009 10:59

Neck pain is very common with almost 50% of people being affected at some point in their lives. Acute neck pain is usually the result of bad posture or a minor injury and usually clears up of it’s own accord with rest, painkillers and gentle stretching.

Other causes include a trapped nerve, tension headaches or migraines or more rarely as a result of an underlying medical condition like arthritis. Chronic neck pain may require further medical treatment.

What are the symptoms of neck pain?

The symptoms of neck pain may very depending on the cause of your pain. Common symptoms include:

• Pain and stiffness: The pain may be located in the back of your neck or it may spread down to the shoulder or between the shoulders. When the pain is caused by a tension headache or migraine you may feel the pain in the back of the head, to one side of the face or behind the eye. Muscles may feel stiff sore or tense and you may feel tingling in the fingers. Stiffness is often worse after staying in one position for a long time, even though it may hurt to move.

• Noise in the joints: Clicking or grating sounds caused by the bony surface of your joints moving against each other or by ligaments moving against the bone.

• Torticollis: Where the neck becomes twisted to one side and it is difficult and painful to move it back to the centre. This is usually due to a spasm and usually relaxes after a couple of hours.

• Diziness: Although this is rare you may feel dizzy due to pinching of a vertebral artery.

Causes of neck pain

Neck pain can arise from a number of possible causes

• Non Specific: Frequently neck pain arises with no obvious cause. This is not that well understood and usually clears up within a few days.

• Migraine or tension headache: The early symptoms of a migraine can include neck pain which then spreads usually to one side of the head. People who are worried or under stress often tighten their muscles more than is necessary to hold their head upright. Tension headaches usually affect both sides of the head. Injury and

• Whiplash: The most common type of injury causing neck pain is whiplash. This is usually due to a car accident where the body moves forward while the head tilts back. When the body stops the head tilts forward. The result is usually torn muscle fibres causing inflammation and stiffness. Although this type of injury can be serious, it’s unusual to inflict any major damage. Any problems can be identified by an x-ray. Pain usually clears up in a few weeks.

• Cervical spondylosis: This condition occurs due to wear and tear of the bones in the neck and most commonly affects elderly people.

How is neck pain usually treated?

Although uncomfortable most neck pain isn’t serious and will usually get better by itself without medical treatment. It’s important to try and stay as active as possible. Bed rest is not usually necessary and may worsen your symptoms. If your pain is not better within a week it’s a good idea to talk to your doctor.