Neck pain
Neck pain is rampant in Hong Kong: studies show that 50% of us experience daily neck pain. This comes as no surprise as many of us spend long hours at a desk, craning our necks over a computer.
Even when we’re away from work, many of us are still hunched over our phones, adding to strain. Working parents return home to play with their kids, which puts further stress on an already painful neck. Neck pain can result from direct injury, like strain, or an indirect injury, which affects another part of the body, but travels to the neck.
One of the most common places to accumulate emotional stress is in the neck, particularly at the base of the skull.
Many of us don’t seek treatment for neck pain in the hope it will improve by itself. You don’t have to live with pain. Our team of healthcare practitioners are here to relieve stress on your neck, whatever the cause.
Neck pain may be accompanied by headaches, nausea, brain fog, difficulty concentrating and pain or numbness which radiates down your arms.
Strained neck muscles can compress nerves essential to breathing and heart function and may cause difficulty breathing or an irregular heartbeat.
Your pain might make it more difficult to complete simple tasks like showering, getting dressed or turning your head.
Posture is a key cause. Tilting your neck to look at a computer all day, or sleeping in a position which damages your neck.
Stress, trauma and life events, like divorce or a house move.
Former injuries - you may have experienced a clearly linked injury, but an indirect injury which affects another area of the body could be the cause. As your body compensates for and adapts to the indirect injury, it can cause tension to accumulate in your neck
Neck pain can be caused by gradual wear and tear of cartilage in the neck due to age. This may be exacerbated by smoking and heavy alcohol consumption, which depletes the body of calcium and vitamin D.
Our osteopaths will carry out a full assessment of your neck and back to identify the origin of your pain. If necessary, they will refer you for further medical assessment or imaging before treatment.
Our osteopaths will release tensions and restrictions in your neck to alleviate pain and improve neck mobility. They’ll massage and stretch muscles, ligaments and tendons to realign strained or overworked muscles in your neck and back.
Ongoing movement is key to your recovery. Our osteopaths empower you with at-home stretches and strengthening exercises. They may recommend specific sports to further condition your neck and protect you from further neck pain.
Craniosacral therapy is a soothing, body-based therapy that relieves compression in the neck, easing both emotional and physical pain. You may also find it useful to talk with a counsellor or psychologist if your neck pain is caused by stress.
Neck pain can be complicated by other influences, including environmental, nutritional and hormonal factors, so you might find it beneficial to visit one of our naturopaths.
What’s next?
If you have neck pain we can help. We recommend you talk to one of our osteopaths or chiropractors in the first instance.
Bring your body back into balance with our osteopaths and chiropractors. Connect with us below, and we'll be in touch shortly.