Feeling a burning pain in your neck? The odds are that your pain is caused by a pinched nerve, but there are many reasons why you may have developed this issue.
Having a pinched nerve somewhere in your body is pretty common. Medical research shows that 85 in every 100,000 Americans are affected by pinched nerves every year. Fortunately, there are medical professionals who can help you figure out the reason you have burning neck pain caused by a pinched nerve, and physical therapists are just such professionals.
Three reasons you’ve developed a pinched nerve and burning neck pain
Your neck is filled with nerves that run into the shoulder, head and upper back. Compression of one of these nerves can cause burning pain to invade your neck and areas around it. Physical therapists see a lot of people with nerve compression, and there are three reasons that many patients develop this issue:
- Car accidents — The forces that a car accident unleashes can play havoc with your neck. For instance, it can cause your head to whip forward and backward violently, which is called whiplash. It’s common for whiplash to cause neck inflammation and swelling. In turn, this can lead to a pinched neck nerve.
- Poor posture — Not having good head and neck posture can also lead to a pinched nerve. Poor posture increases stress on the neck muscles. Over time, this stress can wear these muscles out to the point that they aren’t supporting the neck vertebrae as well. This can cause vertebrae to shift out of alignment and compress a nerve.
- Osteoarthritis — Your neck is able to bend and flex in part because it has facet joints. However, these joints can wear out as the body ages. When this happens, it’s known as cervical osteoarthritis. Many neck nerves run close to the facet joints, so they’re likely to get pinched as these joints break down and lose their mobility.
Peak Performance can treat your burning neck pain
Eager to find effective treatment for pinched nerves that are causing neck pain? Our physical therapists at Peak Performance can help you find treatment that’s top notch. We offer free screenings that can confirm a pinched nerve is causing your pain. Also, our team excels at building individualized therapy plans intended to reduce pain and decompress the affected nerve. Such a plan can include therapy methods like:
- Therapeutic exercises
- Instrument-assisted soft tissue mobilization (IASTM)
- Joint mobilization
- Ergonomics training
- Dry needling
- Myofascial release
- Aquatic therapy
- Virtual therapy
Contact us today for more information about our treatment options for neck pain or to schedule your initial appointment.
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