People complaining of knots, stiffness and pain in the upper back and neck is nothing new.
But over the last 3 years I have definitely seen a vast increase in the number of people with neck, shoulder and upper back pains. ( no surprise it coincides with the stress and challenges of Covid and more people working from home)
A lot of the people I see can complain of an ache between the shoulder blades that they can’t quite get at, stiffness or crackling sounds, and this can be accompanied with headaches or pain going down the arm also.
Going for a massage or applying heat can feel good and can help to relieve some pain in the area but often this can be short lived.
So what can be done to resolve the problem and get lasting pain relief.?
The First Step:
The first thing is to identify what brought on the pain. Was there a specific action such as a lift or a sudden movement, has there been an increase in stress, poor sleep recently or was it brought on by repetitive movement or even a lack of movement.
How the pain came about will help give us clues into structures that are involved and what is best to get a solution.
If there is no specific cause then previous pains and injuries are very important to know about and a movement assessment will be necessary to see what areas are getting overloaded and what is not doing enough.
The effect of stress and inefficient breathing
If you have been very busy, not sleeping well and under a lot of stress recently, then it may be an issue where you are not breathing efficiently and are using muscles around your neck and shoulder muscles excessively to breathe.
This can be very common and a lot of people are unaware of it and if you are spending 7- 8 hours per night sleeping while breathing heavily and using accessory muscles to breathe like this, it can contribute to neck pain and stiffness.
Often people can use this same breathing strategy when sat behind a desk at work. This is where strategies and exercises to help you breathe more efficiently and manage your stress better throughout the day will be very helpful.
Identifying the root cause is key
Finding the root cause behind someone’s neck or shoulder pain is really important if you want to get lasting change and overcome your neck pain. This is what we do in our initial assessment when we are seeing someone for the first time or with a new complaint.
Once we have identified the reason behind the pain then mapping out the steps to get a solution becomes a lot easier. At Midlands Physio Clinic we use a step by step system to help your patients get back to the things they love and need to do.
Do you need some help?
If you are struggling with neck pain, stiffness or shoulder pain that is not getting better and is having an impact on your quality of life then get in touch .
You can book an initial assessment at our clinic by clicking the link below on our online booking.
https://midlands-physio-and-back-pain-clinic.eu1.cliniko.com/bookings
Or if you prefer to speak to us first then fill in the form below to apply for a free phone consultation first.
