What causes neck pain?
Common causes of neck pain include:
- Arthritis
- Cervical degenerative disc disease
- Strains and sprains
- Cervical herniated discs
- Pinched nerves
- Cervical stenosis
- Whiplash injuries
Many of these conditions develop over time, brought on by wear-and-tear on your skeleton. For instance, degenerative disc disease, where the spongy discs between your vertebrae harden and weaken, is often the underlying cause of herniated discs. A herniated disc in your neck can pinch the nerves in your spine.
Everyday causes of neck pain are often a result of poor posture — slumping in your seat, craning your neck, looking down at a keyboard all day, or sleeping with your head in an odd position. Sports injuries and auto accidents also cause many neck problems.
To find out why you have neck pain, your doctor at Hudson Valley Bone & Joint Surgeons does a physical exam and diagnostic imaging tests like X-rays or a CT scan.
How is neck pain treated?
In most cases, neck pain benefits from nonsurgical treatments like:
- Rest and activity changes
- Posture therapy
- Anti-inflammatory medication
- Physical therapy
- Epidural steroid injections
- Facet joint injections
- Trigger point injections
- Stem cell therapy
- Platelet-rich plasma (PRP)
These neck pain management techniques can be highly effective. If your symptoms aren’t improving after following your treatment program, you’ll probably need to consider surgery.
What does surgery for neck pain involve?
The kind of surgery you need for your neck pain will depend on what’s causing your condition, as well as your age and general health. Examples of neck pain surgeries the Hudson Valley Bone & Joint Surgeons team does regularly include:
- Discectomy
- Microdiscectomy
- Cervical spinal fusion
- Anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF)
- Laminectomy
- Laminoplasty
- Artificial disc replacement (ADR)
- Posterior cervical laminoforaminotomy
When possible, the Hudson Valley Bone & Joint Surgeons team uses minimally invasive spine surgery (MISS) to ease your pain and help you quickly recover. MISS avoids cutting into the muscles. Instead, it uses retractors or, in some cases, an endoscope to access the spine.
If you have neck pain, don’t wait until it gets worse. Call Hudson Valley Bone & Joint Surgeons, LLP today or book an appointment online.
