Osteoarthritis (OA) is caused by aging joints, injury, and obesity. OA symptoms include joint pain and stiffness. Treatment depends on the affected joint, including the hand, wrist, neck, back, knee, and hip, and involves medication and exercise. If you are overweight, weight loss may improve OA symptoms.
What Causes Chronic Neck Pain?
Causes of neck pain include:
• Abnormalities in the bone or joints
• Trauma
• Poor posture
• Degenerative diseases
• Tumors
• Muscle strain
What Are the Symptoms of Chronic Neck Pain?
Common symptoms associated with neck pain usually involves one or more of the following:
• Stiff neck: Soreness and difficulty moving the neck, especially when trying to turn the head from side to side.
• Sharp pain: This symptom can be pain localized to one spot and might feel like it’s stabbing or stinging. Often, this type of pain occurs in the lower levels of the neck.
• General soreness: The pain is mostly in one spot or area on the neck, and it’s described as tender or achy, not sharp.
• Radiating pain: The pain can radiate along a nerve from the neck into the shoulders and arms. The intensity can vary and this nerve pain might feel like it’s burning or searing.
• Tingling, numbness, or weakness: These sensations can go beyond the neck and radiate into the shoulder, arm or finger. There could be a “pins-and-needles” sensation. Typically, pain that radiates down the arm is felt in only one arm, not both.
• Trouble with gripping or lifting objects: This can happen if tingling, numbness, or weakness in the fingers is present.
• Headaches: Sometimes an irritation in the neck can also affect muscles and nerves connected to the head. This could be a tension headache, such as from neck muscles tightening; or occipital neuralgia, where a pinched occipital nerve in the neck causes pain to radiate up into the head’s sides and scalp.
If neck pain symptoms progress, it can become difficult to sleep. This type of pain may also interfere with other daily activities, such as getting dressed or going to work, or any activity that involves turning the head, such as driving. Increasing neck pain with associated weakness, numbness and tingling is a concern and the physician should be contacted promptly for further evaluation. |
