Neck Pain / Injury
Do you suffer from neck pain / injury? Mike Gibbons, LMT, has massage therapy treatments specific to cervical pain / injury.
Neck pain (also called “cervical pain”) is a common complaint in the U.S. and developed countries. It can be described as anything from a mere “stiffness” or “tightness,” to nearly debilitating. It is important in the course of daily activities (e.g. driving) to have a reasonable range of motion where neck muscles are concerned. Many people are choosing massage therapy as an effective treatment for pain and stiffness in the neck.
Causes of Neck Pain
To quote WebMD in an article entitled, Neck Pain: Cause: “Most pain in the neck area is caused by activities that involve repeated or prolonged movements of the neck.” Some of those activities are: sleeping on too large a pillow, or holding your head and neck in a forward position for extended periods of time (e.g. sitting at a computer or constantly looking down at your phone). Holding your arms up for long periods of time doing various sorts of overhead work or exercise can also cause cervical pain.
There are many conditions that cause cervical pain, such as arthritis, a herniated disc, cervical spinal stenosis, a pinched nerve, and various types of infections. There are also other medical conditions that can cause cervical pain. Please first see your physician to determine whether massage therapy is the right approach for your type of cervical pain.
Last but not least: stress can cause neck pain.
Massage Therapy for Neck Pain: More Information
In the National Center for Biotechnology Information, U.S. National Library of Medicine, in an article entitled: The Randomized Trial of Therapeutic Massage for Chronic Neck Pain, it concludes that, “More participants randomized to massage experienced clinically significant improvement … and on the symptom bothersomeness scale. … This study suggests that massage is safe and may have clinical benefits for treating chronic cervical pain at least in the short term.”
Another article in the Annals of Family Medicine, entitled, Five-Week Outcomes From a Dosing Trial of Therapeutic Massage for Chronic Neck Pain, states, “After 4 weeks of treatment, we found multiple 60-minute massages per week more effective than fewer or shorter sessions for individuals with chronic cervical pain.”
Massage Therapy Can Bring Relief to Neck Pain Sufferers
Depending upon the source of your cervical pain, most of the time, it can be relieved. Good postural habits and sleeping positions combined with massage therapy and stress reduction can help you alleviate many types of cervical pain. Once again, make sure to check with your doctor to see if massage therapy is the right approach for your type of neck pain.