What might be causing my neck pain?

Neck pain is likely the result of damage to your spine’s bones, connective tissues, muscles, or nerves.

The top section of your spine, known as the cervical spine, has less support from surrounding structures than the rest of your back, making it vulnerable to injury. The effects of wear-and-tear over the years can also take a toll on your neck.

Conditions that might be causing serious or prolonged neck pain include:

• Herniated cervical discs
• Cervical spinal stenosis
• Degenerative disc disease
• Cervical radiculopathy
• Facet joint arthritis
• Spondylosis

Cervical radiculopathy, or pinched nerves, often occurs as a result of pressure on the nerves in your spine due to degenerative conditions like arthritis, stenosis, and disc problems. It’s a leading cause of chronic neck pain.

What treatments are available for neck pain?

To treat your neck pain, our providers begin with the least invasive treatments. These include:

• Anti-inflammatory medications
• Physical therapy
• Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS)
• Acupuncture
• Trigger point injections
• Orthobiologics

If your neck pain persists, you might benefit from epidural injections into your cervical spine. These injections contain steroid medication, which has a long-term effect on inflammation, and a local anesthetic to provide some immediate short-term relief.

Cervical selective nerve root blocks and medial branch blocks also contain an anesthetic and can be useful as both a diagnostic tool and a treatment.

What options are there for treatment-resistant neck pain?

There are several options for patients whose neck pain doesn’t respond to conservative treatments.

Radiofrequency ablation

Our providers use heat created by radiofrequency energy to damage the pain nerves in your neck. Without these nerves, your brain doesn’t receive pain messages. The nerves do eventually grow back, so this isn’t a permanent solution.

Spinal cord stimulation

A spinal cord stimulator is a device our providers implant into your body. It sends out electrical impulses that disrupt the activity of the nerves and replace pain with a tingling feeling, known as paresthesia.

Patients who find these tingling feelings unpleasant can try newer spinal cord stimulation devices that don’t cause paresthesia.

If you’re struggling with severe or persistent neck pain, call Pinnacle Pain and Spine or book an appointment online today.