Neck pain and Whiplash Associated Disorders

Neck pain is the second most common condition treated at the clinic. It may affect 10% to 20% of the population at any one time.

There are many different causes of mechanical neck pain but they broadly fall into traumatic and non-traumatic groups.

Traumatic: any forced movement of the neck can result in painful inflammatory changes and muscle spasm leading to severe stiffness and, in some cases, severe disability. This may result as a consequence of anything that allows the joints in the neck to be forcibly pushed past their limit of motion, such as following a fall or a sporting injury but the most common is from whiplash injury.

This is a common occurrence associated with any hyper-flexion (forward bending) extension (backward bending) injury. Injury is caused by an acceleration/deceleration event usually as a result of a road traffic incident or a contact sporting activity. Injury may occur to multiple structures including muscles, tendons, ligaments, bone, joint and nerve tissue and can result in significant impairment and disability.

The most common effects are neck pain with severe stiffness immediately following the trauma or some time later. Headache, usually travelling from the back of the skull to the front in a tension type pattern, or migraine may also occur. Trapped nerves giving radiating pain into the arms, are also common as well as low back pain, nausea, breathlessness, difficulty sleeping, jaw pain and depression.

These conditions may be very complex and may lead to changes in joint mechanics and overloading, leading to failure of structures occurring quite quickly or showing symptoms months or even years later.

The practitioners at the clinic are very experienced at dealing with whiplash injuries and we would strongly advise anyone to consult an osteopath following any road traffic accident or impact event even if the symptoms seem very minor or they settle very quickly, as this may be storing up trouble for the future. There is good research evidence to support the use of Osteopathic treatment for treatment of whiplash associated disorders.

Non-traumatic: very often there is no apparent reason why neck pain should start. Pain may come on very suddenly or gradually increase over a period of weeks or months. This is most often due to the neck being very good at adapting to small injuries and increasing stresses and strains. These tend to accumulate over a period of time and can lead eventually to a disruption in the normal workings of the spinal mechanics.

This can result in areas of the spine becoming overloaded and as they reach the limit of their ability to cope, tissues become fatigued and pain can follow soon afterwards, as pain-sensitive structures in the spine become irritated and inflamed. This normally manifests as pain in the base of the neck, which may radiate into the shoulders, the arms or even up into the skull. There is good research evidence to support the use of Osteopathic treatment for treatment of both acute and chronic neck pain.*

Our Osteopaths at the Sussex Back Pain Clinic are trained to assess the mechanics of the spine properly and can identify any regions of undue stress and strain as well as being able to check your posture. By using gentle corrective manipulative techniques as well as giving lifestyle, posture and exercise advice, we can restore your spine to its correct function to ease movement and not only remove your pain and allow a full recovery, but enable you to protect your spine from any future damage that may give a higher risk of degenerative changes at the base of your neck.

*Effectiveness of manual therapies: the UK evidence report. Chiropractic & Osteopathy 2010, 18:3 doi:10.1186/1746-1340-18-3 Article URL http://www.chiroandosteo.com/content/18/1/3