What causes neck pain?

Many things can trigger neck pain. These include:
Trauma or injury
Worry and stress
Falling asleep in an awkward position
Prolonged use of a computer keyboard.
One of the most common causes of neck pain, and sometimes headaches, is poor posture.

Danger signals associated with neck pain

What does neck pain feel like?
General pain located in the neck area as well as stiffness in the neck muscles.
The pain may radiate down to the shoulder or between the shoulder blades.
It may also radiate out into the arm, the hand, or up into the head, causing a one-sided or double-sided headache.
The muscles in the neck are tense, sore and feel hard to the touch.
Acute pain can give rise to abnormal neck posture in which the head is forced to turn to one side; this condition is known as torticollis.
The pain at the base of the skull may be accompanied by a feeling of weakness in the shoulders and arms.
There may be a prickly or tingling sensation in the arms and fingers.

Photo © Gustavo Alfredo Pirron

Primary headache with or without neck pain accounts for over 90% of all headaches. These headaches are not attributed to an underlying disease process that may pose a serious threat to a patient’s health. Although painful and debilitating, these headaches are often benign.
Primary headaches include:

Tension
Migraine
Cervicogenic
Cluster

It's 2 a.m. and you're waking up in pain. You reach to your neck, and you can't move your head.

Was it the way you slept last night? Or did you twist the wrong way when reaching into the back seat while driving? Perhaps it's the way you hold your phone at work?

The fact is that even the simplest movements can cause short periods of neck pain. Yet some of us may actually be experiencing chronic neck pain.

Simple movements can lead to muscle tightness, which can take time to show symptoms, and muscle strain, which usually happens as an acute occurrence.

Headaches that stem from neck pain are found mostly in individuals who have tightness in the posterior neck muscles, which are at the back of the neck. This is mainly brought about by a forward-headed body posture and rounded back — the very posture you may be assuming as you read this article!

This causes the cervical spine (the top seven vertebrae in the spinal column) to be positioned into extension. This position causes the neck flexors (the muscles in front of your neck) to lengthen and the muscles in the back of your neck to shorten.

This forced position puts a strain on the occipital nerve, which is a sensory and motor nerve that runs through these now-shortened muscles. In many cases, this can cause headaches.

That's not to say that all headaches generated this way are the same. One form of headache that finds its origins in the neck muscles is the occipital headache, in which muscles in the neck put pressure on specific nerves, resulting in a migraine-type experience.

Tension headaches, on the other hand, are thought by many to be a result of general muscle tension in the head and are brought about by the faulty posture of the head, neck and upper posterior

Do you carry your stress in your neck and shoulders ?

Liz Smith Talks About Her Stress I carry my stress in my shoulders like most people, or at least that’s what the massage therapists always make me feel I am doing. I guess I also carry a lot of it in my mind, as these days I have a hard time going to sleep, staying asleep and ceasing to list and recount my sins, my errors and my worries when the lights go out. I expect this is more prevalent, more epidemic than the swine flu. Source

We all know how good a neck massage is

Neck massage 'helps blood pressure'

For many of us, it is the best way to unwind after a hard day's work.
But scientists believe a regular neck massage could also prove a life-saver.
It can lower blood pressure and reduce the risk of stroke and heart disease, research suggests.
High blood pressure, which often shows no symptoms, doubles the risk of dying from one of the conditions.

Researchers from Leeds University found signals from the neck play a key role in helping the brain maintain blood pressure, heart rate and breathing when we change posture, for instance by standing up.

When these signals stop - perhaps because the neck is stiff and not being moved - we can suffer from problems with blood pressure and balance.

Neck pain, often caused by stress, affects one in ten Britons at any one time, with three-quarters of us suffering from it at some point in our lives.

Writing in the Journal of Neuroscience, Professor Jim Deuchars said the breakthrough could also explain why those with whiplash injuries can experience a change in their blood pressure.

"This work also contributes to the understanding of postural hypotension - fainting which can be caused by standing up too fast," he added.

"The neck muscles could be part of the system which normally prevents this from happening by sending signals to the brain upon neck movement that posture has changed."

High blood pressure claims 60,000 lives a year and is becoming more common as Britons work longer hours and eat more fatty and salty food.

In April, the London School of Economics warned the stress of modern life could lead to an epidemic of heart disease, with half of Britons suffering from high blood pressure by 2025.
Source

Introducing the 7372 Therapeutic Neck Massager

If you are looking for something that is specifically designed for your neck and upper back pain, this is the perfect item for you! The main function of this Cervical Vertebrace Therapeutic Apparatus is to repeatedly apply electro-stimulated acupuncture and massage on the Sympathetic nerves of the intervertebral disc, cerivical nerve root and neck. Below is a list of exactly what the CSD-7372 can be used for.
For:

Arthritis of Joints
Periarthritis
Lumbar Muscle Strain
Muscular Fatigue
Fatigue of the whole body or individual parts
Soreness of Lower Back
Pain in the Neck and Shoulders
Pinched Muscles or Tendons
The regular shrinking and streching of the neck muscle, improve blood circulation, diminish inflammation, relieve pain and then curing the cervical spondylosis.
It’s portable and esay to handle.
Uncomfortable body pains: - fatigue of the whole body or individual parts, soreness of lower back, pain in the neck and shoulder, pinched muscles or tendons.
Various acute and chronic pains: arthritis of joints, periarthritis, lumbar muscle strains, muscular fatigue.

Not only for neck, but also for other parts of body.

Uncomfortable body pains: - fatigue of the whole body or individual parts, soreness of lower back, pain in the neck and shoulders, pinched muscles or tendons. Various acute and chronic pains: arthritis of joints, periarthritis, lumbar muscle strains, muscular fatigue.

The CSD-7372 Cervical Vertebace Therapeutic Apparatus is a new innovative health care product based on developments in physics, bionics and electro-biology. It combines theories of Chinese therapeutic treatments and modern micro electronic technology to produce a personal massage experience for the user.

The Cervical Vertebrace Apparatus has a significant curative effect on the body and bone structure. The neck massager is designed to simulate the nerves with its electronic pulse current, which relaxes stiff neck muscle, relieves pain and improves the blood supply going to the brain and vertebra. The neck massager can also be used on the leg for things such as improving blood circulation and lumbar muscle pain.

The CSD-7372 also comes with regular electrodes that can be used on the shoulders, leg, hand, Back and stomach. Both the neck massager and the electrode's transmit the Customized Massage Programs

The Instruction Booklet has everything you need to know about this machine and its functions. The CSD-7372 is a unique and patented design that is compact, portable and very simple to operate!

List of Components in each Package:
CSD-7372 Main Unit
Neck Massager
Neck Massager Electrode Pads
Neck Massager Electrode Protector
Electrode Wire
Two Electrodes
English Manual

Attention:Standard Required Warnings
Please don't use the unit if you have the following:
Internal transplanted medical electronic apparatus such as pulse regulator.
Medical Electronic apparatus maintaining life support such as an artificial heart, lung, ect
Malignant Tumor
Pregnancy

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