- Headaches
- Arm/Shoulder pain
- Pins & Needles, numbness or tingles in your arm &/or hand
Headaches: Headaches/tension headaches are a common symptom of those suffering from a stiff neck. The upper neck muscles can become tight and will therefore affect the spinal joints of the neck. This can cause a tension headache.
Commonly those who have poor posture & desk ergonomics will suffer from tension headaches. The forward head posture for those sitting at computer screens will have shortened muscles in the back of their neck. The muscles which control the position of the head are found at the front of the neck. These muscles become elongated and weak. Therefore this imbalance will cause inflammation in the upper neck resulting in a tension headache.
Here at Flood Street Physio we can identify, through a thorough assessment, which specific areas are contributing to your headache. We will target these areas of dysfunction to help alleviate your stiff neck and headache.
Arm Pain: Arm pain may be coming from a dysfunction in your neck. The arm pain is often a referred symptom from something occurring within the structures of our neck. The joints in our neck have a gap between them, within this gap is where our nerve travels through to supply our upper limbs. Sometimes the bony gap may be affected for a number of reasons. These may include, degenerative conditions, bony spurs, disc bulge, inflammation of our neck muscles and joints. Increased tension in our upper shoulder muscles may cause active trigger points.
These are bands of tension that develop because they are overused to compensate for weaker muscles. Also some of the rotator cuff muscles that sit near our neck can become tight and may contribute to the arm pain.
At Flood Street Physio we will help alleviate your arm pain by targeting the specific tissues/joints that are causing it. This is done through a combination of manual therapy and dry needling techniques. You will be given some stretching exercises to help achieve a reduction in your pain.
Pins and Needles/ Altered Sensations in Arm &/or hand: These altered sensations will be due to nerve involvement. Our nerve may be compromised due to a bulging disc in our neck, or stiffness/inflammation through which the nerve flows.
At Flood Street Physiotherapy we will target the structures that are compressing the nerve. This may consist of a combination of manual therapies including joint mobilisations, massage, nerve gliding techniques, soft tissue work. It may also include if appropriate advice on desk/workstation set up.
For more information or to book your appointment please call us on 091 456 086 or you may use or online booking system ‘BOOK NOW’
