Neck Pain: Minor Incidents to Serious Accidents and Spinal Conditions

The neck's susceptibility to injury is due in part to biomechanics and the connection between the head and thoracic spine. Biomechanics is the science that studies the effects of internal and external force on the body. Anatomically, three structures are involved; the head weighing 10 to 15 pounds, a freely movable weight-bearing cervical spine, and a less flexible thoracic spine. The thoracic spine is less flexible because of its attachment to the shoulder girdle and ribcage. When force or stress meets a weight-bearing structure, injury can happen. Activities and events that affect cervical biomechanics include extended sitting, repetitive movement, accidents, falls and blows to the body or head, normal aging and everyday wear and tear.

Neck pain can be associated with a condition called postural stress, which results in muscular tension and inflammation in the neck and upper back. Postural stress can be caused by sitting at a computer for long periods, or performing repetitive tasks such as working on an assembly line. Poor spinal mechanics, weak or overdeveloped muscles, poorly designed workspaces and chairs, even depression, can all be factors in postural stress. Postural stress can contribute to chronic neck pain with symptoms extending into the upper back and the arms. These neck problems can lead to chronic muscular tightness, which may contribute to nerve "entrapment" leading to numbness and pain extending into the arms.

The neck can sustain trauma from accidents causing strained muscles, sprained ligaments, and spinal joint injuries. Cervical bones can fracture and, in rare instances, life-threatening injuries can occur to the spinal cord. Neck conditions can contribute to both tension-type headaches and head pain that seems to occur as a direct result of cervical dysfunction, called "cervicogenic" headache.

Cervical discs can "slip", herniate, or rupture and cause arm pain, weakness and numbness. Aging can cause the spinal joints and discs to degenerate causing disturbed mechanics that inflame soft tissues and lead to chronic pain.

A herniated disc can encroach on
delicate nerve roots causing inflammation and pain.
The image above is a general illustration of the spine
and is not an exact replica of the cervical spine.