Neck & Head

When you have symptoms around the head and neck it is important to rule out more serious pathologies, these include:

Dizziness, nausea, fainting or falling, blurred vision, difficulty find words or swallowing,

If you have any of theses then seek emergency medical help at a hospital to have your symptoms investigated. 

Whiplash is a acceleration deceleration injury which can cause muscular or ligament damage in the cervical spine. 

It is most common following a car crash.

This is a muscular condition which presents with pain causing a reduction in movement in the head and neck. the muscles involved become very tight almost "locking" the head in position. Most often this condition presents as a child and but it can start as an adult. 

If you have not had an accident then neck pain my be cause by a muscular imbalance. This will normally feel like an ache and may come and go depending on what you activity you do, but it can also present as a sudden sharp spam of neck.  This can also be mistaken for torticollis, the difference is the rate of reoccurrence and the reason behind the start of symptoms. 

While not a diagnosis frequent headaches are often a symptom of muscular imbalance through the shoulders and thoracic region. If your main symptom is headaches then we would recommend seeing both a physiotherapist as well as speaking to a GP. 

The discs within the cervical spine can become irritated causing pain. If the disk is involved this can be  sharp pain with radiating neuro pain moving down in to the shoulder and arm. 

The facet joints sit to either side of the vertebra and like any joint can become irritated, again this can cause a radiating pain but is less likely to cause neural symptoms. .

A pain felt in the front of the neck maybe related to the joint between the clavicle and the sternum bone. This joint can become swollen or inflamed once aggravated and may take a while to go down. Any movement that compresses the joint is particularly painful such as reaching across the body.