Pain – What is it?
I want to ask you a simple question and I’m 100% sure that the answer to that question would be Yes.
You might be wondering that how can I be 100% sure about your answer.
Don’t be surprised.
Let me ask you that question.
Have you ever felt pain?
You are definitely going to say Yes, I’ve felt it.
Pain is a sensation that is felt by almost every person in the world (if they have a normal body).
I’m talking about us, not about superheroes who do not feel any pain even after jumping from top of the building.
But do you know what actually pain is?
Maybe yes, or maybe no!
Let me tell you a basic definition of pain.
Any unpleasant sensation felt by our body could be Pain.
I’m sure that you’ll be well familiar with those unpleasant sensations.
Due to this broad definition of pain, we cannot say that there are no types of pain.
Pain has many types like physical pain, emotional pain, psychological pain etc.
Whatever the type of pain we suffer, the feeling is never pleasant.
Nobody wants to live with pain. Isn’t it?
Let’s suppose that you are living in London and are having neck pain from past few months that’s interfering with your work and activities of daily living (ADL’s).
What will you do?
You’ll rush towards your doctor, nurse, personal trainer or other health care professional for cervical spine pain rehab in London so that you can get rid of this pain.
Most of the people will do the same (except for the superheroes we talked about).
Out of many important structures in our body, cervical spine has a special value in our body because problems in or around this area can result in neck pain that may also radiate to your arm, forearm and even in your fingers (Pain accompanied with tingling sensations).
Learn how Hayley, Jan, Dr Christian, Michaela, Elizabeth Tiffany , M Taylor and Franco successfully rehabbed their back injuries and beat their back pain.
So, Why your Cervical Spine is so much important?
As you know everything that is capable of moving has a control center.
Our body has a control center too and that is our brain (I know you knew it already).
To control our body, brain needs to communicate with our body.
A structure lies in your body that serves as a messenger and communicates messages from your brain to your body and this structure is known as Spinal Cord. (Snell, 2010)
Why am I telling you this?
Because this structure I am talking about resides in your spine and it starts in your cervical spine and travels all the way down to your lumbar spine.
While travelling down, many wires come out of this structure at each vertebra level and we call them nerves.
These nerves control your sensations of touch, pain, temperature and movement of your muscles.
If due to any problem, your cervical spine gets damaged, this structure (spinal cord) can get affected and will result in pain in your neck, arms, and sometimes feet.
Severe damage at your cervical area sometimes can lead to paralysis too (Only if the damage is extensive). (Thomas et al., 1997)
That’s why keeping you cervical spine healthy is this much important as it carries one of the most important structure of your body i.e. Spinal Cord.
If you are feeling pain in your neck due to cervical spine problems, you should immediately look for cervical spine pain treatment.
Training your muscles around the cervical spine can help you achieving a good control over your cervical spine.
So, if you are looking for a healthy cervical spine and wants to strengthen your cervical muscles, you can Book your FREE ONLINE CONSULTATION with Jazz Alessi, an elite personal trainer for cervical pain and other body pains.
Why do you have Neck Pain?
There are variety of conditions that can result in not only neck pain but also in your shoulders, arms, and hands.
According to me, whatever the condition is, cervical spine pain treatment is necessary because living with pain is tough.
Isn’t it?
We’ll have a look at those conditions one by one.
Your Posture is Important
The first thing I want you to give attention is to your posture.
If your posture is not good, you are very much prone to developing pain in your body, especially in your neck and shoulder area (if posture of your upper body is poor). (Kisner et al., 2017)
One condition that is normally seen by me during assessments with clients is Forward Head Posture (FHP) sometimes known as Text-neck posture.
This posture develops when you place your head excessively forward for prolonged time while using computer, or typing text messages or anything else.
This posture not only puts stress on your muscles but also on your cervical spine.
If you assume this posture for prolonged period of time, you may start feeling pain in your neck, shoulders, arms, and even in hands.
A personal trainer for cervical pain provides help in relieving this extra stress over your cervical spine.
If you are facing such pain due to this poor posture, you can get rid of this pain by proper posture training and strengthening of your cervical muscles.
You can book your FREE ONLINE CONSULTATION with Jazz Alessi, an elite personal trainer who has vast experience in treating such postural problems and is providing cervical spine rehab in London from a long time.
Motor Vehicle Accidents- Do they cause Neck Pain?
If you were involved in a motor vehicle accident in the past and you’re feeling pain in your neck, this might be due to Whiplash Injury.
Whiplash injury is an injury to your neck that commonly occurs because of sudden forward and backward movement of your neck when car speed is suddenly decreased due to an accident (most commonly). (Barnsley et al., 1994)
This sudden forward and backward movement of your neck occurs at your cervical spine and sometimes results in injury to structures around your neck and causes pain.
Have you recently involved in such car accident and want to get rid of your neck pain?
A thorough assessment of your cervical spine and focused rehabilitation programme can help you in getting rid of your pain.
You can book you FREE ONLINE CONSULTATION now with Jazz Alessi, an elite personal trainer specialized in injury rehabilitation.
Disc Prolapse- A hidden cause of your Neck Pain
Our body is an interesting piece of art and every structure in our body is built with a certain purpose.
Did you know that our spine is not a single bone?
Yes, it is not a single bone.
It is a combination of 33 bones which are known as Vertebra.
Every region in our body has fixed number of vertebra and our cervical spine is made up of 7 cervical vertebrae.
In between two vertebras, there is a structure placed that serves the purpose of cushioning.
This structure is known as intervertebral disc.
Why am I telling you all this?
This is because when due to some abnormality this disc bulges a little bit, you start feeling pain in your neck, shoulder, and arm.
Why is it so?
Remember I told you that there are number of wires that come out from spine and we call them nerves?
When this disc bulges out, it causes compression of that wire i.e.
Nerve and due to this you start feeling pain in whole of the area to which that wire is connected i.e.
Your neck, shoulder, arm and sometimes fingers too.
London physiotherapists call this condition disc prolapse or disc herniation.
One common sign of this condition is that you feel tingling sensations in your shoulder and arm because of nerve compression. (Snell, 2010)
Are you feeling such tingling sensations in your arm along with pain?
An individualised rehabilitation programme focusing on your cervical spine can help you in getting rid of these symptoms.
You can book your FREE ONLINE CONSULTATION with Jazz Alessi, an elite personal trainer in London if you want to get rid of above mentioned symptoms.
Can problems around your cervical spine cause Headache?
Headache is a problem that is faced by almost every person at some part of their life.
Some people feel pain only at one side of their head while some people only experience pain on backside of their head.
There is variety of types of headache that depends upon the cause of the pain.
But did you know that sometimes problems around your cervical spine can lead to headache?
Yes, it happens.
There are a number of muscles around your cervical spine that control the movement of your head and neck.
If due to some reason, the balance between your muscles gets disturbed, you may start feeling pain in your head.
This type of headache is known as Tension Headache or Cervical Headache.
This type of headache can also result due to tension, cervical spine impairments, or temporomandibular joint (a joint present near your ears) problem. (Kisner et al., 2017)
Researches have shown that almost 15 to 20% of headaches are basically cervical or tension headaches (Jull, 1997) and they are related to problems in your muscles around cervical spine.
Some symptoms associated with this type of headache are as follows. (Kisner et al., 2017)
- Headache in which one is dominant (You feel more pain on one side of your head).
- Pain starts in neck but gradually involves your back of head and then whole head.
- Headache becomes worse if you move your neck or keep it still for prolonged periods of time.
- Feeling of altered sensations in your face.
If you are feeling such headache from some time, it must be hard for you to keep up with your daily work as it decreases our functional performance levels.
The good news is that with proper training of your cervical muscles, you can get rid of this type of headache.
If you want to train your cervical muscles, you can book your FREE ONLINE CONSULTATION with Jazz Alessi, an elite personal trainer with in depth knowledge about muscular system.
What Cervical Spine Rehabilitation Exercises can help you?
When we talk about pain in other parts of your body such as Low Back Pain (LBP), there are few simple exercises that can help you in relieving this pain.
But when we talk about cervical spine rehabilitation exercises, they entirely depend upon the cause of your neck pain.
What does it mean?
It means that if you are having neck pain due to disc prolapse, cervical spine rehabilitation exercises will be different.
Opposite to this, if you are having neck pain due to narrowing of your spinal canal, exercises will be different.
Similarly if you are facing neck pain due to muscle spasm, stretching exercises will help in relieving your neck pain.
Spine rehabilitation is a complex area and you’ll need some expert’s advice before starting any exercises on your own.
What are the symptoms related to Cervical Spine Problems?
As you know that problem with your cervical spine can cause not only physical pain but also emotional pain and that’s why you should be well aware of the symptoms that are related to cervical spine problems.
Here are the few most important symptoms informed by London spine specialists and spine specialists from other parts of the world that people normally face when they have some problems around their cervical spine. (Kisner et al., 2017)
- Persistent pain in your neck and shoulder.
- Feeling of tingling sensations in your arm, forearm, and/or fingers.
- Feeling of hand/fingers getting numb.
- Feeling of muscles around your spine getting tight (Muscle spasm).
- Pain in your neck that spreads to one side of your head.
- Persistent headaches. (Jull et al., 1999)
If you are feeling such symptoms, you might be suffering from cervical spine problems and a thorough assessment of your cervical spine is necessary.
A comprehensive assessment will lead to an individualised training programme for your cervical spine and will help in reduction of such symptoms.
You can book your FREE ONLINE CONSULTATION with Jazz Alessi, a qualified personal trainer with expertise in cervical spine assessment.
Some Golden Cervical Spine Tips for You
If you’re the one that is suffering from above mentioned symptoms, I’ve few cervical spine tips for you that might help you in coping up with such symptoms.
- Avoid sitting for prolonged periods of time with your neck bent forward. Take regular breaks.
- While using laptop or desktop, set screen level according to your eye level.
- Regularly stretch your muscles around the neck.
- Avoid using your cell phone for prolonged time with your neck bent forward.
- Try to remain relaxed and avoid tensions as they can cause tension headaches.
- Maintain good posture while working or driving. (Yip et al., 2008)
These above-mentioned cervical spine tips will surely help you in relieving symptoms around your neck.
If someone has undergone a surgery around his/her cervical spine and is currently looking for cervical spine surgery recovery tips, the above mentioned tips are equally effective.
The reason is that these tips are basically for maintaining a healthy cervical spine and that is why they can also be considered cervical spine surgery recovery tips.
If you want more of such tips and proper assessment of your cervical spine, you can book your FREE ONLINE CONSULTATION with Jazz Alessi, an elite personal trainer in London.
Who is Jazz Alessi?
Jazz Alessi is an elite personal trainer in London having a wide area of expertise and is well aware of guidelines provided by London spine specialists for cervical spine.
He is a trainer, sports nutritionist, dietician, clinical exercise specialist and 2nd generation Pilates Trainer.
He is not only an expert but also an experienced professional who has previously worked with Olympic Athletes, Fighters, Marathon runners and other athletes.
Apart from his expertise in personal training, he is an injury rehabilitation expert and if you have somehow injured your cervical spine and are looking for spine rehabilitation in London, Jazz Alessi is the best choice you can consider.
Whether it is about postural retraining or muscle strengthening, he is a jack of all trades.
Do you want to know more about Jazz Alessi and the services he is offering?
You can get connected with him by booking a FREE ONLINE CONSULTATION.
Yes you read it right.
A FREE ONLINE CONSULTATION.
So what are you waiting for?
REFERENCES
BARNSLEY, L., LORD, S. & BOGDUK, N. 1994. Whiplash injury. Pain, 58, 283-307.
JULL, G. 1997. Management of cervical headache. Manual therapy, 2, 182-190.
JULL, G., BARRETT, C., MAGEE, R. & HO, P. 1999. Further clinical clarification of the muscle dysfunction in cervical headache. Cephalalgia, 19, 179-185.
KISNER, C., COLBY, L. A. & BORSTAD, J. 2017. Therapeutic exercise: foundations and techniques, Fa Davis.
SNELL, R. S. 2010. Clinical neuroanatomy, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
THOMAS, C. K., ZAIDNER, E., CALANCIE, B., BROTON, J. & BIGLAND-RITCHIE, B. 1997. Muscle weakness, paralysis, and atrophy after human cervical spinal cord injury. Experimental neurology, 148, 414-423.
YIP, C. H. T., CHIU, T. T. W. & POON, A. T. K. 2008. The relationship between head posture and severity and disability of patients with neck pain. Manual therapy, 13, 148-154.
