PureHealth

Shoulder and neck pain can be really frustrating, and can be uncomfortable even at rest.

So What is the Difference Between Shoulder and Neck Pain?

This really depends upon where the pain originates. Neck problems can often cause pain in the shoulder or arm. Shoulder pain, although usually more localised, can occur as a result of other structures. Interestingly, over 20 muscles are directly involved in shoulder movement and some of these originate from the back, neck or chest.

What Causes Neck or Shoulder Pain to Arise?

Direct trauma to the neck or shoulder can cause injuries, for example road traffic accidents or even lifting heavy weights at the gym. Depending on the severity of the injury, examination may be required. However, sometimes just sleeping awkwardly can cause irritation to a muscle or joint, causing muscle guarding and pain upon movement. Poor standing or seating posture can cause loading on joints, ligaments, and nerves causing irritation and pain.

Care needs to be taken with shoulder or neck pain to ensure that it is not referred pain as a result of an underlying pathology, for example, a heart attack or angina. We advise to seek medical advice if you’re experiencing shoulder or neck pain with; shortness of breath, squeezing or gripping sensation in the chest, cold sweats, or nausea.

How Can Osteopathy Help?

The key to treating any problem is to find the root cause. At Pure Health Osteopath Clinic we carry out a thorough assessment, and offer treatment and advice based on our findings. We take into consideration your life demands, health, and tailor our treatments to suit. Treatments typically involve massage techniques to ease tight and painful muscles, joint mobilisation to restore movement and improve restriction.

“Natural, Drug Free, Pain Relief”

For some tips to ease neck pain take a look at our post; 7 tips to ease your neck pain

If you have any concerns about your neck or shoulder pain, or would like to find out more, contact Pure Health Osteopath Clinic on 01179 000 935

Neck pain can be really frustrating, and can be uncomfortable even at rest. It can wreck a Nights sleep and distract you during the day. Here are 7 tips to help ease your neck pain:

1.  Help your neck, help your posture – Bad posture contributes neck pain and can aggravate symptoms. If you sit at a desk make sure your work station is set up correctly for you, see this article for a healthy desk set up. If you drive make sure your car seat is adjusted to ease loading on your neck joints and muscles.
2.  Keep moving – Exercise is good for our joints and muscles as well as our hearts. Exercise helps improve blood flow to your neck, nourishing your spine to keep it healthy.
3.  Pillows – get your pillow height right for you! People often ask how many pillows they need, if any at all. The answer is everyone is different and every pillow varies so there is no correct number. Ideally you want your neck and spine in a neutral position where the neck is not over stretched in any direction, minimising loading on joints, muscles and ligaments.  This may take some playing around with. Alternatively you could look to get a Goldilocks Pillow sized just right for you.
4. Ditch the Mobile and Look Up – Ok, well maybe not ditch the mobile as I suspect at least 50% of readers are reading from their phone or tablet. But at least hold it higher to avoid bending the neck too far and if you spend a lot of time looking at the phone or tablet give yourself a break and stretch off through your neck.
5. Heat or Ice when in Pain – Many people get relief from either warming or cooling the area. Both are good and whichever creates the most relief is the one to stick to. Generally, it’s thought that ice decreases inflammation and heat eases tight muscles. You could even alternate. Take care with both hot and cold to avoid burns (including ice burns) use for up to 5 minutes.
6. Have an eye Test – If you find yourself struggling to see clearly and craning forward to read you might want to get your eyes tested to allow you to read without craning. Craning forward can put unnecessary load on your neck joints and muscles resulting in aches and pains.
7. Breath from your Diaphragm – Four muscles on each side of the neck (8 total) are referred to as accessory breathing muscles. They lift the chest to help with the intake of air. Breathing from the diaphragm can help take the load off these muscles. Also diaphragm breathing can be therapeutic for stress relief which may help ease tension in the neck. Here’s a great video on Diaphragm Breathing Techniques

We all want to feel great and look good for the summer. Summer is the time for getting outside more, holidaying, gardening, or playing ball with the kids. Bright early mornings, warm sunny days, and mild evenings, it’s hard to resist getting out and enjoying it. O.K…. So perhaps the Great British Summer can be a bit hit and miss. But that just highlights the reason we need to grab, enjoy, and get the most out of our sunny days.

The transition from winter to summer has arrived and its time we make the transition to our summer lives. It’s time to say farewell to our TV, winter feasts, Gadgets, and warm clothes and reintroduce ourselves to our bicycles, summer wear,  gardens and local parks. Exercise and movement is good for our bodies and naturally we are drawn to green space, which is good for wellbeing. Interestingly, research has showed that urban living in greener cities improves health and wellbeing (take a look at this article if your interested) and our lovely Bristol is among the top cities for green space in the UK.

So how can an Osteopath check up help you get ready for summer?

 

You might not be in pain but perhaps a little less flexible than you were last summer, maybe you’re getting more active already and experiencing some aches that you feel really shouldn’t be there. We can help.

As Osteopaths we look at how your body functions from head to toe and how a restriction in one part of your body impacts another part. We want to get to the bottom of what is going on and work to improve the way your whole body functions.  Like a full service for your body, correcting a problem before it goes wrong or causes pain.

Our bodies are amazing at compensating. Us humans wouldn’t be where we are today if we couldn’t compensate for all kinds of problems. An example of this could be a stiff neck from sleeping awkwardly. You’re still able to do your daily tasks, but maybe looking over your shoulder is harder. But the body has limits on how much it can compensate, a niggle here, stiff there, all adds and can eventually cause pain. Think of an empty glass, and each time you experience one of these little niggles you fill the glass slightly until it starts to over flow. Our aim is to stop the glass from overflowing or to empty it. Taking you back to a point where your body is functioning great and not having to compensate.

For more information on how you can benefit from a check-up with your Osteopath, or to book. Call Pure Health Osteopath Clinic on 01179 000 935. Or email: info@osteopath.clinic