mechanical disorders causing neck pain
Last reviewed 01/2018
- muscular spasm: bad posture whilst sleeping, operating a word processor, sitting or carrying unbalanced loads may lead to acute spasm of the neck muscles. In extreme cases spasmodic torticollis may occur
- degenerative changes: degenerative changes in the cervical spine, cervical spondylosis may lead to neck pain, though symptoms are often related to use and can be relieved in part by supporting the neck for example with a collar.
- cervical nerve entrapment: traumatic and age related changes to the cervical vertebrae may lead to disc prolapse, osteophyte formation, apophyseal joint or ligamentous hypertrophy and these may in turn lead to mechanical entrapment of cervical nerve roots. This results in referred pain and abnormalities detectable on formal neurological examination.