Intense or serious neck pain can be quite debilitating.  Neck pain that is often intense can lead to missed time from work, poor concentration, low energy, and sleep disturbance. Often neck pain is accompanied with stiff neck, muscle tightness or muscle spasms, and headaches.

What causes serious neck pain?

Some causes of neck pain include, acute injury, car accident/whiplash, fall, infection, pain from chronic headaches, spinal mis-alignment, stress, nerve pain, or trauma to the area. Neck pain such as whiplash can occur after a car accident or a fall and require more involved treatment. Stress can often lead to neck pain and lead to muscle pain and other symptoms such as headache or sleep issues.

Neck pain often is associated with stiff or tight upper neck or back muscles. People also present with headaches, numbness or tingling down arms, and pain in other areas especially the shoulders and mid-back.

Ways to relieve pain:

The #1 way to provide relief for neck muscle pain is to find the underlying cause. Proper assessment and diagnosis should always be done to ensure adequate treatment. In cases of severe neck pain most often the underlying cause is around inflammation leading to the cycling of a pain-spasm cycle. Studies have shown that using neural or trigger point therapeutic injections can calm the nerve inflammation and stop the pain-spasm cycle leading to lasting pain relief. Injections are typically formulated with either 5% Dextrose, or lidocaine and homeopathic remedy to calm the inflammation. Patients report at their second treatment a 25% reduction in chronic pain. Typically only 4-6 treatments are needed.

At our clinic we use a combined approach of trigger point/therapeutic injections and acupuncture to provide a whole-body care plan. Injections stop the pain-spasm cycle, acupuncture helps to boost the bodies natural ability to heal itself to provide lasting health and vitality (and long term anti-inflammatory benefits…plus improved sleep and energy).

To learn more about therapeutic injections read one of our other articles here.

Acupuncture Has A More Lasting Affect

Acupuncture is an important tool in the relief and treatment of neck pain. Not only can people find relief in their initial session but also acupuncture works to address the underlying cause to prevent pain from returning. Most people describe acupuncture as having a more lasting affect than massage and they feel like they had a deep tissue massage after getting acupuncture. Acupuncture can help to relieve muscle pain and spasms and has been shown to be an effective treatment for acute and chronic pain.

If you suffer from serious neck pain and looking to find relief, give our office a call today at (425) 686-4498.

We can help you get pain-free fast!

***Note most WA state insurance plans cover therapeutic injections and at least 12 acupuncture visits a year. Each plan is different so we will check your plan prior to your visit.