Neck Pain Treatment in Cherry Hill, NJ That Gets You Moving Again

What Is Neck Pain, and What Does It Feel Like?

Neck pain is pain or stiffness anywhere in the cervical spine, the seven small bones that run from the base of your skull to the top of your shoulders. Your neck holds up a head that weighs roughly ten pounds and lets it turn, tilt and nod all day. That’s a lot of work for a small group of muscles, joints and discs. Neck pain affects roughly 10% to 20% of adults, and it becomes more common with age, so if yours is slowing you down, you’re far from alone.

Therapists usually split neck pain into two types:

• Axial neck pain stays in the neck. It may feel achy, tight or sharp when you move.
• Radicular pain spreads from the neck into the shoulder, arm or hand, often with numbness, tingling or weakness. This usually points to an irritated nerve.

Why Does the Back of My Neck Hurt?

Pain at the back of the neck most often comes from tight or overworked muscles that hold your head up, such as the upper trapezius and the small muscles at the base of the skull. Long hours looking down at a screen, a forward-head posture or a hard workout can overload them. This type of pain often brings headaches at the base of the skull along with it.

What Causes Lower Neck Pain?

Lower neck pain, where the neck meets the shoulders and upper back, is often linked to rounded shoulders, a weak upper back and long periods of sitting. It can also come from the lower neck joints or discs. If the ache spreads between your shoulder blades or down one arm, have a physical therapist check it.

Stiff Neck and Shoulders: Why They Often Go Together

The muscles that move your neck also attach to your shoulder blades. When one area tightens up, the other usually follows. That’s why a stiff neck often comes with tight, sore shoulders, especially after a stressful week or a long drive. Treating both areas together usually works better than treating either one alone. If your shoulder is the main problem, learn more about our shoulder pain treatment options.

Symptoms You Should Not Brush Off

• Pain that gets worse when you hold one position, such as driving or working at a screen
• Stiffness that makes it hard to turn your head to check a blind spot
• Muscle tightness or spasms in the neck and upper shoulders
• Headaches that start at the base of your skull
• Stabbing or burning pain
• Numbness, tingling or weakness spreading into the shoulder or arm

Common Neck Pain Causes in Athletes and Active Adults

Most neck pain causes fall into a few groups. Knowing which one fits your case shapes how we treat it.

Muscle Strain and Posture

This is the most common cause we see. Slouching at a desk, looking down at a phone or sitting still for more than six hours a day overloads the muscles and joints that support your head. Over time, those muscles tighten, tire and start to hurt.

Pulled Neck Muscle or Neck Sprain

A strain is an injury to a muscle or tendon. A sprain is an injury to the ligaments that hold the neck joints together. Both can come from a sudden movement, a hard tackle or check, lifting something heavy with poor form, or simply sleeping in an awkward position.

Worn Joints and Aging

As we get older, the joints and discs in the neck can wear down. Conditions such as osteoarthritis and spinal stenosis can cause stiffness and pain, especially first thing in the morning.

Herniated Discs and Pinched Nerves

When a disc bulges or a bone spur narrows the space around a nerve, pain can travel into the arm along with tingling or weakness. This is the radicular pain described above.

Whiplash and Sports Injuries

Car accidents, falls and contact sports can snap the head forward and back quickly. That can strain muscles, sprain ligaments and irritate the joints of the neck. Whiplash is one of the injuries we treat often.

Stress and Tension

Stress makes many people clench their neck and shoulder muscles without noticing. Over days and weeks, that constant tightness can turn into real pain.

Pulled a Muscle in Your Neck? Here’s What to Know

A pulled neck muscle usually feels like a sharp or aching pain on one side of the neck, with stiffness that makes it hard to turn your head. It’s often worst in the first day or two. The pain is real, but most neck muscle strains respond well to the right care.

How Long Does a Pulled Muscle in the Neck Take to Heal?

It depends on how bad the strain is. Many mild strains feel noticeably better within a few days to two weeks. A more serious strain or neck sprain can take several weeks or longer to fully settle. If your pain isn’t improving after about a week, keeps coming back or comes with arm symptoms, a physical therapy evaluation can help you recover with more confidence.

How to Heal a Pulled Neck Muscle

• Calm it down first. Ease off the activity that hurt it, but don’t stay still all day. Long bed rest tends to make stiffness worse.
• Use cold, then heat. Ice can help in the first 48 to 72 hours. After that, heat helps relax tight muscles.
• Keep it moving gently. Slow, pain-free head turns and tilts help keep the neck from locking up.
• Get guided rehab. A physical therapist can loosen the tight tissue, restore motion and add strength work so the strain is less likely to come back.

Our muscle strain treatment uses the same step-by-step approach for strains anywhere in the body.

How to Treat Neck Pain From Sleeping Wrong

Waking up with a stiff neck is very common. Try a warm shower or a heating pad to relax the muscles, then move your head slowly through small, comfortable ranges. Over the next few nights, use a pillow that keeps your neck level with your spine, and favor sleeping on your back or side instead of your stomach with your head twisted to one side. If the stiffness doesn’t ease within a few days, or it keeps happening, let us take a look.

When to See a Neck Specialist

See a sports physical therapist if your neck pain:

• Lasts more than a week without getting better
• Keeps coming back
• Limits your training, work or sleep
• Spreads into your shoulder, arm or hand

In New Jersey, you can start physical therapy without a doctor’s referral. Learn how direct access physical therapy in NJ works. For more signs that it’s time to get help, read our guide on when to see a sports physical therapist.

When Neck Pain Needs Urgent Medical Care

Get emergency care right away if neck pain comes with any of the following:

• Pain after a car accident, fall or direct blow to the head or neck
• Severe stiffness with a fever or a bad headache
• Loss of bladder or bowel control
• Leg weakness, poor balance or trouble walking
• A sudden severe headache, dizziness, vision changes or slurred speech
• Numbness or weakness in the arms or legs that keeps getting worse