Have you ever had a crick in your neck? Or that annoying muscle spasm that just won’t go away? Or how about those rock hard muscles in your neck and shoulders from working too long slumped over a computer, desk, or steering wheel? Well, chances are you have or you will.

Neck pain is very prominent in society today. Most neck pain will be caused by degenerating discs in the neck, herniated or bulging discs, pinched nerves, whiplash injuries, or muscle spasms. These conditions can result in neck pain or cervical pain.

There are over 15 muscles of the neck and shoulders protecting and stabilizing the upper back. And each one can become fatigued or spastic. These acute problems can often lead to chronic long-lasting spasms or tension in the neck. Unfortunately, as this muscle tension can be caused by daily activities, if someone does not break the situation that is causing the spasm, the short-term muscle spasm can become long-term chronic pain.

I have many patients who come to me with long-term neck and shoulder pain, for many years. They find it very difficult to understand the pain they have may be coming from muscle tension. However, I try to get them to realize daily activities can be hurting them. The daily activities include phone calls, typing, texting, computer work, paperwork, and driving. Furthermore, not only can it affect pain, it can propagate it. How a person simply goes through the day with their posture can be one of the biggest obstacles to curing muscle pain.

One of the best things I can educate my patients to do is maintain proper posture to help with neck and shoulder pain. The pain that stems from chronic muscle tension can also be known as myofascial pain.

Myofascial pain can be treated with many different conservative modalities. Most common techniques include heat, ice, stretching, chiropractor, physical therapy, acupuncture, massage, and TENS units, which stands for Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation. These are stickers placed on the skin connected to a battery pack that stimulates the muscles to help relax the muscles.

Another commonly used modality, but more invasive, is trigger point injections. Trigger point injection involves injecting local anesthetic into spastic muscle to help break up the spasm. Some doctors will choose to add steroid to this mixture. These techniques can provide benefit, however, if the cause is not removed such as the previously mentioned daily activities, the tension will most likely return and consequently, so will the pain.

This is one reason chronic muscle tension can be so hard to treat. People try these measures; get relief, but then go back to their normal activities. They don’t realize they are only going right back to the cause of the problem. They will usually need to break the cycle to obtain long lasting benefit and possibly a cure. I encourage my patients to try any of these modalities. But fundamentally, each person needs to try to correct his or her posture and daily activities that may be propagating these problems to help maintain their benefit. If these more conservative measures do not work, the patient may need to try more advanced techniques and should seek medical advice.