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Neck Pain & Posture

We all have fond memories of our mothers and fathers telling us to “sit up straight”. The logic behind this advice was both for aesthetics and the strength of our backs. As an adult with neck pain, you may find yourself trying to heed that advice in an attempt to correct your chronic pain. However, while good posture is always important, it won’t necessarily fix the pains you are experiencing in your neck. Many of our patients come into our clinic thinking their posture is to blame for their pain and we have to bust that myth and explain that it isn’t. Here’s why posture isn’t to blame for your pain and isn’t a serious part of the solution.  

What Causes Neck Pain?

While there are some more serious causes of neck and back pain the most common non-trauma causes of back pain are; stress, poor sleep, and lack of physical activity. If we simply make some changes in how we live our lives our back pain could seriously decrease. Try getting just an hour or two more of sleep a night, or try implementing exercise into your daily life. Not only will this help your back pain, but it will help your overall health. 

Recent studies have shown that people that had the most neck pain were those with the highest amount of stress in their lives. Stress causes our muscles to tense up and can make it hard for muscles to relax. 

Lack of sleep is another major cause of neck pain. Children are even now reporting neck pain due to decreased sleep. These children are also reporting more headaches, stomachs, and bad moods when compared to their peers due to the lack of sleep.  

What are Neck Pain Treatment Options?

Reducing stress is the best place to start when attempting to find relief for chronic neck pain. We understand that this is easier said than done, however. Try taking one step a day to decrease your stress. Focus on your breath, find healthy ways to destress, eliminate high points of stress. 

Sometimes the cause of our pain is not just stress, however. Other times it is only one piece of the pain puzzle. When the neck and back pain symptoms need to be treated there are options.  Long term pain medications can be addictive so the North Texas Pain Institute has a variety of alternative options to help alleviate your pain. Give us a call today to see how we can help 972-366-4133.

For more Information Visit Mayo Clinic