Frequent Triggers, & How to Find Relief
It’s easy to ignore neck pain at first… until it starts interfering with how you sleep, drive or go about your day. Many of the clients we see at Body Advance say the pain crept in gradually before becoming harder to ignore. Want to say goodbye to the discomfort? Understanding the causes of neck pain is the first step towards lasting relief.
In this article, we explore the most common reasons your neck may be hurting and how we treat neck pain at our clinic.
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Understanding Neck Pain
The cervical spine, aka your neck, plays the all-important role of supporting your head. It’s home to important nerves and blood vessels, and it allows you to move your head with ease – until something goes wrong, that is. Because it’s both mobile and weight-bearing, the neck is especially vulnerable to strain. This is something we see regularly at Body Advance. For some, theirneck pain is in one place and sharp. Others describe a dull, dragging sensation or find they can’t turn their head properly. The symptoms vary, but most people can remember when the discomfort began, even if it took a while to get worse. H2: Common Causes of Neck Pain
Muscle Strain
Muscle strain is one of the most common culprits behind neck pain. It often starts with something simple: working late at a screen, holding your head in a fixed position for too long or twisting awkwardly without support.
Some clients mention they were reading in bed, others were painting a ceiling or spending more time than usual on their phone. Over time, these small habits can create tightness that limits movement and leaves your neck feeling sore and sensitive.
Poor Posture
We see this all the time: a head carried too far forward, rounded shoulders and a back that’s no longer doing its fair share of the work.
Poor posture affects the alignment of the cervical spine and increases the load on the muscles that support it. The longer you hold these positions – whether at your desk, behind the wheel or on the sofa – the more your body adapts to them. And while your body is incredibly good at adapting, it sometimes does so in ways that aren’t helpful.
Nerve Impingement
A pinched nerve in the neck occurs when a nerve becomes compressed or irritated. It can cause pain in the neck, tingling and numbness in the arm and hand, and shoulder weakness. This kind of nerve impingement can happen when a disc presses into the nerve root. It can also occur when joint changes (like osteoarthritis) cause the spaces where nerves exit the spine to narrow. It’s not always dramatic. Sometimes it’s a slow degeneration, but the symptoms can be very noticeable either way.
Whiplash and Injury
Whiplash is usually associated with car accidents, but any sudden movement that forces the neck beyond its usual range can cause this soft tissue injury.
The pain doesn’t always show up straight away, it may take a day or two to settle in. Once it does, it can feel like a general aching, a pulling sensation or a heavy pressure in the base of the skull.
An Ageing Cervical Spine
As we get older, the joints and discs in our neck change. This process is natural, and most people will have some degeneration in their cervical spine by midlife, even without symptoms. When these changes begin to limit movement or irritate nearby nerves, pain often follows. It’s not always about “wear and tear”. The bigger issue is often how the rest of the body responds to the neck moving less effectively than it should.
How Poor Posture Affects Neck Pain
Poor posture doesn’t cause neck pain overnight, it builds up gradually. Many of the clients we see didn’t notice anything was wrong until their neck started to feel tight before becoming sore and painful to move. The most common pattern we see is forward head posture, where the head moves in front of the shoulders and puts extra strain on the neck. For every few centimetres the head moves forward, the strain on your neck muscles increases significantly. That’s why people often feel worse after sitting still for too long or looking down for extended periods. We don’t focus on getting people to sit or stand “perfectly.” Instead, we help them become aware of their habits and give them ways to move more often and with better support.
Treatment & Prevention
Neck pain is rarely something you have to put up with. The right treatment can make a big difference, whether your pain is new, ongoing or linked to a specific event.
Manual Therapy and Rehabilitation
Our hands-on approach helps reduce tension and improve movement. This might involve joint mobilisation, soft tissue work or targeted stretching – depending on what your body needs.
We don’t stop at symptom relief. Rehab exercises play a central role in helping your neck regain function and resilience. We guide you through movements that are both practical and manageable, prioritising ones you can do at home with minimal equipment.
Postural Coaching and Movement Guidance
We don’t expect clients to sit up straight for hours or change everything overnight. Instead, we work together to find small, effective adjustments that make daily life more comfortable.
This might mean shifting how you hold your phone, changing your computer monitor height or finding a better sleeping position. These changes don’t need to be complicated; they just need to work for you.
Exercise for Strength and Flexibility
The goal is to give your neck and upper back enough strength and flexibility to cope with what you ask of it. We focus on improving support around the shoulders and spine so that your neck isn’t doing all the work. Movements are adapted based on how you respond; nothing too much or too soon.
Stress and Tension Management
Stress has a way of showing up physically. When people feel under pressure, they often clench their jaw or hold themselves rigid without realising. Part of our approach includes recognising how stress could be contributing to your symptoms and giving you simple, sustainable tools to unwind tension. If you want to talk about your neck pain with a sports injury specialist, speak to our friendly team at Body Advance today.
Your Neck Pain FAQs Answered
Can stress cause neck pain?
Yes, and it’s more common than people think. When you’re tense, muscles in your neck and shoulders can stay tight for hours. This can lead to pain, stiffness and sometimes tension headaches.
When should I see a doctor for neck pain?
If your pain doesn’t ease within a week, keeps you from sleeping or moving normally or is accompanied by numbness, weakness, or tingling, it’s worth getting it checked out.
What are the best sleeping positions for neck pain?
Most people find lying on their back or side more comfortable than sleeping on their front. The aim is to keep your neck supported without forcing it into an unnatural position. A medium-firm pillow that holds your head in line with your spine is usually a good place to start.