Neck and Shoulder Pain: Symptoms, Causes and How Massage Therapy Can Help You!
Are you experiencing neck and shoulder pain? Is it stopping you from doing your work or activities you love to do?
Neck and shoulder pain is commonly seen across the board in all ages. With many of us working from home or back in the office working away on computers or even students going back to school it’s easy for us to fall into hunching over keyboards.
Have you ever wondered if getting a massage can help relieve your aches and pains? As many believe, massages are just to relax….but did you know that it’s also helpful with speeding up recovery and healing?
Keep reading to learn more about what you can do to reduce your neck and shoulder pain!
What are the common causes of neck pain?
Neck pain is a very common occurrence, and there are many reasons for how you’re feeling including:
- Poor Posture: It’s typical for us to always be reaching forward which has our neck in a flexed position as we are on our phones or computers. This causes your muscles to lengthen (or stretch) on the back of your neck and shorten on the front side of your neck. This can lead to chronic tightness in some muscles as well as weakness in other muscles which can be a big reason for why we feel neck pain.
- Stress: With an overload of personal and work stress it is common for us to hold this stress within our neck and shoulders. As a result we hold our shoulders close to our ears creating extra tension and persistent pain
- Whiplash Injuries: this is a condition that occurs when the head is rapidly whipped forward and back commonly seen after car accidents. There are levels of severity which can affect bones, joints, muscles and nerves of the surrounding area.
- Herniated Discs: This can occur from an injury, repetitive strain on the disc with day-to-day activities, or as a park of degeneration of a disc.
- Thoracic Outlet Syndrome: Occurs when the blood supply and nerves are compressed by tight muscles in the neck or chest causing pain, numbness and tingling in the neck to the fingers.
- Arthritis: inflammation of the joint caused by wear and tear of the joints within the spine.
- Muscle Tightness and Joint Stiffness
What are the common causes of Shoulder Pain?
The shoulder is a complex surrounded by many muscles, bones and ligaments. Oftentimes the joint is overworked and can be easily compromised causing pain.
- Strains: occurs suddenly from trauma or could occur from degeneration causing tears in the muscle.
- Tendonitis: Overuse injury causing inflammation in the tendon. Commonly seen in the Bicep tendon and rotator cuff muscles.
- Impingement: This occurs when the tendon of a muscle is being pinched by surrounding structures during lifting.
- Instability: Weakened muscles of the shoulder joint and laxed ligaments cause unsteady joints and pain during lifting. This could lead to shoulder dislocations or separations.
Other Symptoms you might be feeling
Not only may you be experiencing neck and shoulder pain you may also experience other symptoms depending on what is causing the pain in the first place. Some other common symptoms you might be feeling can include:
- Joint Stiffness in the Neck or shoulder
- Muscle tension is Shoulder, Chest, Upper Back and Neck
- Numbness and Tingling Down the Arms and Hands
- Reduce mobility of the Head and Shoulders
- Muscle Weakness
Your therapist will perform a function assessment to get a better understanding of your condition, impairments and goals. This will ensure that you receive the best possible care that is tailored to your needs and leaves you feeling confident in your treatment process.
What are trigger points and how do they cause neck and shoulder pain?
Massage therapists often see patients experiencing muscle pain that travels from one point to another. This type of pain that travels into another area, can be coming from something called a “trigger point”.
Tigger points are irritable muscle fibers that develop overtime due to overuse of a muscle due to our posture, work habits and repetitive activities or sports we play.
Every muscle has a specific pattern in which pain travels in. When the trigger point is pressed on, pain will travel in the pattern of that muscle. Typically, trigger points in your neck will send or “refer” pain into your head or shoulder.
The trapezius muscle is a big muscle that spans across your neck and shoulders. It often holds a lot of tension from stress or day to day activities, and it often develops trigger points that can cause neck and shoulder pain.
Pain referred from a trigger point can mimic other conditions. It’s therefore very important to seek help from a massage therapist so they can examine you and find the root cause of your referred pains.
How massage therapy can help you neck and shoulder pain
Visiting your Registered Massage Therapist can help you with the neck and shoulder pain. Massage Therapy is a manual therapy which treats soft tissues, reduces muscle tension and increases range of motion. Some techniques you can expect in treatment include:
- Deep tissue massage: Targeting deep structures to help relieve tension and pain.
- Trigger Point Therapy: specific techniques to treat hyperactive areas of muscles causing referred pain.
- Swedish Massage: use of lotion, providing long strokes to increase circulation and relaxation.
- Myofascial Release: stretch of fascia (connective tissue) to increase flexibility and relieve soft tissue pain.
- Stretching: Therapist-assisted stretching helps improve flexibility of muscles and improve range of motion.
How to relieve neck and shoulder pain at home
Home care is important to maintain the progress made with your therapist. These are some techniques you can use to relieve your pain at home before and after your treatments.
- Heat: The use of a heating pad and help with relieving any sore or aching muscles and relieve tension. You can try for 10 minutes and repeat, allowing time for the skin to return to normal temperature.
- Ice: The use of an ice pack is great to relieve pain and inflammation. When using an ice application, use it for 10 minutes and repeat; allowing the skin to come back to normal temperature.
- Stretch: keeping up with the stretching will maintain your range of motion and flexibility achieved during your session with your RMT. Your therapist will advise you on home stretching for you based on your needs and goals.
- Strengthening: Targeting muscles that are weakened is essential in helping reduce pain. Your therapist will assess and establish a therapeutic exercise plan for areas that are weak and need strengthening.
Self- Massage: You can use your own hands to help with relieve your pain and relieve your muscles. Alternatively, you can use a massage gun to do the work for you.
Are you ready for your Massage?
Our team is ready to help you get back to what you love to do! Don’t live with Pain Anymore!
Contact us today to book your appointment and begin your journey to being pain free and get back to what you love doing.
This blog is written by Kayla Neves, a massage therapist here at PhysioPlus Health Group.
Is Massage Therapy safe to treat neck pain?
Yes! Massage Therapy is a safe and effective therapy to help relieve neck pain. Your therapist will assess you prior to treatment to rule out any red flags and establish a safe and effective treatment tailored for your goals and needs.
Are there any risks to having Massage Treatment?
Generally Massage Therapy is safe to receive. It is common to feel sore post- treatment for a few days following or feel dizzy after your treatment. It is important that if you’re feeling worse after your treatment, to let your therapist know so they can modify treatment for you.
Can Massage Therapists assess my injury?
Yes, Massage Therapists can assess and should perform assessment prior to your massage treatment to have a better understanding of the area of concern. This can include subjective intake, range of motion, Muscle tests, orthopedic tests, and neurological tests.T his will allow the therapist to understand the health history and contraindications to create safe and effective treatment with the results of the assessment and ensure the best outcomes of treatment.
Is Massage Therapy covered by insurance?
Yes! Registered Massage Therapy is covered by extended health insurances in Ontario. It is important to note that the Therapist must be a member in good standing with the College of Massage Therapists of Ontario.