Neck Pain

About Neck Pain

Neck pain is one of the most common types of chronic pain. Pain in the neck can arise from many sources, including the nerves, muscles, joints, and discs. Neck pain can also be felt or experienced in the head, shoulders, or upper back, or radiate into the arms. Finding the likely source of your pain can therefore be challenging, but is very important because effective treatment is dependent upon proper diagnosis.

Common Causes of Neck Pain

As we age, our lifetime spent as upright beings fighting the inexorable forces of gravity takes its toll on the structures of the neck. On imaging tests such as X-rays, CT scans and MRI scans, virtually everyone over the age of 50 shows some changes due to “wear and tear.” Additional contributors to neck pain may include:

• Whiplash
• Arthritis
• Injury/Trauma
• Pinched Nerves

Identifying the cause of the pain often requires a great deal of detective work; the X-ray or scan is just one small piece of the puzzle. Because of this, Dr. Greenberg is experienced at treating you—not your MRI scan. While degenerated discs and joints seen on MRIs are not necessarily the source of pain, they can be a contributor, and proper diagnostic testing can confirm this. Facet nerve blocks, nerve root blocks, and on occasion discography are all interventions that can be used to differentiate the myriad of causes of chronic neck pain, and lead to appropriate treatment with favorable outcomes.

Treatments available at Advanced Pain Care include:

• Perineural Injection Therapy (PIT)
• Orthobiologic Therapy
• Spinal Injections