Neck pain can occur from the top of your shoulders to the bottom of your head and is commonly experienced by most people, at some point in their life.
Common causes of neck pain include:
- sitting at an awkward angle watching TV, reading a book or even talking on the phone
- sitting at a desk in an uncomfortable posture
- sleeping with a pillow that is too high or too flat or sleeping on your stomach
- muscle tension as the result of worry or stress
- overdoing activities such as painting or gardening.
In most cases, the pain will often last less than a few weeks but can be very debilitating, affecting your everyday activities.
It is important to see your GP if:
- Your neck pain came on following a fall or trauma.
- You have pain, tingling, numbness or weakness in your arms or legs.
- You have dizziness, have had blackouts, double vision, slurred speech or problems swallowing following the onset of neck pain.
- You suddenly develop stiffness in the neck along with stiffness in both shoulders.
To relieve neck pain we have shared some simple exercises in our leaflet.
You can download, save or print our leaflet by clicking on the image (left) or on the link below.
Neck Exercises A4 format
Cervical Myelopathy
It is common as you get older to have age related changes in your neck and for most people this does not cause any problems. However, in a small percentage of people this progresses and causes pressure on the spinal cord, known as degenerative Cervical Myelopathy.
Please click here for an information sheet on Cervical Myelopathy.
If you need more help
If you have a new injury or problem, please look at the self help information in our advice pages. We will complete the same exercises and share the same information in clinic appointments.
If you need still need more help you can self refer into our service. Please note that the NHS is currently experiencing longer than normal waits, for more information visit our waiting times and self referral page