Head & Neck Pain Services in Chattanooga & Cleveland, TN
Neck Pain
The neck requires correct alignment, proper movement, strength and stability to work correctly. The neck or cervical spine has to hold of the head, which is around 10-12lbs (the weight of a bowling ball). With injury or prolonged poor posture (for example sitting at a computer), change in alignment, weakness and instability start to occur. This irritates the structures of the neck and can even impinge on the nerves exiting the neck, or the central canal protecting the spinal cord.
At physical therapy, a thorough evaluation of your neck is done to determine your range of motion, strength, posture and alignment. Sometimes, where the pain is occurring, is not the source of the problem. Often a limitation in movement above or below the painful area is causing excessive pressure or poor function of the painful area. With gentle hands on therapy, special exercises and treatments such as ultrasound or electrical stimulation, we can relieve your pain, restore motion and get you back to activities quickly without neck pain.
Whiplash
Whiplash is most common in motor vehicle accidents. The weight of the head and spine is whipped back and forth with the fast movement of an accident or fall. The muscles in the neck don't have time to react, and the harsh forces strain and tear muscles, ligaments and other tissues. In severe cases, fractures can occur in the neck vertebrae.
Due to initial shock from an accident, pain may not be present at first. Whiplash usually feels worse 1–2 days after the injury as inflammation sets in and tissues swell. This causes headaches, pain with movement, and numbness/tingling in the upper extremities.
After whiplash, the neck muscles may remain weak. Strengthening and postural exercises help maintain neck stability after a whiplash injury.
Our therapists will work with your physician on the appropriate treatment to help you recover. Treament begins with gentle, hands-on therapy and massage as well as ultrasound and electrical stimulation to relieve pain and help tissues recover.
After initial therapy, we restore your range of motion with gentle exercises. As your pain reduces and you gain range of motion, strengthening and postural exercises will be introduced to lead you to recovery.
Headaches & Migraines
Over 45 million Americans suffer from headaches. While there are many different “triggers,” such as alcohol, chocolate, scents, and other factors, for headaches and migraines, most suffers have an underlying neck problem that causes the headaches. These are called “cervico-genic headaches”.
Headaches and migraines are often spasms of the arteries in the scalp or base of the neck, triggering a whirlwind of abnormal electrical activity in the brain. This can cause a variety of symptoms depending on where this occurs in the head. When stressed, our neck muscles tense on a chronic basis, and supporting our head all day long causes them to become irritated. Along with other triggers, this can start a headache or migraine. It is why many headache and migraine sufferers have symptoms later in the day.
Our trained physical therapists look for many different factors that can be causing your headache or migraine. Examples are incorrect alignment or posture, muscle strength of the neck, upper back and shoulders, joint movement in the neck, and more.
If there are limitations in movement or strength in the neck or upper back, this will be addressed to restore your normal mobility. This also increases blood flow in the area, reducing the spasms that can occur. In addition, our therapists will give you techniques you can use to prevent future headaches.
Dizziness & Vertigo
Vertigo and dizziness can be the result of a variety of different factors. Vertigo or benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) can occur because of calcium crystals that form in the inner ear labyrinth canals. These canals give feedback about balance to your brain.
Dizziness can occur for a variety of reasons, including issues with medication. Issues with mobility of the neck joints and muscles can also affect dizziness. When this occurs, the major arteries in the neck which supply the back portion of the brain that control balance and orientation can be affected.
Our physical therapists perform a thorough examination of your balance and vestibular symptoms. We evaluate your visual movements, positioning of your head, neck mobility and balance. At times, we may need to provoke symptoms to determine the exact mechanism of your vertigo or dizziness.
If you are suffering with dizziness and vertigo, you can benefit from physical therapy intervention to improve symptoms and increase your neck mobility. There are specific vestibular and balance exercises that are performed to settle the calcium deposits in the inner ear and improve your balance systems. Call us today to discover how we can stop your vertigo or dizziness and make you feel like yourself again.
Arthritis
Wear and tear over time can lead to changes in the neck's joints and bones. These changes, along with poor posture, cause bony spurs that rub and irritate surrounding tissue.
Spinal stenosis occurs when spurs protrude into our spinal cord canal. Spinal Stenosis can cause a variety of symptoms including chronic pain and numbness and tingling in the arms. In severe cases, poor balance, leg pain, and walking difficulty can occur.
People with neck osteoarthritis can experience chronic pain, stiffness, and limited range of motion. Pain may be worse in the morning or after prolonged sitting.
People with rheumatoid arthritis can also suffer from neck pain. This is because ligaments in the upper neck often weaken and become more injury-prone.
Our physical therapists assess your range of joint mobility, strength, and posture. Then we determine the best treatment plan, which may involve gentle hands-on therapy to restore joint range of motion, massage to improve muscle mobility and strength, and range of motion exercises as well as postural re–training.
Our physical therapists work with you and your physician to restore movement, eliminate pain, and let you enjoy your normal activities. Call us today to relieve your neck pain quickly!
Head and Neck Post-Surgery Rehabilitation
There are many different types of surgeries that are necessary for stabilizing the neck or cervical spine. Common surgeries include “cervical fusion” and “discectomy”. In a cervical fusion one or more bones (vertebrae) are fused in the neck to stabilize the area. This may be due to fractures or for other reasons such as the removal of a disc between the vertebrae “discectomy”.
After surgery, our physical therapists work with you and your physician to follow a specific protocol of rehabilitation that reduces pain quickly, improves motion, increases strength, minimizes swelling and returns you to activities as soon as possible. Call us today to learn more about our post-surgery rehabilitation program.
Concussion
Symptoms of concussion include: Feeling “foggy”, disorientation, dizziness after injury, headaches.
Our concussion expert helps rebuild dual task training, audio and visual reaction time, mobility, balance training. Our program will monitor the patient during exercise for progression and safe return to life and sport.