How to Find Relief from Radiating Neck Pain

Neck pain alone is bad enough. It can prevent you from turning your head and keep you up at night. But sometimes, neck pain doesn’t stay in your neck. Instead, it radiates down into your shoulder, arm, and even your hand, amplifying your discomfort.

Don’t worry. The team at Harter Physical Therapy can help resolve or manage radiating neck pain (officially known as cervical radiculopathy). Our physical therapists can help pinpoint why you’re experiencing symptoms and provide strategies to overcome them.

In fact, we did exactly this for a recent patient, Melissa. Keep reading to learn what we did for Melissa — or call our clinic to learn what we can do for you. 

Interpreting Melissa’s Symptoms to Find the Cause

Melissa was in her early 60s when she began to experience a sharp pain in her neck. At first, she thought she could just ignore it until it went away. But then she began experiencing these additional symptoms:

• Pain that spread down into her shoulder and arm
• Numbness and tingling along the back of her arm and into her middle finger
• A sense of weakness in her tricep muscle

The only thing that seemed to help her symptoms was lifting her hand over her head, but obviously, this wasn’t a permanent solution.

Our team conducted a thorough evaluation to get to the root of Melissa’s pain — literally. We traced her symptoms to her C7 nerve root, located at the base of her neck. The nerve there was irritated by a herniated disc in Melissa’s cervical spine. Because the affected nerve spread down to her finger, she felt her symptoms throughout her arm.

Addressing the Cause to Help Melissa Find Relief

Most people experience herniated discs in their lower back. However, cervical herniated discs can happen — and just like their more common counterparts, physical therapy is a great choice for resolving the condition. Here’s what we did for Melissa:

Step 1: Manage Acute Pain

We helped Melissa identify that her symptoms were worse when she turned her head to the left and when she tried to sleep on her side. To help her get a good night’s sleep, we provided her with a cervical pillow and suggested she sleep on her back for the time being.

During our sessions, we used soft tissue manipulation to help the muscles in Melissa’s neck and shoulder relax and to promote blood circulation to the area, which would help her herniated disc heal. We also gently guided her neck through its current range of motion to start working on her neck’s mobility.

Step 2: Stretch and Strengthen

Melissa’s herniated disc had likely developed due to age-related degeneration in Melissa’s cervical discs. This was compounded by the fact that Melissa was a writer who spent a great deal of time sitting at her desk, which negatively affected her posture.

To counteract these issues, we guided Melissa through several exercises designed to improve her range of motion and strengthen the muscles of her neck and upper back. The strengthening exercises were particularly important, as they helped support Melissa’s cervical spine.

Step 3: Prevent Future Occurrences 

After six weeks of physical therapy, Melissa’s symptoms had largely resolved. However, we wanted to ensure she didn’t suffer another cervical herniated disc. We did a couple of things to help her accomplish this:

Suggest Simple Lifestyle Modifications: The fact that Melissa spent so much time sitting increased the likelihood of her developing a herniated disc. We helped her devise a plan to take frequent breaks throughout the day using a kitchen timer: 30 minutes of work, then 5 minutes of standing up and stretching.

Corrected Her Posture: We helped Melissa recognize when she was holding her spine in alignment, regardless of what she was doing.

Created an Ergonomic Workstation: We worked with Melissa to redesign her computer workstation so that her monitor was at eye level — meaning she wouldn’t have to strain her neck to look at her screen.

Sources: https://www.choosept.com/guide/physical-therapy-guide-cervical-radiculopathy, https://www.physio-pedia.com/Cervical_Radiculopathy

What Can I Expect During a Physical Therapy Session?

At Harter Physical Therapy, we want to ensure all of our patients feel comfortable when they see us. Visiting a new healthcare professional can be nerve-wracking for many, but knowing what you can expect during your appointments helps ease your concerns.

The Initial Appointment

Your initial appointment is a chance for us to learn more about you and your condition. This is not like a check-up at the doctor’s office, which tends to be pretty cursory. Instead, you can expect a comprehensive evaluation lasting up to an hour. We’ll…

• Review your health history.
• Discuss your symptoms in detail.
• Conduct movement screens that allow us to examine your strength, mobility, balance, and more.
• Share your personalized treatment plan.

Subsequent Appointments

During your subsequent appointments, we’ll guide you through your treatment program. Physical therapy sessions are active, so wear loose, comfortable clothes that allow you to move freely. 

The details of each of your sessions will vary based on your needs and prescribed plan, but here’s an example of a typical session to give you an idea of what to expect:

• Manual therapy or other pain management techniques, if needed
• A brief warm-up (such as a series of mobility work, riding a stationary bike, or walking on the treadmill)
• Your prescribed therapeutic exercises
  • Our PTs will guide you through each one to ensure you’re performing it correctly
  • We’ll also track your progress, increasing (or decreasing) intensity as needed
• A brief cool-down and review of your program

We also typically prescribe home exercise programs (HEPs). As the name suggests, these are exercises that you can perform at home. It’s essential that you don’t skip them! Completing your HEPs will help you make the most of your time in the clinic.

Want more personalized guidance about what to expect during your session? Call to talk to our friendly staff today!