Neck Pain

Neck pain is one of the most common conditions physiotherapists treat, and most people experience at least one significant episode over their lifetime. The neck is a remarkably mobile part of the spine, supporting the weight of the head — around five kilograms — through a wide range of movement, which makes it vulnerable to the cumulative effects of posture, stress and sustained positions in a way many people don’t fully appreciate until pain sets in.

Neck pain is rarely caused by a single incident. More often it’s a build-up of factors — prolonged desk work, poor sitting posture, stress, and reduced mobility through the neck and upper back — though trauma such as whiplash from a car accident, a fall, or a sports collision can also be the direct cause. The neck doesn’t work in isolation either: poor mobility or stability in the lower back and pelvis can alter posture further up the spine and contribute to problems in the neck, which is why a thorough assessment looks at more than just the painful area itself.

What causes neck pain

Restrictions can develop within the small joints of the neck, often from sustained postures like looking down at a phone or screen for long periods, which places the neck in a position it’s not designed to hold for hours at a time. This can irritate the surrounding nerve supply and lead to protective muscle tightness and guarding around the neck and shoulders. Stress is a significant, often underestimated contributor too — many people unconsciously hold tension in the neck and upper trapezius muscles during stressful periods, which compounds any existing mechanical restriction. Less commonly, neck pain relates to disc-related irritation or nerve compression, where pain, numbness or pins and needles refer down into the arm.

Symptoms

Neck pain can range from a dull, nagging ache to sharp, limiting pain that restricts how far you can turn or tilt your head. It’s often accompanied by stiffness first thing in the morning or after long periods at a desk, headaches — particularly at the base of the skull — or pain referring into the shoulders, upper back and, less commonly, down one arm.

When to see a physiotherapist

Most neck pain is mechanical in nature and responds well to physiotherapy. However, see Andrew urgently, rather than booking a routine appointment, if neck pain follows a trauma such as a car accident, fall or collision, or if it’s accompanied by numbness, tingling or weakness down an arm, dizziness, difficulty with coordination, or unexplained weight loss. These findings warrant a thorough assessment to rule out more serious causes before starting a standard treatment programme.

Physiotherapy treatment for neck pain

Andrew’s assessment looks at the whole picture — not just the neck itself, but posture, workstation setup and how the rest of the spine may be contributing — before building a treatment plan combining:

• Manual therapy and spinal mobilisation techniques to restore normal movement through restricted joints in the neck and upper back
• Dry needling and trigger point therapy for the tight, guarding muscles around the neck and shoulders that commonly accompany restricted joints
• Exercise rehabilitation — a tailored programme targeting neck mobility, postural endurance and the deep stabilising muscles that support the neck through the working day
• Postural and workstation advice addressing the desk setup and daily habits that tend to build tension and restriction over time

What to expect from treatment

Most people notice a meaningful reduction in pain and improvement in neck movement within the first few sessions, particularly where restricted joints and muscle tension are the main driver. The postural and strength changes that make a recurrence less likely take longer to embed, and are usually the focus once the acute pain has settled — this is why the home exercise programme matters as much as the hands-on treatment in the clinic.

Preventing recurrence

Because so much of neck pain is linked to sustained posture and desk-based habits, small changes — regular movement breaks, workstation adjustments, and keeping up with the postural exercises Andrew prescribes — make a meaningful difference to how often, and how severely, it comes back once the initial episode has settled.