Interconnected: Neck Pain
Interactions between body regions influence how we move; this should come as no surprise. Movement in one area impacts movement in another, even if it may seem that they are entirely independent. They are not. Can you imagine what our movements would look like if parts of your body did behave independently? We would look rather discombobulated.
Your neck is no different from any other part of your body, it relies heavily on other regions to create the motion you desire. It is often an area in which people develop pain, and that may be due to it being the site of focal loading. A barbell back squat is a good example. Placing the bar on the back of your neck obviously loads that area to a greater degree than at the hand, however if you wanted to off-load the neck, having the ability to generate force at the hand is important.
Folks are often familiar with the term “sciatica”, referring to pain in a leg that originates in the lower back. The same thing can occur in your arms, with the origin being your neck, illustrating the interconnectedness between the two. What if the arm is unable to consistently absorb forces, requiring a compensation from somewhere else? That somewhere else is often the spine, and the neck is a typical location due to its proximity to the arm. If we consider our back squat example again, the hand is a site of direct interaction with the load, but if the hand cannot put force into the barbell, then that force is transmitted elsewhere. This applies to any other activity. The ability to distribute forces consistently across multiple regions limits compensations and focal pressures.
When working with patients this is a huge part of my thought process. They often arrive with a complaint of pain in one area, however that area is only the outcome of the situation I described above. Focusing on the painful area is overly myopic. The body is working together to create this painful circumstance. Addressing movement deficits system wide is more likely to result in the desired outcome than tunnel vision.
Austin Ulrich, Physical Therapist
