Acute and Chronic Neck Pain Treatment
Pain Management & Spine Specialist in Las Vegas, Nevada
Acute neck pain strikes suddenly, while chronic neck pain develops over time; both can be disabling. If you have neck pain, visit the orthopedic specialists at Las Vegas Spine & Pain Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, for expert diagnosis and treatment. The team uses a comprehensive approach that works well for neck pain, which often requires a sophisticated treatment program. To determine the cause of acute and chronic neck pain and how to relieve it, call Las Vegas Spine & Pain Center today or schedule a consultation online.
Acute neck pain strikes suddenly, typically as the result of an injury. Auto accidents are a common cause, resulting in injuries to the neck’s soft tissues (whiplash) when your head moves back and forth violently. You can also suffer whiplash and other neck injuries when playing sports.
Chronic neck pain develops more slowly, over hours or days rather than immediately, like an acute injury. It tends to result from aging and wear, which causes problems like osteoarthritis, degenerative disc disease, osteoporosis, and spinal stenosis.
These conditions result from deterioration in the vertebrae, the facet joints in your spine, and the spongy discs that sit between the bones.
Acute and chronic neck pain often result from pinched nerves, where a damaged or diseased structure in your neck presses on a nerve. In the neck, this is called cervical radiculopathy. It can cause pain and symptoms like tingling, prickling, numbness, and weakness that spreads down the arms.
With the proper treatment, acute neck pain should go away when the damage heals. However, an acute injury could lead to chronic neck pain if you don’t receive expert care. Damaging your neck can also hasten the development of chronic conditions like osteoarthritis.
Disc problems can cause acute and chronic neck pain. You could damage the disc in an accident, or degenerative disc disease could cause deterioration that makes the disc vulnerable to bulging and rupturing.
Patients with neck pain typically benefit from a combination of medication, physical therapy, and complementary treatments like therapeutic massage. Patients with more severe acute or chronic neck pain might require treatments such as epidural steroid injections or nerve blocks to reduce their pain.
If these treatments aren’t effective, Las Vegas Spine & Pain Center also performs minimally invasive procedures like radiofrequency ablation. This involves using radio wave energy to heat the nerves sending pain signals to your brain. The heat destroys the nerves without harming surrounding tissues.
For the most persistent neck pain, spinal cord stimulation is available. Your provider puts an implant under your skin that interferes with the pain signals going from your neck to your brain.
If you suffer from acute or chronic neck pain, getting treatment as soon as possible is important because even mild pain can evolve into a far more significant problem over time. To schedule a consultation, call Las Vegas Spine & Pain Center today or book an appointment online.