Role of physiotherapy in neck pain

Neck pain is now common in Bangladesh. According to Global Health Data Exchange and the World Bank, every 1,639 people are suffering from neck pain with other pain among 100,000 population in a year. As stated in The Lancet, globally 330 million people have neck pain.

There are mainly 3 types of neck pain, Axial — due to musculoskeletal cause, Radicular — due to nerve root involvement and Myelopathy — due to the pressure/compression of the spinal cord. All of these can be acute or chronic.

Common symptoms associated with neck pain usually involves stiff neck, sharp pain, radiating pain, numbness and weakness, headaches, trouble with gripping or lifting objects etc.

Physiotherapy is the choice of treatment in this case. Following medical treatment, patients should take physiotherapy and physiotherapist should make a plan for appropriate treatment protocol. This is the most important factor for the patients to recover from this pain. If the patient needs to take any drugs, s/he must consult with his/her physiotherapist during the treatment.

To prevent neck pain, everybody should follow the appropriate body ergonomics in his/her daily life and if possible, it is better to consult a physiotherapist every 6 months.

We have to avoid misconception and increase awareness. Following proper and healthy lifestyle we can lead a pain free life.

The writer is a physiotherapist at Ibrahim Iqbal Memorial Hospital Ltd. E-mail: physioranju@gmail.com