Burning Neck Pain: What it is and How to Treat it
Burning Neck Pain: What it is and How to Treat it
Burning neck pain feels like hot needles. Sometimes, the pain races into the shoulder, down the arm, and into the hands as well. The burning sensation can result from various injuries and conditions, some of which we treat with the Gonstead technique at Slovin Chiropractic Center in Norwalk.
The Causes of Burning Neck Pain
The most common cause of burning neck pain at our center is a sprain (in the ligaments) or strain (in the muscles). These are generally due to whiplash injury. Whiplash occurs when the head jerks back and forth or side to side in an accident or traumatic injury.
A few other causes of burning neck pain treated at our chiropractic center include:
· Herniated disc. When the gel-like substance separating the vertebrae slips out, it often causes nerve compression, which can cause a burning sensation.
· Brachial plexus injury. There’s a bundle of nerves that spread from the cervical spinal cord into the shoulder and arm. If these are stretched, torn, or injured, it can lead to burning neck pain.
· Radiculopathy. Like a herniated disc, this condition causes a pinched nerve and is commonly the result of aging, but a trauma injury to the spine can also be the cause.
· Central pain syndrome. Damage to nerves in the central nervous system causes a laundry list of pain symptoms, including burning neck pain.
· Cervical spondylosis. This is wear-and-tear on the spine because of age. The discs get smaller and dehydrate, forming protrusions on the spinal bones (bone spurs).
· Carpal tunnel syndrome, ulnar nerve palsy, sciatica, and other mononeuropathies. This is damage to a single nerve that often leads to a burning sensation.
· Torticollis. A wry neck commonly occurs from a poor sleep position, bad posture (such as looking down at your phone for several hours at a time), or injury.
· Stingers. The athlete’s body takes a beating, especially in contact sports like football, wrestling, and hockey. When the head and shoulder twist in opposite directions, or if there’s a direct injury to the area just above the collarbone, the athlete may feel a burning or stinging sensation in the neck, shoulder, and arm.
Stingers in Athletes
This is an important topic to cover for our active and athletic Norwalk community. A stinger is a specific type of nerve injury in the neck. There are a few things you should know about it, such as:
· It can cause weakness, tingling, and numbness in the shoulder or arm.
· Symptoms are generally quick, but they often return, especially if there are multiple stinger injuries.
· Multiple stinger injuries can lead to long-term nerve damage.
· The best way to recover from the injury is to avoid the sport until the injury is treated.
Treating Burning Neck Pain
As with all conditions, treatment depends on the cause of the burning neck pain. Our chiropractors focus on the Gonstead method to help with various conditions that present with a burning sensation. Here’s how and why the treatments work.
· Gonstead adjustments are targeted adjustments to the spine, hips, and extremities. The techniques your Gonstead chiropractor performs are like putting the pieces of a puzzle in their proper place. To compare, a general spinal manipulation is like shaking up the box, throwing the pieces on the table, and hoping they all fall in place.
· Treatments are non-invasive and drug-free. This is a novelty in our current society, where pills of all shapes, colors and side effects are thrown out to the public like candy on Halloween.
· We personalize treatment plans, and we don’t take a one-treatment-fits-all approach. That approach makes things worse. At Slovin Chiropractic Center, we promise not to leave you in worse shape than when you came to us. Our personalized and targeted treatment plans are designed to get you back to mobility safely.
Witness Dr. Suh treat the burning neck pain in this architect with multiple conditions contributing to his burning neck pain.
If you’re suffering from burning neck pain, see Dr. Slovin for a consultation. Even if you don’t know the cause, we can help you find it and give you our best advice on what to do next. Don’t let it get worse.
Additional Sources:
Healthline: Causes of burning sensation
University of Rochester Medical Center: Put a stop to nerve injuries called stingers
Healthfully: What are the causes of burning neck pain?