Neck Pain and Headaches
Michelle Bjornberg, M.S., P.T
Owner and Founder of Body Balance Physical Therapy and Wellness
Is Neck and Head Pain Making It Difficult to Look Over Your Shoulders While Driving, Look Into Overhead Cabinets, Sleep, Lift Weights, or Perform Your Regular Work or Home Duties?
Does this describe you?
- You expected the discomfort to disappear after a few days or weeks, but it didn't.
- You tried heating pads, ice, and home TENS machines, but nothing worked?
- You had a couple of massages, but the discomfort reappeared after a few days.
- You went to a doctor, who took some photos and gave you an injection or advised you to take some medications, but the relief was short-lived?
- You've tried physical therapy before, but it didn't work?
- You've determined that if you just avoid the painful activities, you'll be fine.
We Are Here to Assist You in Finding Long-Term Solutions!
We Commonly Treat the Following Neck Conditions:
- Headache
- Joint Stiffness
- Muscle Strains and Tension
- Degenerative Disc Disease & Injuries
The Most Common Causes
- Impaired Mechanics: joint stiffness or diminished muscular flexibility leads to a restricted range of motion; weakness and muscle imbalance, poor posture
- A sudden impact or load on the tissue causes an injury.
- Chronic compensations: a previous injury or fear of future harm might cause avoidance of activity in specific muscle groups while overuse of other tissues occurs.
Body Balance Physical Therapy and Wellness Approach
- Breaking the cycle of pain requires knowledge, manual therapy, and increased tissue mobility.
- Improve the mechanics of the area’s joints, muscles, and nerves during daily active duties and exercise/sport-specific activities.
- Load the tissue to increase strength, power, and endurance, ensuring that the tissues are ready for all required demands without concern of reinjury.
Treatments for Neck and Headaches
- Proper neck and thoracic (midback) posture
- Reduce tension in the muscles of the upper neck.
- Increase the flexibility of the chest and neck muscles.
- Manipulation, manual joint mobilization, and manual traction can help to improve joint mobility.
- Improve the deep neck flexor and shoulder blade muscle groups' involvement.
- Massage, instrument-assisted mobilization, cupping, and dry needling can all help to increase tissue mobility.
- Specific nerve exercises can help to reduce nerve sensitivity (numbness, tingling, and discomfort that spreads down the arm).
- Plyometric and functional activities (throwing, catching, pushing, pulling, and pressing) should be increased.
Important Concepts to Understand
- Tissues mend. The body is meant to repair itself, but occasionally our system gets stuck in the inflammatory phase of tissue repair and needs assistance to recover.
- The true cause of discomfort is frequently unrelated to X-ray and MRI imaging results. On imaging, tissue injury that causes no discomfort or functional limits is possible. It is also possible to have pain with no obvious findings on imaging, which is frequently caused by nerve tissue oversensitivity.
- Soreness after exercise is undesirable, but it is not necessarily a cause for concern. True strength gains necessitate a system overload, which causes micro-damage. When that tissue heals, it becomes thicker and stronger than before. Soreness should be utilized to determine whether the tissue is ready to take on an additional load, whether it should remain at the current level, or whether training intensity should be reduced until the tissue is more prepared.
- Through appropriate education, proper mechanics, and progressive tissue loading, it is nearly always possible to return to previous/desired activities.
What Other People Just Like You Are Saying About Body Balance Physical Therapy and Wellness in Flower Mound, TX
3+ 5-Star Reviews!
-Melissa
★★★★★ 5/5
“Wow! I was pleasantly surprised with the results I got from my TMR (total motion release) work with Michelle. I was suffering from terrible chronic sciatica all down my entire right side, and by working with Michelle via Televideo we were able to find me some relief(which I would add that I had tried everything else with little to no success). The results are almost instant-it’s unreal! I totally recommend giving Michelle’s work a try-you’ll be amazed with the end results.”
-Carol W.
★★★★★ 5/5
I want to take a moment to thank you. My leg and tush has not bothered me since about an hour after you provided guidance to me today. You are such a god-sent angel to me. After journaling tonight, I realize how close I was to giving up on living before you showed and taught me about the mind-body connection. My son made a comment earlier tonight that he was so grateful that I had stopped asking to die because of my pain. I don’t remember ever saying that but I know I felt that way. By working with you and the Curable App, I am wanting and starting to live again. I can never thank you enough. Please please never stop reaching out to people like me that are dealing with chronic pain, you will never know who you will save next. God Bless You, my saving Angel.
