Neck Pain

Your neck is the most mobile part of your spine, but this quality leaves it vulnerable to injury and wear. If you develop neck pain, visit fellowship-trained Dmitriy Buyanov, MD, and his team at Premier Pain Consultants in San Antonio, Texas. They use conservative treatments and cutting-edge interventional pain management techniques to tackle neck problems like whiplash and cervical radiculopathy. Call Premier Pain Consultants or book an appointment online today for expert neck pain diagnosis and treatment.

Why do I have neck pain?

Mild neck pain is often due to poor posture; for example, bending over a keyboard or games console for extended periods makes your neck stiff and sore. Twisting your neck awkwardly or sleeping with your head at an odd angle can also cause pain.

Sudden pain is typically due to an acute injury that stretches or tears the connective tissues in your cervical spine — the seven vertebrae that form your neck. Whiplash is a frequent acute neck injury, occurring when your head moves violently back and forth. Fractures can cause severe acute neck pain.

The discs between your cervical vertebrae could flatten and harden (degenerative disc disease), increasing your risk of disc herniation (where the soft center leaks through a tear in the disc’s outer shell).

Other chronic neck pain causes include osteoarthritis, which can alter the spine’s alignment, thicken ligaments, and trigger bone spur growth that narrows the spinal canal (spinal stenosis). You could also get neck pain from overuse injuries that cause tissue irritation to build up over several months.

How is my neck pain’s cause determined?

When you visit Premier Pain Consultants with neck pain, your provider asks about your pain and other symptoms and reviews your medical history. They perform a thorough exam, looking for visible abnormalities and checking how well your neck moves.

You might need further tests to ensure your provider can view the extent of the damage. X-ray, CT, and MRI diagnostic imaging are standard options. Once they have a clear picture of what’s causing your neck pain, your provider can design an appropriate treatment plan tailored to suit you.

What treatments help relieve neck pain?

Premier Pain Consultants usually offers patients conservative treatments at first as these are often sufficient to address neck pain. If they don’t provide enough relief, the team offers various interventional neck pain treatments.

Treatments that may feature in your rehabilitation include:

• Physical therapy
• Anti-inflammatory medication
• Activity modification
• Epidural steroid injections
• Nerve blocks
• Ketamine infusions
• Radiofrequency ablation
• Spinal cord stimulation

Spinal cord stimulation changes how nerves communicate with your brain, so you don’t receive pain messages. It involves having a procedure to implant an electronic device under your skin, so it generally becomes an option only when other treatments fail to reduce neck pain.

Call Premier Pain Consultants or schedule a consultation online today for expert neck pain care.