Neck Stiffness? How to Tell If It’s Arthritis

May 10, 2022

Stiff Neck

arthritis in neck

Arthritis in your knees or hands but frequent stiffness in the neck could mean arthritis. Here’s how to tell, and ways to treat it.

Symptoms of Arthritis in the Neck

If you’ve noticed any chronic pain or stiffness in your neck that could be an early sign of arthritis in the neck. Common popping or crunching noises may be heard when moving your neck.

Involuntary muscle spasms of the neck that cause pain or bring on headaches from the neck up. Numbness in the arm and fingers may also be a sign of neck pain.

Have neck pain at the base of your neck? Then read this.

Causes of Arthritis in the Neck

Often people suffer from neck pain and stiffness that do not improve resulting in being diagnosed with a type of arthritis.

Osteoporosis in the Neck

This is when the joints, vertebrae, and discs in the cervical portion of the spine are decaying. With less cushion, the vertebrae are able to come closer to one another. This can cause bone fragments to break off and float in the synovial fluid, which is a thick liquid sack that helps lubricate your joints).

This condition tends to worsen with activity and can cause a pinched nerve to occur in the spinal cord.

Spondyloarthritis in the Neck

This is considered an inflammatory disease that includes the joints and the places where ligaments and tendons attach to the bone. Pain occurs when inflammation flare-up between the joints and the vertebrae, which impacts the neck. Some symptoms may include pain, stiffness, neck pain, and fatigue. More than 85% of people over 60 are affected by this form of arthritis.

Check out this video from a physical therapist on how to massage your neck for neck pain

Treatment for Arthritis in the Neck

At home, a way to help neck arthritis is to use a heating pad to help release tension in the neck. Make sure to place a towel between your neck and the heating pad. If you’re wanting to stay away from surgery, pain killers, and injections then physical therapy is what you may be looking for. Some may be surprised that physical therapy can help arthritis.

The treatment would include exercises to help the neck and arthritis and hands-on care to help the muscle and pain that you may be experiencing.

Physical Therapy in Glendale for Neck Pain

At Preferred Physical Therapy in Glendale, Arizona we work one on one with our patients for a full hour of hands-on work followed by exercises. The exercises are tailored to your root cause to help with the pain you are experiencing.

A lot of other clinics just treat the pain you’re feeling and that may help for a short amount of time but does not heal the root cause. Some may have hip pain but the root cause is actually coming from their back.

Hear from past patients’ reviews.

To make sure you are making the next correct medical decision for you we have every patient for a free 20-minute discovery visit. We are able to offer a Free Physical Therapy “Discovery” Session which is perfect for people suffering from ANY type of PAIN or (Stiffness) who could ENJOY life much more WITHOUT it.

You’ll leave your discovery session knowing exactly WHAT’S GOING WRONG and it’s perfect for anyone who would like to be SHOWN how Specialist Physical Therapy works before UPGRADING to all the extra benefits included in a full consultation.

We realize some people may be “unsure” if physical therapy is the right option for them. It could be that you’re not sure it’ll work, or you don’t know whether we can help with what you’ve got, or perhaps you had a bad experience with physical therapy somewhere else in the past?

If that sounds like you and you’d like to come in and see for yourself how Preferred Physical Therapy can help.

 

Nick Hunter, PT, DPT
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