Muscle Spasms in the Neck

Do you experience a sharp and sudden pain in your neck? Do you have muscle contractions that don’t let go? You probably have a neck muscle spasm. This can happen in a single area of your neck, or in several areas at the same time. The discomfort ranges from passing to shocking pain.

The sudden pain caused by neck muscle spasms can happen deep in your muscle. Muscle spasms in your neck cause it to feel tight or frozen. You need to massage or manipulate the muscle to find some relief. Your Midtown Manhattan sports and pain doctor offers a range of options for muscle spasms in neck treatment.

What Causes Muscle Spasms?

Neck muscle spasms can happen at any time and in any neck muscle. But they’re more common for people who do both manual labor and office work. Both jobs put stress and strain on your neck. Among the many potential causes for muscle spasms in the neck, the more common ones include:

Carrying an especially unbalanced load on your shoulder
Carrying an awkward load in one or both arms
Subjecting your neck to unnatural positions for extended periods of time. Sleeping in a bad position or holding your phone between your shoulder and ear can cause muscle spasms.
Letting emotional stress collect in your neck muscles, causing tension
Suffering from degenerative conditions of your spine, such as cervical spondylosis
Putting excessive strain on your neck during long periods of work or exercise
Suffering from migraines or tension headaches
Slouching or practicing poor posture
Sitting for hours at a desk or computer
Not hydrating
Trigger point area of taut muscle fibers

Less common reasons for neck muscle spasms pain can be more serious. These causes include:

Certain serious infections like meningitis (inflammation of the brain and spinal cord due to infection)
An inflammatory condition called ankylosing spondylitis (arthritis in the spine and joints)
Torticollis also called cervical dystonia (involuntary neck contractions causing you to twist and tilt your head)
A narrowing of your spine’s open space is called spinal stenosis
Temporomandibular joint disorders (TMJ or TMD) affect your jaw and the muscles that surround it
Whiplash or trauma from accidents or falls
Pressure caused by a herniated disc

Muscle Spasms Are Not to Be Taken Lightly

Neck muscle spasm treatment is a matter to be taken seriously. Some causes of muscle spasms in the neck are much more serious than others. If your symptoms get worse or last longer than a week, contact your New York City medical professional.

If you’re experiencing any of the following in addition to your muscle spasms, seek emergency medical attention. These can be warning signs of meningitis that you can’t afford to ignore. They include:

Chills or fever
Stiff neck
Headache
Skin discolorations that resemble bruises

What is Neck Muscle Spasm Treatment?

Being mindful of your body and its physical limitations is a great place to start. Keeping your body hydrated and taking breaks from your work or exercise to stretch and move can prevent a muscle spasm in the neck. Myofascial neck pain is positively affected by stretching. Stretching helps to keep the bands of muscle loose.

Depending on the nature of your neck muscle spasms, further medical attention may be necessary. Muscle spasm in neck treatment is custom-fit to your needs. Neck muscle spasm treatment can require medication if the actual muscle has been injured or compromised.

Potential Complications

Neck spasms can be signs of more serious issues. If you fail to seek treatment, permanent damage or complications can result. See your Midtown Manhattan sports and pain medicine doctor. He can determine the cause of your neck muscle spasms and begin neck muscle spasms treatment as soon as possible. Complications from inaction can include:

Compromised mobility and flexibility
Permanent nerve damage
Chronic pain
Paralysis
Pain, weakness, and loss of proper function

Choosing Your Allies

Our medical professional is your best line of defense against the lasting damage from muscle spasms. Pain from muscle spasms in your neck can last minutes or weeks. Don’t wait for the pain to go away on its own.

Be mindful of stress, overuse, and posture. In severe cases when simple rest isn’t enough, discovering the underlying causes of your spasms can mean the difference between passing discomfort and lifelong infirmity. Ignoring your pain only serves to make matters worse. Listen to what your body is trying to tell you.

Febin Melepura, MD is a top rated, best in class interventional pain management doctor. He is a nationally recognized pain relief specialist and is among the top pain care doctors in New York City and the country. He is an award winning expert and contributor to a prominent media outlets.

Dr. Febin Melepura has been recognized for his thoughtful, thorough, modern approach to treating chronic pain and, among other accolades, has been named a “top pain management doctor in New York”, and one of “America’s Top Doctors™” for an advanced sports injury treatments.