Neck pain is a very common complaint amongst people of all age groups. It is however more commonplace amongst people in their thirties and onwards. Neck pain is due to degenerative or wear and tear changes in the spine and is always part of a progressive disease. It means that the underlying problem responsible for neck pain will slowly but surely get worse in time.
It is therefore of paramount importance that treatment focuses on supporting the structures of the neck and to prevent excessive stress on the spine.

There are three types of neck pain:

Mechanical neck pain

This is pain that is caused, as the name suggests, by the mechanics of movement. There are muscles, tendons, bones, the discs between the vertebrae, the nerves and many other structures that can cause pain. This is all based on inflammation of these structures and the aggravation of this inflammation by movement.
However the main source of mechanical neck pain is the joints between the vertebrae called the facet joints. This pain is typically increased by certain movements. Turning and bending the neck is uncomfortable and frequently associated with crunching sounds and a feeling of stiffness. It is frequently worse on the one side. It is frequently associated with referred pain.

There are a great number of people that suffer with mechanical neck pain that have associated headaches. This is because the inflamed joints cause the muscles of the neck to go into spasm. These muscles are attached to the head and cause headaches by pulling on the head. This is the same way that stress headaches are formed.

Referred pain

This is pain that spreads from the inflamed tissues in the neck along nerves to other parts of the body. This would frequently be the head, shoulders, between the shoulder blades and even behind the eyes. This is directly associated with mechanical neck pain. It should not be confused with radicular pain.
Referred pain is another cause for headaches. The nerves that supply the skin of the head are directly from the neck and pain can spread along these nerves.

Radicular pain

This is pain that is caused by a pinched nerve and the pain will travel down the length of the nerve and be severe where the nerve ends up. For instance if the nerve between the fifth neck vertebrae and the sixth neck vertebrae is being pinched, the pain will be felt at the thumb and index finger as this is where the nerve ends up. The physical compression of the nerve root is usually accompanied by inflammatory changes of the nerve root that is also responsible for the pain.
A pinched nerve may require surgery. Although surgery is very effective in loosening nerves that are being pinched and fixing unstable areas of the spine, it almost always leads to increased stress on the spine and is thought to speed up the wear and tear of the spine. The main aim of treating spinal pain should always be to support the normal biological recovery process of the body. Surgery is always the last option.