How To Get Rid Of Arthritis In The Neck

Can Ra Cause Headaches

RA in the neck can also affect surrounding areas, and may cause referred pain in the shoulders, back, and head. Referred pain is when a person feels pain in an area of the body that is not the original source of the pain.

According to the American Migraine Foundation, neck RA can cause referred pain in the form of secondary, or cervicogenic, headaches.

People may feel pain on one side of the head or at the front of the head and behind the eyes.

Although there is currently no cure for RA, a range of treatments can help manage the condition, relieve painful symptoms, and prevent further damage.

Examine How You Sleep

If you are using a soft pillow, or one without proper support, this could be causing you a problem with your neck and the surrounding muscles, which may ultimately be leading you to have the urge to crack your neck. Sleeping on a pillow thats too firm or soft can put pressure on your neck, which can eventually trigger you to crack your neck joints.

Having proper support for your neck when you sleep is very important, and a lot of the time, switching to an orthopedic pillow can really help the situation.

Maintaining The Correct Head Position

Here are some simple cues to help remind you to hold your head in the correct position.

a) Aim to keep your neck tall and elongated.

Float your head away from your shoulders

b) Maintain a gentle chin nod at all times. Do not allow for your chin to poke forwards.

Imagine gently holding a large apple between your chin and upper chest

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What Is Neck Pain

Neck pain is pain that is felt in the upper part of the spine. It is sign that the joints, muscles or other parts of the neck are injured, strained or not working properly. Neck pain is very common, with about one in 10 people having it at any given time, but it is not usually a sign of arthritis or any other serious medical problem.

Neck pain is common and is rarely due to serious disease. Staying active will help you get better faster and prevent more problems.

Spinal Arthritis Causes And Risk Factors

The causes of arthritis in the back or neck vary depending on the type of arthritis you have. Besides normal wear and tear and autoimmune triggers, in many cases the exact cause remains unknown. Genetic components have been identified in connection with some forms of spinal arthritis, meaning that it may be hereditary.

Other spinal arthritis risk factors include:

• Excess weight/obesity

• Presence of certain conditions such as diabetes, gout, psoriasis, tuberculosis, irritable bowel syndrome and Lyme disease

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How Certain Foods May Reduce Inflammation

Part of the bodys normal metabolic process includes the creation of free radicals, which are highly reactive atoms or molecules due to having an unpaired electron looking to become paired. An imbalance can occur if too many free radicals are left floating around to steal electrons from nearby molecules. This imbalance, also known as oxidative stress, can contribute to chronic inflammation within the body.

Antioxidants are molecules capable of remaining stable while donating an electron to neutralize a free radical. The more free radicals that can be neutralized by antioxidants, the less damage and inflammation they can cause in the body. In theory, foods that are high in antioxidants may be able to neutralize greater numbers of free radicals and reduce inflammation.

See Anti-Inflammatory Foods on Arthritis-health.com

Managing Arthritis: Strive For Five

There are a lot of things you can do to manage your arthritis. The day-to-day things you choose to do to manage your condition and stay healthy are self-management strategies and activities. CDCs Arthritis Program recommends five self-management strategies for managing arthritis and its symptoms.

Practice these simple strategies to reduce symptoms and get relief so you can pursue the activities that are important to you. These strategies can even help you manage other chronic conditions you have.

Use these 5 strategies to manage your arthritis at any age.

Join a self-management education workshop, which can help you learn the skills to manage your arthritis and make good decisions about your health.

How can a self-management education workshop help me?

Learning strategies to better manage your arthritis can help you:

• Feel more in control of your health.
• Manage pain and other symptoms.
• Carry out daily activities, like going to work and spending time with loved ones.
• Reduce stress.
• Improve your mood.
• Communicate better with your health care provider about your care.

Learn about CDC-recommended self-management education programs that improve the quality of life of people with arthritis.

Stay as active as your health allows, and change your activity level depending on your arthritis symptoms. Some physical activity is better than none.

Unsure about what kind of activity is safe?

The focus of arthritis treatment is to

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Medication Options For Neck Arthritis

Analgesic and NSAID pain medication

Over-the-counter medications can be used to help address pain, inflammation, and swelling. NSAIDs like aspirin, naproxen, and ibuprofen can help relieve pain and reduce inflammation. Analgesics can help with mild to moderate pain. Your doctor can prescribe a stronger anti-inflammatory if OTC medications dont provide relief.

Even though many commonly used NSAIDs are available over the counter, its important to talk to your doctor about side effects and drug interactions. NSAIDs can have significant side effects, including gastrointestinal complications, and are associated with an increased risk of heart disease.

Disease-modifying arthritis medication

Neck pain due to inflammatory arthritis is typically treated with a disease-modifying antirheumatic drug , such as methotrexate for RA. Other conventional DMARDs include leflunomide, hydroxychloroquine, and sulfasalazine. Biologics are a newer type of DMARD that target specific immune system pathways. DMARDs help to reduce the immune system activity that is triggering inflammation and pain.

Steroid injections and nerve blocks

An epidural steroid injection is where doctors inject medicine directly into the epidural space of the spinal canal surrounding the nerve roots. The medicine is a combination of corticosteroids and a local anesthetic, which together reduce inflammation and relieve pain.

The anesthesia offers temporary pain relief and the corticosteroids reduce inflammation in the joint.

Neck Pain And Cervical Spondylosis

Neck or cervical spine pain becomes more common as you age, often because of age-related degeneration of the neck bones. This wear and tear is what causes cervical spondylosis, also known as osteoarthritis of the neck or cervical osteoarthritis, and osteoarthritis may be accompanied by the growth of bony spurs and problems with the ligaments and disks in the neck.

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Can You Pop A Crick In The Neck

It is never advisable to pop a neck crick because cracking it can create more problems. Typically neck cricks are due to muscular discomfort, so popping your neck will not address the issue. Additionally, the popping sound doesnt indicate successful readjustment.

Generally, popping joints gives temporary pain relief only because it releases endorphins. Overall it is best to leave joint cracking to the professionals, and if you must do something, adopt stretches instead.

Treatment On How To Get Rid Of Stiff Neck

Neck stiffness or crook in neck is not a serious condition except for the inconvenience and irritation that a person experiences, due to pain and restricted neck movement. Generally the condition heals in two to three days, in some persons it may take few more days to heal. however, when the underlying condition is cervical spondylosis or an injury it may take more time to heal. Consulting your physician is imminent in such situation.

• Crook in neck can be treated at home with hot fomentation. It relieves the strain and stress on the neck muscles and improves the circulation in neck muscles.
• Many people advocate use of ice fomentation during first few days. Put some ice in a clean towel and apply it on the inflamed area for not more than 10 minutes. Follow the procedure two to three times in a day.
• For first few days do not try to overstretch your neck as it will aggravate the condition.
• Alternative therapies such as acupressure and acupuncture are very useful in relieving the condition.
• Many people have found relief in pain and neck movement after consulting a chiropractor. A chiropractor can effectively manipulate the spine and neck movements and relieve the muscular spasms.

In the last, regular exercise, good body posture and healthy life style are the three necessary regimens to prevent recurrent crook in neck.

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Seated Levator Scapulae Stretch

Targeted muscle: Levator scapulae.

How to do it:

Begin in a seated position and grasp the bottom of your chair with your right hand.Bring your chin in towards your chest and rotate your head towards the left shoulder. Then using your left arm gently push your head down looking towards your left armpit until you feel a slightly stretch along with right side of your neck.Hold this position for 15 to 20 seconds.Repeat on the opposite side.Aim for 3 repetitions of this stretch on each side.

Spinal Arthritis May Contribute To Other Issues In The Spine

Spinal arthritis may cause bone spurs â overgrowths on the edges of the bones. In the spine, bone spurs particularly affect facet joints, making them grow larger. This condition is called facet joint hypertrophy. Although bone spurs on their own are not harmful, they may narrow the passages for the spinal cord and the nerves exiting the spine. This may lead to two painful conditions:

• Spinal stenosisâ compression of the spinal cord inside the spinal canal

• Radiculopathyâ pinching of the peripheral nerves as they exit the spine

Ankylosing spondylitis may also cause additional problems such as:

• Stress fractures in places where new bone has formed

• Collapsed vertebrae

• A spinal deformity called kyphosis

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How Is Cervical Spondylosis Diagnosed

The doctor will generally begin by asking you about symptoms and taking a medical history. This will be followed by a physical exam of the body, with a focus on the neck, back, and shoulders. The doctor is also likely to test reflexes and the strength of hands and arms, check for loss of sensation, and watch you walk.

Other tests that might be done include imaging exams such as X-rays, computed tomography , and magnetic resonance imaging . MRI scans use large magnets, radio waves, and a computer to produce the best images of the body. You might also be referred to a neurologist.

Symptoms Of Cervical Osteoarthritis

Neck pain from cervical osteoarthritis typically starts gradually and progresses over time. The neck may feel particularly stiff and achy in the morning and then feel better as the day goes on.

Some common symptoms of cervical osteoarthritis can include one or more of the following:

• Neck pain that typically feels dull but can also be sharp or burning
• Referred pain up to the head or down into the upper back
• Stiff neck or reduced range of motion
• Neck tenderness when touched

On occasion, bone spurs may impinge on a nerve root in your neck. This impingement can cause radicular pain into the arm, which can feel electric shock-like. If nerve root inflammation results in neurological deficits, such as numbness or weakness in the arm or hand, it is called cervical radiculopathy.

Read more about Cervical Osteoarthritis Symptoms

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Arthritis In The Neck

Arthritis in the Neck is a degenerative joint disease that affects the neck at the top of the cervical spine and spinal column. The muscles, discs and spinal nerves affect your ability turn your head as well as lower and raise your head. When you have neck arthritis you may have limited range of motion, and you may not be able to move your neck around to see to the side of you without turning your whole body.

It is a condition that affects people during their midlife years and beyond . More men are affected with arthritis in the neck than women and they also seem to develop it at an earlier age as well. With the use of electronic devices for long periods of time, now younger women and men are experiencing neck pain and symptoms of degenerative neck arthritis. Im sure youve seen the posture that matches the Facebook symbol

What Causes Neck Pain?

What Causes Neck Pain in arthritis? Poor posture, injury, not using an ergonomic chair or pillow. It can be from Osteoarthritis in the neck or Rheumatoid arthritis in the neck Neck arthritis pain has a burning type of pain that frequently radiates into your facial area as well as your shoulder area. It can be aggravated by a neck injury or strain that will cause swelling and sometimes you will hear a popping sound when you move your head.

How Is Spinal Arthritis Diagnosed

Your doctor may use some or all of the following diagnostic methods to confirm spinal arthritis:

• Medical history and physical exam

• Blood tests for genetic markers and/or RA antibodies

• X-rays of the spine to locate the arthritic joint

• MRI, CT scan, myelography, bone scan and/or ultrasound to zero in on the damage, detect nerve and spinal cord involvement or rule out other causes

• Joint aspiration: testing of the synovial fluid inside a joint

To pinpoint the painful joint, your doctor may numb it with an injection and check whether the pain goes away.

Degenerative Disk Disease: Janâs Story

At 78, Jan Greer wanted to stay active and athletic. Herniated disks, stenosis and other degenerative back problems were causing him unbearable pain. When the pain became too much to bear, he turned to Johns Hopkins.

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Disk Degeneration And Bone Spurs

As the disks in the spine age, they lose height and begin to bulge. They also lose water content, begin to dry out and weaken. This problem causes settling, or collapse, of the disk spaces and loss of disk space height. Eventually, the cushioning qualities of the disks begins to decrease.

As the facet joints experience increased pressure, they also begin to degenerate and develop arthritis, similar to what may occur in the hip or knee joint. The smooth, slippery articular cartilage that covers and protects the joints wears away.

If the cartilage wears away completely, it can result in bone rubbing on bone. To make up for the lost cartilage, your body may respond by growing new bone in your facet joints to help support the vertebrae. Over time, this bone overgrowth called bone spurs may narrow the space for the nerves and spinal cord to pass through . Bone spurs may also lead to decreased range of motion in the spine.

Side view of a healthy cervical vertebra and disk. A disk that has degenerated and collapsed.

Treatment For Arthritis In The Neck

There is a Natural Treatment for Arthritis in the Neck that will help you not only relieve your neck pain and gain greater neck mobility but also improve your neck arthritis and heal your cervical spine. Neck pain is a tricky thing that usually takes a few weeks to feel completely better. Using the recommended treatment for neck pain can get you feeling better in a fraction of the time it usually takes to be neck pain free.

Learn to Stretch you neck when you get a flare and help stop the pain in its tracks. When you strengthen and balance the muscles in your neck you will take a lot of pressure off of your spinal column and allow your neck to sit in its properly balanced location. Use these natural arthritis neck treatment options to relieve the pressure off your neck, clean up the damage in your discs and joints and begin healing the cartilage, discs and pinched nerves if you have any:

Go at your own bodys pace and you will be helping others, because they will be asking what it is that you did to recover. Be sure to check out the Healthy Back and Neck Institutes tips for eliminating neck pain at home quickly and easily by visiting Lose the Neck Pain.

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What Are The Symptoms

Neck pain can be felt in the middle of the neck or on either side. The pain may travel to the shoulder or shoulder blade, and may even go right down your arm. Headaches and pain at the back of the head may also be caused by problems with your neck. Your neck may feel stiff, making it difficult to turn or move your head.

Surgery For Spinal Arthritis

Surgery may be recommended for spinal arthritis if other treatments donât sufficiently relieve pain. The goals of the surgery may include:

• Stabilizing the spine by fusing several segments together in a procedure called spinal fusion

These surgeries can be performed as open procedures or with a minimally invasive approach. There are pros and cons to each method. The surgeon will review and discuss the options before the operation.

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Make Your Own Heat Pad

Fill a cotton sock with uncooked rice grains and seal it. Microwave on high for 2-3 minutes. When it cools down slightly but is still nice and warm, place it on sore, stiff joints. Your DIY heat pad should stay warm for about half an hour. The rice grains will shape to your body and provide soothing heat. If you have lavender or another fragrant herb on hand, toss it in with the rice grains for an additional relaxing aromatherapy treatment, too. Check out these other home remedies for arthritis even doctors recommend.