Who gets neck pain and what are the causes?
Neck pain is common. More than half of people develop a bout of neck pain at some time in their life. Types and causes of neck pain include: • ‘Mechanical’ neck pain is the most common type. This is sometimes called ‘simple’ or ‘non-specific’ neck pain. Causes include minor injuries or sprains to muscles or ligaments in the neck. Bad posture is also a common cause. For example, neck pain is more common in people who spend much of their working day at a desk with a ‘bent-forward’ posture. Often the exact cause or origin of the pain is not known. • A whiplash injury, most commonly due to a car crash, causes neck pain. • Acute (sudden onset) primary torticollis. This is sometimes called ‘wry neck’. A torticollis is when the head becomes twisted to one side and it is very painful to move the head back straight. Most cases are thought to be due to a minor injury or poor posture while sleeping which causes one or more muscles on one side of the neck to go into ‘spasm’. The pain and spasm usu
