What causes neck and shoulder pain

Neck and shoulder pain is a symptom, not a disease. Many people don’t know what neck and shoulder pain is, and most of them think it is pain caused by cervical spondylosis. In addition to cervical spondylosis, neck and shoulder pain may also be caused by muscle strain caused by lifestyle habits.

1. Office workers often work at desks and maintain a fixed sitting posture for a long time, which leads to muscle stiffness and strain, causing neck, shoulder and waist pain. At the same time, long-term stimulation of cold wind under air conditioning causes the neck, shoulders and waist to get cold and become fragile, thus causing neck, shoulder and waist pain. It is recommended that office patients perform appropriate neck, shoulder and waist massage to relax the muscles, and use external analgesics to relieve pain.

2. The cervical vertebra has the smallest volume in the entire spine, but has the greatest range of motion and the highest frequency of activity, and is therefore most susceptible to strain, degeneration and trauma. The vertebral artery is in the neck. To the neck; the inner side of the transverse foramen segment is the uncovertebral joint which is prone to degeneration, resulting in compressive stimulation to the vertebral artery. Because the wall of this section of the vertebral artery has a rich sympathetic postganglionic fiber network, when the vertebral artery is compressed and stimulated, the cervical sympathetic nerves are also stimulated, resulting in gastrointestinal and cardiovascular symptoms, and even sympathetic nerve symptoms such as Homer syndrome in a few cases.

3. Neck and shoulder pain refers to the neck pain caused by neck and cervical spine diseases, as well as the induced pain and radiating pain in the shoulders and upper limbs. Neck and shoulder pain develops slowly. At the beginning, the neck pain is mild and then gradually worsens. It can radiate to one or both shoulders, arms and hands, and presents as tingling and numbness, usually with shoulder pain being the main pain. Coughing, sneezing, etc. can aggravate the pain. There may be long-term recurrent attacks. There are many diseases that cause neck and shoulder pain. In addition to cervical spondylosis, others such as stiff neck, periarthritis of the shoulder, rheumatic myofibrosarcoma, various congenital malformations, inflammation, etc. can also cause neck and shoulder pain. Therefore, before undergoing relevant clinical and imaging examinations, do not prematurely diagnose yourself with cervical spondylosis.