From a wry neck to arthritis, muscle spasm to a ‘dowager’s hump’, necks are a common source of pain.

Whether you’ve woken to find you can’t turn your head, or you have long-term neck pain, osteopathy can help. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recognises osteopathy as an effective treatment for neck pain such as strains, sprains, and sports injuries.

At Good Health Centre in Leeds, we understand how neck pain can get you down. It can interrupt your sleep. It can stop you driving and playing sports. You might find your mood is affected.

But we can help. With over 500,000 treatments to date, our team of expert osteopaths are perfectly placed to diagnose and alleviate your pain. Osteopathic training includes anatomy, neurology and clinical testing. Patient safety is always uppermost in our minds, and our osteopaths know how to assess patients and apply techniques safely – so rest assured you’re in good hands.

Neck pain can come on suddenly. You may have woken up to a sharp pain when you try to turn your head. The pain can shoot into your head, face, shoulder or arm, too.

Neck pain can also begin gradually. You may have a dull ache that has slowly worsened over months or years. Sometimes, neck pain can lead to frequent headaches.

Perhaps you’ve had an injury from a fall or accident that has resulted in neck pain.

As well as the head, face, shoulder and arm, pain from the neck can also radiate to the back, chest, hands, and even legs.

Many people find turning or tilting their head makes their neck pain worse. But you may also find the pain builds up over the day from the weight of your head, or your neck is particularly stiff and achy first thing in the morning.

Whatever your experience of neck pain, we’re here to help. 

Neck pain often comes from the bones, muscles, ligaments or joints. Disc problems, most common in the lower back, are also quite frequent in the neck.

There are also different kinds of arthritis that can affect the neck, such as osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.

Other, less common, underlying causes include fracture, infection, or cancer.

Osteopaths are skilled at working out the cause of neck pain. They not only diagnose the problem but look for all the factors that could be contributing to it. These might include postural issues, the way you sleep, your mood, and factors in your daily work or leisure activities.

There might also be problems elsewhere in your body that have an impact on your neck, such as poor mobility in your upper back.

Assessing and understanding all these issues allows our osteopaths to create a management plan that’s tailored to you and offers long-lasting relief.

Once they’ve established the root cause and the contributing factors, your osteopath can formulate a specific treatment plan.

They might work to release tight muscles or improve joint mobility with manipulation. Whatever technique they suggest, they’ll always check that you’re happy with it first.

In addition, your osteopath can suggest exercises to mobilise and strengthen your neck, and other areas if necessary. They might also suggest adaptations you can make when sleeping, relaxing or working that mean you won’t aggravate your neck pain.