Neck Pain
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V Pain Clinic
Ratko Vujicic, MD
Pain Management located in Rock Hill, SC & Charlotte, NC
It’s estimated that 10-20% of adults suffer from neck pain, and many have pain that’s severe enough to stop them from enjoying their normal daily activities. Ratko Vujicic, MD, at V Pain Clinic has helped many patients overcome their neck pain by determining the underlying cause of their pain and creating a customized interventional treatment plan. To learn how interventional therapies can relieve your neck pain, schedule an appointment online or call one of the offices in Rock Hill, South Carolina, or Charlotte, North Carolina.
Neck Pain Q & A
What causes neck pain?
The vertebrae that make up your neck, called the cervical spine, are vulnerable to injuries like whiplash and neck strain. Beyond neck injuries, the most common cause of neck pain is spondylosis.
Spondylosis is a general term referring to the degenerative changes that develop over years of repetitive head movements. Degenerative changes cause conditions such as a herniated disc, cervical joint arthritis, and degenerative disc disease, which in turn lead to narrowing of the spinal canal (cervical stenosis) and compressed nerves.
Will other symptoms accompany neck pain?
Since neck pain often involves a compressed nerve, you’ll develop symptoms that are associated with nerve damage, such as tingling, numbness, and muscle weakness.
The pain, tingling, numbness, and weakness can appear anywhere along the affected nerve, radiating down through your shoulders and one or both arms. Patients with neck pain often experience headaches and have difficulty moving their head.
How is neck pain treated?
Dr. Vujicic thoroughly evaluates your medical history and performs an examination, then he recommends personalized treatment that targets the source of your pain. He specializes in interventional pain management, which includes therapies that reduce nerve inflammation and stop nerve signals from sending pain messages to your brain.
These are only two examples of interventional options to relieve your neck pain:
Cervical epidural steroid injection
When Dr. Vujicic administers an epidural injection, he uses ultrasound imaging to give him a view of the needle and to carefully guide it into the targeted area. After the steroid medication is injected into the epidural space, it can flow around several nearby nerves, reducing inflammation and alleviating neck pain.
Dr. Vujicic may also include a local anesthetic with the steroid. The anesthetic provides quick but short-lived pain relief, while steroids reduce inflammation to give you longer-lasting relief.
Cervical facet block
Vertebrae are connected to one another by facet joints. Like other joints in your body, the bones in the facet joint are covered in cartilage. As a result, they’re susceptible to degeneration, osteoarthritis (cervical joint arthritis), and bone spurs.
When your neck pain is caused by arthritis, a cervical facet block — an injection of steroids and local anesthesia at the damaged joint — can significantly relieve the pain.
If you suffer from ongoing neck pain, call V Pain Clinic or schedule an appointment using the online booking feature.
We also offer Radiofrequency Nerve Ablation. Call us to book your appointment today.
