Skip to main content

Neck Pain

Birmingham Neurosurgery & Spine Group

Neurological Surgery located in Birmingham, AL

Neck pain can come on for many different reasons, but most of them are related to your musculoskeletal system. If you have unrelieved neck pain, the team of expert spinal surgeons at Birmingham Neurosurgery & Spine Group in Birmingham, Alabama, can help. They offer highly advanced minimally invasive surgeries, using leading technologies like METRx® System instruments and Mazor robotic-assisted surgeries to treat the causes of neck pain. Call Birmingham Neurosurgery & Spine Group today to find out more.

Neck Pain Q & A

What causes neck pain?

Neck pain can sometimes be due to infections. If you aren’t experiencing any additional symptoms of being sick, chances are your neck pain is caused by injury or tissue degeneration in your musculoskeletal system.

Some of the more common conditions causing neck pain include:

  • Ligament injuries
  • Cervical stenosis
  • Spondylosis
  • Herniated discs
  • Muscle strains
  • Whiplash injuries
  • Osteoarthritis
  • Rheumatoid arthritis 
  • Cervical radiculopathy (pinched nerve)

If you have an accident and your neck is badly injured, you shouldn’t move until emergency help arrives. Severe injuries of the cervical spine could result in paralysis if not handled expertly; however, such injuries are relatively rare, and in most cases, your neck pain will have a less dramatic explanation.

How is neck pain diagnosed?

There are numerous possible causes for neck pain, so the team at Birmingham Neurosurgery & Spine Group needs to diagnose the exact cause of your pain before starting treatment. Tests they might use to help diagnose your neck pain include:

  • X-ray
  • CT scan
  • MRI scan
  • Myelogram
  • Discogram
  • Electromyography (EMG)
  • Nerve conduction study
  • Diagnostic spinal injection

These tests, in combination with a physical exam, a review of your medical history, and hearing about your symptoms enable your provider at Birmingham Neurosurgery & Spine Group to determine what’s causing your neck pain. He can then prescribe the most suitable treatment.

How is neck pain treated?

Initially, your treatment for neck pain is likely to be conservative, consisting of:

  • Pain relief medication 
  • Muscle relaxants
  • Physical therapy
  • Epidural steroid injections
  • Selective nerve root blocks

For most patients, treatment using these methods relieves neck pain and improves function. However, if you’ve been on a conservative treatment program for some time with no improvement, it might be time to discuss surgical options with the team at Birmingham Neurosurgery & Spine Group.

The type of surgery you need to resolve persistent neck pain will vary depending on the cause of the problem. You might need to have part or all of a disc removed, more room made for the nerves in your spine, or a bone spur removed, for example.

Some of the most performed surgeries at Birmingham Neurosurgery & Spine Group include:

  • Cervical artificial disc replacement (ADR)
  • Anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF)
  • Posterior cervical decompression (microdiscectomy)
  • Posterior cervical laminectomy
  • Posterior cervical laminoplasty
  • Posterior cervical foraminotomy

If you have neck pain and you’ve exhausted other treatment options, call Birmingham Neurosurgery & Spine Group today.