Neck Pain by: Medical Author: William C. Shiel Jr., MD, FACP, FACR

Source: http://www.medicinenet.com/neck_pain/article.htm

What is neck pain? What causes neck pain?

Pain located in the neck is a common medical condition. Neck pain can come from a number of disorders and diseases of any tissues in the neck, such as degenerative disc disease, neck strain, whiplash, a herniated disc, or a pinched nerve. Neck pain is also referred to as cervical pain.

What are other symptoms that are associated with neck pain?

Neck pain is commonly associated with dull aching. Sometimes pain in the neck is worsened with movement of the neck. Other symptoms associated with some forms of neck pain include numbness, tingling, tenderness, sharp shooting pain, fullness, difficulty swallowing, pulsations, swishing sounds in the head, dizziness or lightheadedness, and gland swelling.

What are the structures of the neck?

There are seven vertebrae that are the bony building blocks of the spine in the neck (the cervical vertebrae) that surround the spinal cord and canal. Between these vertebrae are discs, and nearby pass the nerves of the neck. Within the neck, structures include the neck muscles, arteries, veins, lymph glands, thyroid gland, parathyroid glands, esophagus, larynx, and trachea. Diseases or conditions that affect any of these tissues of the neck can lead to neck pain.

How is neck pain diagnosed?

In diagnosing the cause of neck pain, it is important to review the history of the symptoms. In reviewing the history, the doctor will note the location, intensity, duration, and radiation of the pain. Any past injury to the neck is noted. Aggravating and/or relieving positions or motions are also recorded. The neck is examined at rest and in motion. Tenderness is detected during palpation of the neck. An examination of the nervous system is performed to determine whether or not nerve involvement is present.

Further testing of undiagnosed neck pain can include x-ray evaluation, CAT scan, bone scan, MRI scan, myelogram, and electrical tests such as electromyography (EMG) and nerve conduction velocity test (NCV).

How is neck pain treated?

The treatment of neck pain depends on its precise cause. Treatment options include rest, heat/ice applications, traction, soft collar, traction, physical therapy (ultrasound, massage, manipulation), local injections of cortisone or anesthetics, topical anesthetic creams, topical pain patches, muscle relaxants, analgesics, and surgical procedures.

How To Burn More Calories To Lose Weight?

from chiactivate website

By Chris Chew

Everyone knows that we need to burn more calories than we eat to lose weight. But what are calories? Why is it we can lose weight by burning calories? How are calories being burnt?

Calorie is a measurement of heat. It is the amount of energy that is required to raise one milliliter of water by one degree Celsius. Calorie measures the amount of heat or energy that is released when you burn food down.

Calories are burnt through a complicated process that oxidizes food to its basic components. For example, if you burn a sugar, it will turn into carbon dioxide. However in the body, the food burnt is converted to forms of energy.

So therefore when you consume food, the food is broken down and stored as adipose fat or glycogen (which are stored in liver and muscles cells) to be burnt for energy later. Your body prefers to burn glycogen as its first choice of energy rather than body fat when you expand energy such as exercising.

The more muscles you have in your body, the more calories you will burn. The more calories you burnt, the more weight you will lose. This is because muscle cells are metabolically active whereas body fats are not because fat cells do not have much functionality and are mostly inactive.

Different food categories carry different amount of calories. For example, a gram of protein or carbohydrate has about four calories but a gram of fat packs a whopping nine calories. It is thus a no brainer that the more fat you eat the more calories your body will store.

Some people raise their metabolic rate by eating many smaller meals a day instead of three big meals. By eating several 5-6 times a day, your insulin level is also better regulated and less insulin will then be converted to adipose fat.

So how can you burn more calories and further raise your metabolism to naturally burn more calories and body fats? A simple and effective way to burn more calories is to build more muscles as explained above and exercise to expand energy and thus burning more calories in the process.

About the Author
Chris Chew is a fitness trainer of fashion models, actors and male pageant competitors. He is also the creator and author of Burn Fat Build Muscles Fast System. See his websites http://www.sgfitness.com and http://www.sgfitnessonline.com.

Cervical Spondylosis

Cervical Spondylosis is a disorder caused by degeneration of the neck bones (cervical vertebrae) and the cervical disks. Cervical spondylosis is common in people older than 50 years and is mainly due to aging. A previous neck injury can increase the chance of cervical spondylosis, but the major cause is again.

As we age the bones in the neck (cervical spine) degenerates including the cushions between the cervical disks and joints between the bones of the cervical spine. It’s also called degenerative disk disease of the neck.

Cervical Spondylosis may result in bone spurs and problems with ligaments and disks. The degenerative changes can gradually put pressure on the spinal nerves. It may even compress the spinal cord and nerves to the arm.

This pressure may result to pain in the neck and numbness in the arm. The pain can range from mild discomfort to severe pain.

Symptoms Cervical Spondylosis
Cervical Spondylosis causes chronic neck pain and may even result to weakness of the arms. The most common symptoms of Cervical Spondylosis are:

1. Stiff and Neck pain
2. Weakness and numbness in the arm
3. Headaches
4. Loss of balance

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