We all have felt the twinge of a sore neck at some stage – from sleeping the wrong way or a long journey, to long hours in front of a computer screen or an injury. Neck pain can even be caused by long-term stress build up – sometimes  we brace ourselves yet again for another onslaught of deadlines, emotional upheaval or any other physical or mental tension and we can literally feel our shoulders creeping up around our ears, jamming the neck and causing the muscles to get tense and stay that way.

Hands-on to Address Musculoskeletal Issues and Neck Pain

As its name suggests, musculoskeletal therapy addresses issues with the skeletal system and the muscles that attach to it, hold it up and cause it to move.

Musculoskeletal therapy is an advanced form of remedial massage, using a number of techniques, including mobilisation, stretching, postural and orthopaedic assessments, exercise rehabilitation, hydrotherapy, cupping, taping, dry needling and of course massage. It is a very “hands-on” therapy.

Consulting a musculoskeletal therapist for your neck pain may help in relieving long-held tension. A therapist will be able to assess your neck pain to identify the cause and what the contributing factors to the pain and/or injury are, and massage the affected area to relax and release the muscles and nerves.

Being a therapy that favours mobilisation over manipulation, it is quite a gentle technique. The therapist will assess you by asking you to move the affected area, and also by moving the area themselves. You may be prescribed specific exercise to regain range of movement in the neck and taught postural awareness to manage to problem, and possibly advised to take nutritional supplements for a period time to help your body mend and heal.