Neurologist Questions Neurologist

Why is my neck pain not going away?

I am a 19 year old male, I have neck pain which is not going away after tripping during basketball.

7 Answers

NeurologistNeurologist
It's essential to get to the bottom of your neck pain after your basketball trip. The pain may persist due to various reasons, such as muscle strain, ligament sprain, or even a possible injury to the cervical spine. I recommend you see a healthcare professional for a thorough examination and possibly imaging tests.

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If it’s not going away, you need some type of intervention. Most likely you have a disc bulge which you could see on an MRI. You might need an epidural injection or a steroid pack to see if this helps more.
There are several different possibilities, including stretching a ligament and no longer allowing it to heal, which causes constant pulling. You also could have pinched a nerve or irritated a disc in the neck. If not going away, get properly evaluated by a sports medicine/orthopedic physician.
That may indicate a spine injury, not just muscle injury. See a physician.
You may need to be seen for injection care and proper work up. At 19 years old, the run of the mill pain problems should be fleeting. This should be evaluated by a Pain Management physician for further workup.
Hello 19!
What you report as your mechanism of injury leads me to believe this is a simple neck strain injury, which can be quite painful and can take some time to resolve. Neck strains are quite difficult, because. unlike some muscles that we can rest, your neck must continue working to do its primary job, which is to hold up your head. Imagine trying to balance a 10 pound bowling ball on a broomstick. It takes a lot of muscles to make this happen and a lot of strength. This is essentially the job that your neck muscles do. When you strain your neck, some of those muscles are weakened. Although the other muscles in your neck step up their efforts to make sure that your head stays upright and you are able to move it appropriately, the injured muscles cannot lay down on the job to get rest or your head would flop into some unusual position. While your injured neck muscles can reduce their work load by restricting your movement with inflammation and pain, they cannot stop holding up your head to rest while they heal. Accordingly, they take longer to heal. It is not uncommon to even have headaches during this period of time. You should anticipate that your neck pain may even worsen over the first few days following the incident. Although mild neck strains may take only a few days to heal, it is not uncommon to have neck pain and weakness for several weeks after a severe strain. If however, your neck pain is not improving at all after a few days, it is best to see a doctor. Xrays of your neck may be needed. If your fall was not with your feet planted on the ground, e.g. if you were airbourne going for a rim shot, if your head hit the ground hard, if you landed on your neck, if your neck twisted in some unusual position, or if you heard/felt a crack when you hit the ground, please go to the ER and seek further care. An xray of your neck is probably prudent under those circumstances. Additionally, if you are having any numbness or tingling in your arms or hands, an xray is needed. Finally, if in doubt, please seek further guidance from a doctor who can physically examine you, even if only with a virtual visit where you can be visually observed.
There could be a number of reasons. I would recommend you see a local PT for a consultation.
Good luck.