Tired Vertebral Muscles Cause Neck Pain

Learning new languages, sending emails, going to a virtual class, or talking to loved ones on the other side of the world are just some of the activities you can do with the touch of a button on a smartphone. Unfortunately, the ease and convenience of today’s devices have also brought with them neck pain. The sedentary nature of work and prolonged use of handheld devices and computers have contributed to a marked increase in neck pain.

Although fatigue in the neck muscles has long been suspected of causing pain, the exact mechanical changes in the spine and muscles that precede the weakness are an open question.

Now, the use of higher cervical spine causes cervicalgia.

Neck posture is maintained dynamically by the bones of the spine, which are pulled into position by the muscles attached to them. Although the sky is very flexible, it is also very unstable.

To test their theory, they recruited healthy volunteers for a “stability to fatigue” cervical strain task. Subjects kept their necks in a neutral position, 40° extended (bent backward) and 40° bent forward for one time. Researchers use electromyography (EMG) to measure muscle electrical activity. Specifically, they measure muscle fatigue through changes in the frequency of the EMG signal. In addition, they use high-energy X-ray technology to track small cervical spine movements that are on the order of a few degrees.

An experimental description of researchers has confirmed that sustained efforts do indeed lead to EMG signs of fatigue. Biomechanically, muscle fatigue changes the mechanics of the spine, which increases sensitivity.

As a next step, researchers will develop dynamic biomechanical models, a novel approach that promises to provide more understanding of the muscle events that precede fatigue. Unlike the model in this study that assumes static stresses of the neck, the dynamic model captures subtle but significant changes in muscles and bones over time.

These results were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.