Your neck supports the weight and movement of your head. Your head weighs about 10 to 12 pounds, which is about the same weight as a bowling ball.

Poor posture such as slouching or sleeping incorrectly, prolonged driving, working at the computer, lifting children, decorating and manual work can all result in the loss of proper movement in the joints in your neck.

This loss of joint movement can cause irritation of the nerves that exit your spine leading to pain in your neck or referred pain over an area through which the nerves pass, such as your arms. Deep aching pain to burning neck pain, numbness, tingling down the arm, sharp pain and shooting pain, can be problems from the neck and should be addressed.

Neck pain can be caused by the long-term effect of poor posture from bending, repetitive lifting, sitting at a desk or manual work. Losing the correct movement and function in the joints of your neck may interfere with the healthy working of the nerves that run through it causing irritation to these nerves. This, in turn, can lead to associated pain where the nerves end, often referred to as ‘referred pain’.