Neck Pain and Falls
It is our privilege to shed some light upon poorly appreciated implications of common neck pain. We hope some of this information can help you, the reader, and/or your loved ones.
Cervical (neck) pain can be caused by many different things, including disc disease, “pulled muscles,” tension, and more. One common cause of neck pain is spinal stenosis, which is the technical term for the narrowing of the spinal canal, formed by the bones of the spine. Spinal stenosis can be caused by age-related degenerative changes. Occasionally, it may cause compression of the spinal cord, causing neurological changes, referred to as myelopathy. If left untreated, myelopathy can lead to gait deficits, hand clumsiness, muscle weakness, spasticity (muscle tightness), sensory impairment, and more, including severe complications like paralysis, though this is not common.
Cervical myelopathy not only causes falls, but can also progress and worsen from even minor trauma due to falls. One study reports that the medical conditions of 9.6 percent of patients with degenerative cervical myelopathy worsened as a result of even minor external injuries. For this reason, preventing falls in these patients is crucial.
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