Neck injuries can have many causes and the most common is an overuse injury from computer work, bad lifting techniques weightlifting or sleeping badly. Muscles become tense and inflamed and it may hurt to move the head forward or from side to side. If you suffer these symptoms and they do not go away after a few days, you may need an orthopedic practitioner to check you over. Neck pain can be caused from referred back pain as well and can give you bad headaches if it is not treated.

Any accident that injures the neck should be looked at immediately and a neck brace should be worn if there is any likeliness of neck injury after a car accident. Ambulance medical personnel automatically place neck braces on all accident victims, until they have been checked by at a hospital. This is a precautionary measure because neck injuries can worsen from even the slightest movement. Whiplash is a common neck injury sustained from car accidents from which you get a sore neck, you can also get whiplash from horse riding, contact sports and falling awkwardly. Physical therapy will help get mobility back to the neck after this kind of neck injury and you should make a full recovery.

A herniated disc at the top of the spine is basically a neck injury and affects all the muscles and tendons of the neck as they try to compensate for the malfunctioning disk. Serious herniated discs can require corrective surgery which is now largely minimally invasive surgery, which speeds up the recovery time and leaves only a small scar. Modern Orthopedic advances have led to fine tuned techniques which can repair bone, muscles and tendons when they are damaged. Most neck injuries can be repaired these days and there is no need to have a life on pain killers after some treatment they will not even be necessary.