NECKVoltex Physical Therapy · North Austin
Stiff neck, pinched nerve or headaches from the base of your skull? A Doctor of Physical Therapy at our North Austin clinic finds the cause and treats it one-on-one.
Most clients feel a difference within the first few visits.
The short answer
About 1 in 3 adults has neck pain each year. Most of it comes from stiff joints, overloaded muscles or an irritated nerve, not serious damage.
At our North Austin clinic, physical therapy finds which one is driving your symptoms, calms the pain with hands-on care, then rebuilds neck and upper-back strength so it doesn’t keep coming back.
Understand your pain
The 6 most common causes we treat at our North Austin clinic, and the signs of each one.
Feels like: a dull ache or tight neck that’s hard to turn, often worse in the morning or after long desk days.
Often caused by: sleeping awkwardly, hours on a laptop or phone, a heavy training session or stress.
Feels like: pain that travels into the shoulder blade or arm, sometimes with tingling, numbness or weakness.
Often caused by: an irritated nerve root, often from a disc bulge or narrowing where the nerve leaves the spine.
Feels like: neck pain with arm symptoms that can flare with coughing, sitting or looking down.
Often caused by: load and wear over time, or one specific lift or movement. Many disc problems settle without surgery.
Feels like: sharp, one-sided pain when you look up or turn, sometimes spreading to the top of the shoulder.
Often caused by: stiff or irritated small joints at the back of the neck, often after long static positions or overhead lifting.
Feels like: neck pain, stiffness, headaches or dizziness in the days after a car accident or a hard hit in sport.
Often caused by: a fast back-and-forth movement of the head that strains muscles and ligaments.
Feels like: headaches that start at the base of the skull and spread toward the forehead or behind the eye.
Often caused by: pain referred from the upper neck joints and muscles, called a cervicogenic headache.
Sound familiar?
Headaches that start in your neck? See headache treatment in Austin. Jaw pain too? See TMJ physical therapy.
What the research says
Staying in any position too long matters more than the position itself. Moving often and building strength helps more than sitting perfectly straight.
In a study of 1,211 adults with no neck pain at all, nearly 9 in 10 had disc bulges on their MRI. We refer for imaging when your symptoms or exam call for it.
Physical therapy guidelines for neck pain recommend staying active, exercise and hands-on care over resting it or wearing a collar.
Your plan at Voltex
Every visit is one-on-one with a Doctor of Physical Therapy for the full session at our North Austin clinic.
A 75-minute evaluation of your neck, upper back, shoulders and jaw.
Manual therapy, joint mobilization and dry needling to get your neck moving.
Deep neck, upper-back and shoulder strength for desk days, lifting and sport.
A home plan plus workstation or training changes that last.
