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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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What Causes Neck Pain Radiating Towards Left Arm?

I am a 47 year old female, I have never had any health issues. Last week i left work early, because i thought i may be having a heart attack because i had pain in my neck radiating down my left arm, i was very scared. Turned out to be cervical radiculopathy. Ive never had an injury, and i am pretty active, my job however is sitting all day at computers since i work in a pharmacy. will i always have this and can it flare up again. im still in pain though a heating pad does help for the moment.
posted on Wed, 25 Feb 2015
Twitter Sat, 14 Mar 2015 Answered on
Twitter Mon, 16 Mar 2015 Last reviewed on
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General & Family Physician,  's  Response
Dear Patient, the cause is most likely that you are sitting a lot in your job which causes the neck muscles to tense up and generally be week and it can cause a pinged nerve in the cervical spine. For immediate relief you can get ibuprofen 400-600 mg (ask your physician in town) ank keep doing the heating pad. In the long run it can get better if you find a way to exercise your back muscles. This can be done by a perscription of physical therapy, special home exercises or sports like swimming or yoga (just examples). With this there is a good chance for the pain to get better. If it desnt get better at all for weeks you might want to talk to an orthopedic doctor who can transfer you to an mri. But in a lot of cases it gets better with sports, local warm pads and antiinflammatory medication like ibuprofen or similar meds. All the best to you!
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What Causes Neck Pain Radiating Towards Left Arm?

Dear Patient, the cause is most likely that you are sitting a lot in your job which causes the neck muscles to tense up and generally be week and it can cause a pinged nerve in the cervical spine. For immediate relief you can get ibuprofen 400-600 mg (ask your physician in town) ank keep doing the heating pad. In the long run it can get better if you find a way to exercise your back muscles. This can be done by a perscription of physical therapy, special home exercises or sports like swimming or yoga (just examples). With this there is a good chance for the pain to get better. If it desnt get better at all for weeks you might want to talk to an orthopedic doctor who can transfer you to an mri. But in a lot of cases it gets better with sports, local warm pads and antiinflammatory medication like ibuprofen or similar meds. All the best to you!