Short Neck Syndrome

Usually, talking about short neck syndrome refers to a rare condition known as Klippel-Feil syndrome, a rare congenital disorder where at least two vertebrae in the neck are fused. This can cause a short neck, restricted movement, pain and deformity.

Typically, treatments will range from surgery to devices to protect your spine depending on the severity.

It may involve other parts of your body, including the spinal cord and other bones, muscles and nerves, heart, lungs, mouth, eyes, ears, and kidneys. If your doctor can not see it during pregnancy, with no obvious abnormalities at birth, infancy or childhood, it may not be discovered until teen years or later, however, this is rare.

But the short neck syndrome seen too often does not involve this abnormality. It is a temporary gesture when we are frustrated at what to do for neck issues. Shrugging the shoulders is often a response to what to do about my neck pain?

While most cases are not due to injury and are not serious, a professional should always be consulted, especially with chronic or ongoing pain that is severe and/or radiates to other parts of the body like the arm(s), or after any injury.

However, most cases resulting in a short neck reaction are due to muscle spasm, strain and poor posture. This can usually be handled with home treatments and knowledge, like better ergonomics, exercise and neck products that can really help.

Balancing the weight of the head is done by the neck, providing stability combined with mobility. Any deviation from normal posture which is designed to maintain this balance can cause pain and wind up responsible for further problems down the road like degeneration. This can lead to a short neck, not from a congenital disease, but from the loss of disc space that can lead to a loss of inches from your neck and back.

So, by all means, don’t shrug your shoulders in doubt, take control with increasing your knowledge and using quick and easy methods to handle neck issues when you first notice it rather than letting it go only to become a chronic, long term condition with more serious implications.

Problems so frequently seen with new technology like forward head posture and use of smartphones, as well as improper attention to initial musculoskeletal symptoms like neck strain can lead to more shrugging, but it does not have to be like that.