Cervical Muscle Injury

Athletes are shown to have a high lifetime prevalence for cervical injury pain, with the most common injury being muscular soft tissue strains. Injuries occur through either a specific incident (macro-trauma) or repetitive overload (micro-trauma) or a combination of both. Male athletes have a higher prevalence for developing cervical muscle pain compared with female athletes. It has been suggested that the control of buckling and undesirable cervical motion may be a direct result of contraction from the larger neck muscles that are highly dependent on the precise control by the deeper cervical muscles. Subsequent, increases in cervical spine muscle pain have been shown to alter the biomechanical interactions of head and neck posture. Risk factors associated with cervical muscle injuries include reduced neck musculature size and girth, a combination of reduced strength and endurance alongside postural muscle imbalances. While the conservative management aims to address, pain modulation with appropriate medication, refraining from aggravating activities, and treatment with manual therapy to improve cervical range of motion (ROM) and function, rehabilitation goals that specifically target the pre-requisites for developing an increase in neck strength, endurance, and function should all be fulfilled. Only when the athlete is asymptomatic, and has demonstrated sufficient ROM, strength, and function, then a full return to sport (RTS) can be achieved.