How can someone with neck pain get assessed and treated?

Dull ache at the side of the neck is pretty unspecific, but there may be several causes for the ache/ pain. Commonly, it could be due to wear and tear of the neck/ cervical spine, and this is called cervical spondylosis.

As your dad is persistently symptomatic, he would need to see an orthopaedic surgeon. A complete history and physical examination would have to be done, and often times further radiological investigations (X-rays, MRI) would have to be done to confirm the diagnosis.

The problem can then be treated accordingly, and is usually done via medication or physiotherapy. Very rarly is surgery indicated. Hope this has been useful.

Best regards

Dr Sean Ng

As Dr Sean mentions, there can be many causes for neck ache, including cervical spondylosis. Other causes can be nerve root impingement, muscle tightness, poor posture, shoulder pain or even stress! The trouble is that there can be considerable overlap of the different causes and presentations can be similar.

Again, as Dr Sean mentions, seeing a surgeon is certainly an option, but there are others available:

1. Physiotherapists- they can look into the problem, assess posture, muscle tightness and provide non-operative treatments

2. Acupuncturists - while considered part of TCM, some also provide services in hospitals and it might be worth looking into this. They can also assess you and provide non-operative treatments

3. Sports/MSK physicians - as physicians, they can asses you clinically, organise investigations as necessary, provide analgesia or guided injections if appropriate.

4. Osteopaths/chiropractors - while not regulated here in Singapore, I have had a number of patients who have visited them and report positive experiences. This may be an option in some circumstances.

His loss of appetite suggests to me that assessment is important, especially if there is any weight loss to go with it. Please do take his symptoms seriously and get it assessed. I hope things improve.

Many thanks.

Bw

Dr Dinesh