Working or studying at home and neck pain

A 15 year old female presented to the clinic complaining of strong neck pain and difficulty turning her neck. 

The patient was a little distressed because this was a new pain for her and it was sore when she tried to move her neck. 

Upon questioning and examination it was found she had sprained the ligaments and supporting structures around a facet joint in her neck. This is a common injury often called a facet sprain and can result in pain in the neck and limited movement. 

For this patient it was key for her to understand what was happening and how long it would take to recover. This education helped reduce some of the fear and gave a better understanding of what was happening to her body. 

It was important that we looked at why this injury may have occurred - part of that was exploring how she was spending a lot of her time. Usually a very active girl, her sports had been restricted during COVID and she was spending a lot of time at her desk during homeschooling. We discussed some simple solutions on how to make the best of her study environment at home where she was spending so much time. After some simple changes and allowing her body to heal she felt more comfortable when studying at home and the neck pain resolved.