If you've ever dealt with a stiff neck and a sore lower back at the same time, you're not imagining a connection.
In our clinics in Limerick and Charleville, back pain and neck pain are two of the most common complaints we see — and more often than not, they’re related.
Why Back Pain and Neck Pain Show Up Together
Your spine is one connected system, not a set of separate parts. The neck (cervical spine), mid-back (thoracic spine), and lower back (lumbar spine) all work together to support your posture, absorb load, and allow movement. When one section becomes stiff, weak, or misaligned, the sections above and below it are often forced to compensate.
A common pattern I see in clinic: someone spends long hours at a desk or looking down at a phone, and the neck gradually loses mobility.
To keep the head level, the upper back rounds forward, and the lower back changes how it loads to balance everything out. Months later, that person comes in complaining of lower back pain — without realising the root cause started at the neck.
Common Causes I See in my Practice
- Prolonged sitting and poor desk setup — screens too low, chairs with no lumbar support, hours without movement breaks
- Muscle imbalances — tight chest and hip flexors paired with weak upper back and core muscles
- Old injuries that never fully resolved — whiplash, a lifting strain, or a fall that healed “well enough” but left residual stiffness
- Disc-related issues — bulging or degenerating discs in the neck or lower back, which can also refer pain down the arms or legs
- Stress and muscle tension — the neck and shoulders are a common place for the body to hold tension, which can pull on the muscles supporting the lower back over time
- Flat feet — when the arches collapse, it changes how load travels up through the knees and hips, forcing the lower back and neck to compensate for the imbalance below
Why Treating Just the Painful Spot Often Doesn't Work
A lot of people try heat pads, painkillers, or a few sessions of general massage and get short-term relief that doesn’t last. That’s usually because the treatment is addressing the symptom — where it hurts — rather than the cause — why it started hurting.
With 26+ years treating patients across Limerick and Charleville, my approach is to properly assess how your neck, upper back, and lower back are moving together, identify where the actual dysfunction began, and build a treatment plan around fixing that — not just calming down the painful area for a week or two.
How I Approach Back and Neck Pain at Don Kelly Pain Relief
1. A thorough assessment. Before any treatment, we look at your posture, movement patterns, and spinal mobility as a whole, not just the area that hurts.
2. Hands-on physiotherapy. Manual therapy to restore movement in stiff joints and release tight, overworked muscles.
3. Dry needling where appropriate. As a certified dry needling practitioner, I use this to release deep muscle tension that manual therapy alone sometimes can’t reach — particularly effective for the tight bands of muscle that build up around the neck, shoulders, and lower back.
4. Custom orthotics where relevant. Back and neck pain doesn’t always start in the back or neck — it can start at the feet. If your foot posture or gait is uneven, that imbalance travels up through the knees and hips into the spine, forcing the lower back and neck to compensate. We assess your gait and, where it’s contributing to your pain, provide custom orthotics to correct the imbalance at the source, taking pressure off the spine.
5. A tailored exercise plan. Strengthening the muscles that support your spine so the improvement holds, rather than reverting after a few weeks.
6. Practical advice for daily life. Simple changes to how you sit, sleep, and move that make a real difference outside the clinic.
When Should You See Someone About Back or Neck Pain?
You don’t need to wait until the pain is severe. It’s worth getting assessed if you notice:
- Pain that’s lasted more than a couple of weeks
- Stiffness that’s affecting your work, sleep, or exercise
- Pain that radiates into your arms, hands, legs, or feet
- Headaches that seem to start from neck tension
- A nagging ache that keeps coming back despite rest
My goal is always to help you avoid surgery where possible and get to the root cause — not just manage symptoms indefinitely.
Get Back to Moving Freely
Back and neck pain can affect everything from your work to your sleep to your mood. You don’t have to just live with it. Combining hands-on physiotherapy, dry needling, and custom orthotics where needed means we’re addressing the problem from every angle — the muscles, the joints, and the foundation your whole body moves on — rather than just treating the sore spot and hoping it stays away.
If you’re in Limerick, Charleville, or the surrounding areas and dealing with ongoing back or neck pain, we’re here to help you figure out what’s actually going on and build a real plan to fix it.
Book an assessment today at our Dooradoyle, Limerick or Charleville, Co. Cork clinic.
