Herniated disc

Evidence-Based Care · Flatiron, NYC

Neck pain, tech neck & headache

If your neck stiffens by mid-afternoon at the screen, wakes up “cricked” and hard to turn, or feeds a headache that starts at the base of the skull, you’re dealing with one of the most common desk-work complaints. Most neck pain is mechanical — and it responds well to focused, conservative care.

Which condition matches you?

Forward head posture / tech neck

Hours at a monitor pull the head in front of the shoulders, overloading the upper trapezius and the small muscles at the base of the skull. The result is a deep ache across the neck and shoulders that builds through the day and eases when you lie down.

Cervical disc herniation

Neck pain that radiates into the shoulder, arm, or hand — sometimes with numbness, tingling, or weakness. Symptoms often track a single nerve and worsen in certain head positions. The C5–C6 and C6–C7 levels are most commonly involved.

Acute torticollis ("morning crick")

You wake and the neck is locked toward one side, sharply painful to turn. A muscle or joint has guarded overnight. It’s alarming but usually self-limiting, and tends to respond quickly to treatment that releases the guard.

Our approach

Where it hurts isn't where it starts

The neck is usually paying for what the upper back and shoulders aren’t doing. In the common “upper crossed” pattern, the upper trapezius, levator scapulae, and sternocleidomastoid shorten and tighten while the deep neck flexors and lower trapezius grow weak. When a stiff mid-back can’t rotate, the neck is forced to make up the range — so it overworks, and it’s the neck that hurts. Treating only the sore neck muscles loosens them for a day and lets the same load rebuild. Durable relief comes from restoring mid-back mobility and shoulder-blade control so the neck stops compensating.

The evidence & the anatomy

Recent systematic reviews support acupuncture for neck pain. A 2024 review of 18 randomized trials found that acupuncture, used alongside standard care, gave sustained pain relief at three and six months after treatment,1 and a 2025 analysis of 26 trials (3,520 patients) found meaningful reductions in pain intensity. A large individual-patient meta-analysis of more than 20,000 chronic-pain patients — neck pain among them — showed effects that persist over time and aren’t explained by placebo.2 We target the structures that actually drive neck pain:

Upper trapezius

Levator scapulae

Sternocleidomastoid

Scalenes

Suboccipitals

Deep neck flexors

How we treat it — our 3-step protocol

Assess

We test cervical range of motion, deep neck-flexor endurance, and shoulder-blade control to find which muscles are overworking and which have switched off — the mechanical imbalance behind your symptoms.

Treat the structure

We needle and release the neck, shoulder girdle, and mid-back together — not the sore spot in isolation — to lower tension, restore rotation, and take load off the cervical spine.

Close the loop

When the suboccipital muscles are driving a headache at the base of the skull, or when tight scalenes and pectoralis minor point toward thoracic outlet involvement affecting the arm, we screen for and address those connections so relief extends beyond the neck.

Start your recovery

An out-of-network PPO practice in the Flatiron District — we bill your insurer directly, so you don’t chase reimbursement. New patients receive $100 off their first treatment and a complimentary consultation.

References

Systematic review & meta-analysis: Durable Effect of Acupuncture for Chronic Neck Pain. Curr Pain Headache Rep. 2024 (18 randomized controlled trials).
Vickers AJ, et al.; Acupuncture Trialists’ Collaboration. Acupuncture for Chronic Pain: Update of an Individual Patient Data Meta-Analysis. J Pain. 2018;19(5):455–474.
Meta-analysis of acupuncture treatment for cervicogenic headache, 2024 (20 randomized controlled trials).