Brief Answer:
Degenerative cervical spine disease, Osteoporosis, Osteomalacia

Detailed Answer:
Hi there.

Thanks for the query.

Kindly answer a few questions for me to be in a better position to help you.

Do you have pain starting from the back of the neck radiating to both the arms ?

Any associated tingling or numbness ?

Any co-morbid conditions like Diabetes or Hypertension ?

The causes for pain in both arms could be due to many reasons. Most commonly in your age group, degenerative spine disease in the neck can cause compression of the nerves travelling to your arms from the back of your neck is possible. This is usually associated with pain at the back of the neck which is aggravated on bending the neck forwards and on lifting weights. This can be associated with tingling and numbness sometimes.

Other causes can be weak bones due to diet poor in calcium, less sunlight exposure and also osteoporosis.

I advise you to apply hot water bottle to the back of the neck and over the arms where it hurts. This should relieve any muscle spasm which can be seen in nerve pinching at the back of the neck. Avoid bending the neck forwards or lifting weights. Eat healthy diet consisting of cereals, pulses, green leafy vegetables, cheese, chicken, lean meat and eggs. Keep well hydrated.

The pain meds can also be continued but it is safer to take Tablet Paracetamol/Acetaminophen 500mg thrice a day. Physiotherapy also helps a lot.

Kindly respond to my questions so that we can help determine a proper cause for your problem and discuss the appropriate management. An Orthopaedic surgeon consult will help with a proper physical examination and required investigations like Serum Calcium level, Serum phosphorous level, Serum Vitamin D level, DEXA Scan to rule out osteoporosis and imaging like X-ray as necessary.

I hope I have answered your query.

I will be available to answer your follow up queries.

Regards,

Dr. Aashish Raghu

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