What A Pain In The Neck!
Got neck pain? If so, you’re not alone since millions of Americans are in the same boat.
There are many causes, some serious, others not so serious. As you might suspect, neck pain can be related to employment, recreational activities, or other activities of daily living like finally cleaning out that garage.
Most of the time, it may be a result of more subtle reasons such as poor posture or stress.
Neck pain can be brought on by sleeping in a bad position (falling asleep on the couch late at night watching TV), or looking up at the stars for a time, or when seated at your computer.
From a clinical perspective, most of the time you’ve either strained a muscle, or spinal joints are subluxated, or ligaments like the disc are injured.
If your spine is unhealthy, you may lose your normal neck curve and suffer from pain, nerve irritation and disc degeneration. Although many doctors tell their patients that this is due to age, disc degeneration can be found in young children while some older adults are relatively free of it. One of the most common causes of disc degeneration is years of uncorrected subluxations. Over time uncorrected subluxations degeneration causes arthritic changes in the vertebrae such as lipping or spurring (bony growths), disc thinning and deterioration. Studies show little or no correlation between the degree of pain felt in the neck and arthritic changes found on X-rays and MRI. Subluxation degeneration is considered a defense mechanism that tries to stabilize an off-balance spine.
First of all understand your head weighs about 10 pounds. Try carrying that much weight around all day in your arms and see how it feels by day’s end!
When questioned, many patients simply don’t remember what brought on their neck pain. It just hurts. Most figure it will go away and won’t do anything differently until it becomes a “quality of life” issue.
In other words, one is now having difficulty playing golf, dancing with their spouse, going to work, or playing with their children. Then and only then is one ready to make changes, which include seeking help from a healthcare professional.
Throughout this ordeal, dads try to “tough it out” compared to moms who are on the phone calling the doctor for help almost immediately. And mom is usually responsible for getting dad to do something about it, too.
More and more kids are also experiencing neck pain due to time spent on the computer, long hours studying, or as a result of more aggressive work-out schedules related to school sports.
Here are some simple tips since poor posture is a major contributor:
Standing: Maintain natural curves of the spine; not too stiff or too relaxed. Tighten abdomen, tuck buttocks, hold head erect with ears positioned over shoulders.
Sitting: Sit back in chair, not on edge, feet on floor. Position rolled towel or pillow above belt line to get additional low back support.
Lying: Avoid sleeping on stomach. Lie on your side with knees bent. Use firm mattress. Use cervical pillow or position pillow so neck remains as straight (horizontal), as possible.
Chiropractic care is the most effective treatment on the planet for neck pain.
Chiropractic spinal care corrects a severe form of spine and nerve stress known as the vertebral subluxation complex ("subluxation"). This restores proper movement to your spinal column, permitting greater energy, information and nutrients to flow over your nerves and tissues and throughout your body. When corrected, your entire spine begins to rebalance. That is why, for example, people with lower back problems, after receiving a neck adjustment from their chiropractor, find, to their surprise, that their low back pain not only starts feeling better (as well as many other problems) but they have more energy as well!
Just as a periodic dental checkup is necessary to keep your teeth healthy, so a chiropractic spinal checkup is necessary to ensure a nervous system that is free from spinal nerve stress permitting you to experience greater healing and well-being. No matter what disease or condition you have, you can benefit from a healthy spine.
For more information don’t hesitate to contact our office directly 918-663-1111.
