Feel Better, Function Better through chiropractic care
There are multiple different factors that can cause someone to experience neck pain.
Constant scrolling through social media with you neck flexed for prolonged periods of time, sitting at a desk with no breaks, emotional stress and tension causing you to sink into your shoulders, pillows so thin they don’t lift the spine in line with your torso, etc – all can contribute to pain and discomfort.
While all these things may aggravate your pain, quite often there is something deeper, underlying, that makes one person more susceptible to neck pain in comparison to another.
For most people, neck pain resolves on its own.
Which is why most try to ignore there pain and choose to do nothing when they initially feel it.
But liken your neck pain to the tip of an iceberg.
The pain you feel in your neck is the tip that sticks out from the water.
In almost all cases we see, neck pain is a secondary effect, its something that occurs due to a deeper, underlying dysfunction.
What can be a deeper problem that could cause neck pain?
- Loss of a healthy cervical (neck) curve
- Structural shift of the spine
- Muscle imbalances
- History of trauma
- Myopathology
When new patients search for a chiropractor to help with their neck pain, more often than not they are after someone who will give them some form of immediate relief, maybe help with their ‘pinched nerve’.
While a quick fix may seem like the best option for someone in severe discomfort, it might not be the most beneficial option in the long run.
Are you happy with the patch job, or are you looking for a better solution?
As a Chiropractor in Frankston who helps many patients with their neck pain, I’ve consulted with a variety of different presentations. Most notable from all these different cases are contrasts in the structure of the spine in a patient who has been experiencing neck pain for weeks-months, compared to someone who has been experiencing neck pain for months-years-decades.
Quite often the patient who has a sudden onset (recent) neck pain, does not have any significant structural changes to the individual bones of the cervical spine, and no degeneration to the discs.
Comparatively, patients that I consult with who have chosen quick fixes, or ignored, their neck pain for a chronic (long) period, have major structural shifts and degenerative changes that continually aggravate their experience of pain and discomfort.
The contrast between these patients can be stark.
Working with neck pain, it is essential to consider these 4 things:
1) Has there been any trauma to the neck?
2) If there is any damage or degeneration, how long has it been there?
3) Overall, how is the health and alignment of the entire cervical spine (neck)?
4) Apart from the specific vertebra (bones of the neck) how is the health of all the discs, muscles, ligaments and other soft tissues?
After consulting with hundreds of neck pain patients, two things holds true
–No two neck pain cases or spines are alike.
–The more factors to consider from the above, the more complicated the patient’s presentation may be.
Choices for neck pain treatment
Patients who decide to go with GP management instead of coming to a Neuro-Structural Chiropractor, can expect to be prescribed pain relief medication, physical therapy exercises, or in extreme cases, surgery.
This choice is not good or bad. It’s simply important to understand that these are the interventions used by these professionals.
Whether your cause of neck pain is simple or complex, here are a few options to try for anyone experiencing neck pain and wanting short-term relief, without depending on medication.
Neck Pain Relief Exercises
Often the health of your cervical curve (neck curve) is directly proportional to the levels of pain you may experience.
Unfortunately for most people, years of looking down at a phone or staring at a screen with poor posture can compromise the structure of the curve.
However, there are ways to regain normal cervical curvature..
- Increase the mobility of the tissues (muscles and ligaments) surrounding the neck to allow for structural correction. Online you will find lots of videos that will show you different exercises and stretches you can do. We recommend our video here.
- Utilise a fulcrum and pivot point. This could be achieved using a rolled up towel – however for the best results, our chiropractors may prescribe a cervical denneroll orthotic for specific and best results.
- The most important step is to get movement and return normal motion back to the individual joints and vertebra of the spine. When the cervical spine has a better alignment, motion is regained, reducing stress on the surrounding soft tissue and allowing for better overall function. This is achieved with specific chiropractic adjustments.
Neck Pain Red Flags
Neck pain can be serious – and it is important to identify some factors that would require immediate evaluation and investigation.
- Weakness, numbness and loss of function of the arm, hands and/or shoulder
- Pulsating/radiating pain
- Difficulty walking or balancing
- Involuntary urination and loss of bladder control
- Chills and/or fever
- Pain after a car accident/fall
What else could be contributing to neck pain?
Often we find that there is no one single cause of neck pain – and that lifestyle factors can increase and aggravate someones levels of discomfort.
-Poor sleeping positions – a pillow that is too soft or too big can contribute to neck discomfort.
-Poor posture and hours at the computer. Looking at a screen for prolonged periods of time (or down at your phone) can start to warp the posture of the neck and cause the surrounding muscles to tighten.
If you have been experiencing neck pain for a long time, or what you have tried hasn;t given you long term relief or improvement, then we recommend a consult with one of our chiropractors.
