Pain in the Neck driving you crazy?

Pain in the Neck?

There are a number of reasons why someone will have neck pain. Some of the most typical causes include:

• whiplash from auto accidents

• sudden forceful movement of the neck or head, including shaking the hair
• disc disease that directly affects the spine, such as disc compression
• arthritis with bone spurs on the joints that affect joint motion
• compressed nerve roots in the vertebrae, causing spinal stenosis
• slouching, poor posture
• overweight or obesity
• weak abdominal muscles
• cold draft on one part of the neck for several hours
• injury from hitting the head

Whenever anyone has neck pain, that pain can worsen and start affecting the head to cause a headache. Neck pain can cause shooting pains down the arm. It can also result in problems with the muscles on the face, pain in the shoulder, and elbow or hand. Neck pain is notorious for interfering with one’s ability to concentrate, sit up straight, stay in a good mood, and have a great day.

The problem is that most neck pain really needs to be investigated thoroughly to determine its cause and treat it appropriately. For example, if someone hits their head against a wall, there’s a good chance that the resulting neck pain is because the jar to the head resulted in a loss of motion in a vertebrae or two. In this case, you’d want to know with certainty that there was no fracture of any type.

The proper health practitioner to go to for neck pain that continues over time is the chiropractic physician. Trained thoroughly in how the cervical vertebrae move in the neck, reasons why neck pain occurs, various neck injuries and how to treat them properly, the chiropractic physician has much more expertise in how to deal with neck pain than the family physician.

In an initial consultation with a chiropractic physician, many questions about how the neck pain started will be asked. Additional questions are asked about what makes the neck pain better and worse, if the pain ever occurred before, and if the pain radiates to other parts of the body; these answers will provide further information that assists in the diagnosis.

Chiropractic physicians perform orthopedic tests to determine the cause of the neck pain, take x-rays, discover bone spurs, cervical fractures, degenerated discs, spinal stenosis, and determine what the next step is for each patient. Chiropractic physicians also have unique treatment tools such as ultrasound, electrical therapy, hot and cold packs, cold lasers, and of course, chiropractic manipulation that can be used the same day that the diagnosis is determined. This allows the patient to start the healing process sooner than if he was sent off to physical therapy.

If a situation arises where a patient with neck pain needs medical care, there is no hesitancy in referring the patient out to the appropriate health care provider. Chiropractors do this on a regular basis.

During the treatment for any type of neck pain, or any other chiropractic condition, chemical painkillers are never used or recommended. Chiropractic physicians do not dispense prescription medication such as Motrin, Naprosyn, or Vicodin that can be habit-forming. The philosophy of chiropractic is to do no harm, and simply assist the body in its healing process using all natural means.

Recent studies prove that chiropractic care to patients with chronic neck pain was successful improving their condition when chiropractic spinal manipulation was used.

Here's a great stretch for your neck:

These exercises should only be performed after evaluation by a qualified professional and under their instruction. Failure to properly ascertain the reasons for certain injuries or the causes of pain may lead to further injury if these exercises are performed.

Should you experience pain or discomfort while doing an exercise, stop immediately. Follow only the exercises that your doctor has recommended to avoid the potential of further injury.

Purpose

To stretch the right upper trapezius and sternocleidomastoid (SCM).

Steps

1. Sit upright in a chair and place right hand on top of head with elbow out to the side.
2. Slowly side bend neck toward right shoulder. Do not pull down on your head, simply allow hand to support the head and neck in this position.
3. Grasp chair with left hand and slowly lean your body right and slightly forward until you feel a stretch.
4. Tuck your chin in to further the stretch.
5. Hold for 3-5 seconds.
6. Switch and repeat with the opposite side.

Tips

• Pull your head slowly.