#TACTIX :: Neck Pain

Neck stress

The average weight of most people’s heads is 11 pounds. This heavy head is supported by your neck filled with seven vertebrae, plus many ligaments, and muscles. Your head is perfectly balanced with correct posture, lessening the weight. But due to computers and smartphones, poor posture tends to tilt the head forward, moving it away from its ideal gravitational center. This adds additional weight to those vertebrae and muscles, which are not used to supporting this extra pull, and can add a great deal of strain on the neck. Neck pain most often occurs when the joints, muscles, and ligaments in the neck become irritated or inflamed.

Minor to severe

We all feel neck pain occasionally. Pain can be minor, or it can be excruciating and debilitating. Common symptoms of neck pain include a stiff neck with limited range of motion, sharp or stabbing pain, soreness or tenderness, or even radiating pain that can eventually lead from the neck to shoulders, arms, fingers, and head.

Possible causes

There are many causes of neck pain including sleeping in an abnormal position, poor posture, falls or injuries from a sport, or whiplash. Degenerative disorders such as osteoarthritis, and degenerative disc disease directly affect the spine and neck. Pain in the neck can also come from spinal stenosis or “pinched nerve” which causes the small nerve passageways in the vertebrae to narrow, compressing and trapping nerve roots. This may cause neck, shoulder, and arm pain, as well as numbness when these nerves are unable to function normally.

Treatment Plans

A chiropractor can complete an exam and assessment of your pain and origin.  The doctor will observe your posture, range of motion, and physical condition, noting movement that causes pain. He or she may examine your spinal curvature and alignment, and feel for muscle spasms. The doctor of chiropractic can order tests like an x-ray can show narrowed disc space, fractures, bone spurs, or arthritis.

If your chiropractor diagnoses a condition within his or her scope, a treatment plan is developed to help ease your neck pain. A neck adjustment is a precise procedure applied to the joints of the neck, usually by hand. A neck adjustment works to improve the mobility of the spine and restore the range of motion; it can also increase the movement of the adjoining muscles. Patients typically notice an improved ability to turn and tilt the head, and a reduction of pain, soreness, and stiffness. In addition to manipulation, the treatment plan may include mobilization, massage or rehabilitative exercises, or something else.

Get your head on straight

These chiropractic techniques ease your pain and return you back to a normal routine. Neck pain is one of the most common ailments we see at Chiropractix and we have treated many patients successfully.