Instead of masking neck pain Chiropractic reduces the symptoms of neck pain by correcting the cause.
Your neck has two important functions: to allow normal movement of your head and to balance and support your head (which may way as much as a 10-13lb bowling ball!)
When things neck pain occurs, a popular response is to take over the counter or prescription drugs to cover up the pain or to treat the associated symptoms of muscle spasm with drugs such as muscle relaxers or by using massage or hot packs.
While it sometimess seems to help, this type of palliative type care isn’t fixing the cause of the pain or discomfort, (it is merely masking it) although this type of care is considered “normal” treatment for neck pain.
Consider this:
If biomechanics are compromised enough to create pain, then even if these treatments appear to give relief the biomechanics of the neck remain compromised.
If your car maintenance light came on, you wouldn’t pull the fuse out of the light and say “fixed!” Hopefully you would realize that the car is not functioning optimally – whether it still drives well or not – and you would take it in to be worked on. Getting Chiropractic care for the biomechanical dysfunction that caused your neck pain is much like taking your car in to ensure that it is working optimally.
The Chiropractic approach to neck pain is to locate its underlying cause. This begins with a complete history of how the neck issues may have started and involved a thorough examination. Special attention is given to the structure and function of the spine, and its affect on the nervous system.
Common health complaints seen by our Doctors of Chiropractic would be the patient who experiences these issues:
They have a hard time looking over their shoulder because they have lost neck motion (This may go one for months or years without pain but eventually pain occurs.) Some may complain about a constant pulling or throbbing pain in their neck. Some notice a “grinding” sound as they turn their head. Some will have neck “tension” that triggers “tension” headaches. Some may wake up in the night with hands that are numb, or find their hands go numb if they drive a long distance. If you experience any of these issues you should contact one of our Doctors of Chiropractic for a thorough history and examination.
Some of the questions Doctors of Chiropractic ask are:
Is the proper neck spinal curve present? Are the nerve openings between each pair of spinal bones free and clear? Is the head balanced? Are the shoulders level? When these questions are evaluated in conjunction with the history and an orthopedic and neurologic exam, our doctors can create a specific plan of chiropractic adjustments to help improve the motion and position of spinal vertebrae. With improved structure and function, neck pain often diminishes or totally disappears-without addictive drugs or harmful side effects!
One study, published in the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics found that patients who received chiropractic care reported long term significant improvement in their neck pain whereas those who taking pain-killers did not. Treat the cause! See one of our Doctors of Chiropractic today!
