Everyone will experience neck pain sometime during their life. Neck pain can have a multitude of causes. Sometime you can have neck pain from something as simple as sleeping in the wrong position or spending too much time texting. In other cases such as accidents or injuries, in addition to experiencing neck pain there may be damage to the nerves, tendons, muscles, and even the vertebrae itself.
Most neck pain will be due to a subluxation (misalignment) in the cervical spine (vertebrae of the neck). When the cervical spine is out of alignment, the bones can put pressure on the nerves or even pinch the nerves — causing you to feel pain. Subluxations in the neck cause 95% of all headaches. Frequently many people turn to pain medications to deal with their neck pain and headaches instead of dealing with the underlying problems. Pain medications do not treat the problem, they just mask the pain.
Why Chiropractic Care is Important for Neck Pain
Many people self-medicate to deal with their neck pain and headaches, instead of correcting the source of the problem. Feeling pain in your neck is a warning that something is wrong, and when the nerves in your neck are pinched you can experience a lot of problems, the most common problem is headaches.
The cervical spine (neck) contains 7 bones (C1 through C7). The nerves that come out from the neck go to your eyes, mouth, sinuses, facial muscles, brain, lacrimal gland, hearing, pituitary gland, the parotid gland, and many more areas. If the nerves in the neck are being pinched they will be unable to function as well as they are supposed to. Pinched nerves in the neck will cause interference to your nervous system, and your body will not function as optimally as it is supposed to. This means your immune system will also be compromised and it will get sick more.
Here is a list of some of the problems neck pain from subluxations can cause and/or exacerbate.
- Acne or Pimples
- Adenoids
- Allergies will be more severe
- Arm Pain with numbness and tingling
- Asthma will act up more often and be more severe
- Chronic Cough and Persistent Hoarseness
- Chronic Tiredness
- Colds will be more common
- Croup
- Dizziness
- Eczema
- Fatigue
- Hand and Finger Numbness or Tingling
- Hay Fever
- Headaches will be more frequent
- Hearing Problems
- Heart Conditions
- High Blood Pressure
- Laryngitis
- Migraine Headaches
- Neuritis
- Runny Nose
- Sinus Problems
- Sore Throat
- Stiff Neck
- Thyroid Conditions
- Tonsillitis
- Trouble Sleeping
- Vision Problems
- Weakened Immune System
Chiropractic care is the drug-free way to deal with neck pain. Chiropractors will gently realign the vertebrae in your neck, putting it back into proper alignment, removing the source of your pain, and allowing your immune system to be stronger, which in turn will keep you healthier. Neck pain is not something to ignore and hope it will go away. As you can see from the potential health problems listed above, the nerves in your neck are important to your overall health. Chiropractic care is the proven method to deal directly with the underlying cause of your neck pain and correct it.
Another reason to consider chiropractic care when you have neck pain is leaving the source of your neck pain untreated will led to future problem in the cervical spine like degenerating discs and eventually osteoarthritis. Timely chiropractic care will remove the pain from subluxations and keep your neck in proper alignment.
Neck Pain Causes
Here are some of the common causes of neck pain that chiropractors successfully treat on a regular basis.
Birth
When a child is born, the passage through the vaginal canal is often very traumatic and can cause damage to a newborn’s neck. This leads to many of the health issues newborns and toddlers experience. Since a baby cannot tell you they have neck pain, many neck problems go undetected. Pediatric chiropractic care is recommended for every baby, and often will help your baby sleep better through the night.
Accidents
Treating whiplash with chiropractic care is something most people immediately think about when there is an automobile accident. But it does just have to be an automobile accident. Accidents such as banging your head, falling, or other accidents can cause subluxations in the cervical spine, damage nerves, tendons and muscles, and in some severe cases cause your neck to bend the wrong way. Sometimes you might not feel the pain immediately, but if you have any accident it is best to have your chiropractor do a checkup to make sure there is no problem.
Sports
Playing sports is a common cause of neck pain and neck problems, especially contact sports or sports like soccer were you head the ball. Anyone who participates in sports should have regular chiropractic checkups to make sure their cervical spine (neck) is in proper alignment. As a bonus, regular chiropractic adjustments will improve the function of your central nervous system, which will enhance your performance.
Work
Even if your job is not physical, stress can cause subluxations in your neck even while sitting at a desk. Many of us will often hold our phone using our shoulder and neck. Many computer stations are not setup properly causing poor posture, neck strain, and tight muscles. Smart phones and texting have created a new problem, called “text neck,” caused from spending too much time with our heads bent forward while texting and/or using smart phones.
Sleeping Wrong
Actually it would be more accurate to say sleeping with your neck in the wrong position. Pillows can contribute to neck pain if they push the back of your head forward too far, driving your chin into your chest. The natural arc of the neck resembles a backward “C,” so your pillow should be arranged to help maintain that natural arc. Side sleepers will often use a pillow without enough support, which cases them to sleep with a bent neck. And just about everyone that tries sleeping on a couch experiences some type of neck pain.
Arthritis
Arthritis, or osteoarthritis, in the neck is often a result of allowing subluxations to go untreated for too long. Arthritis is a degeneration of a joint(s) in the neck. Any joint in the body will start to degenerate if it is misaligned and not able to move or function properly.
Taking Pain Medicine can make Neck Problems Worse
Many of us have been so programmed to take pain medicine (NSAIDs) to deal with neck pain and headaches that we don’t stop to think about the consequences or side effects. We have all seen TV commercials about medications that have lots of side effects, many of which seem worse than the initial problem to begin with. So in addition to all the problems leaving the cause of your neck pain untreated can create, you also end up having to deal with additional problem the medication can cause.
Remember, pain medicine treats the symptom not the cause of your problem. Chiropractic care, on the other hand, deals directly with treating the underlying cause of your problem.
At Tuckahoe Family Chiropractic, our goal is to find the underlying cause of your neck pain. By correcting your problem through gentle adjustments to the spine, we can eliminate your pain. This will also restore normal function to the nervous system, strengthen your immune system, and increase your range of motion.
If you are experiencing neck pain, contact Tuckahoe Family Chiropractic at 804.740.3434, or use one of our convenient appointment forms, and let us find and correct the source of your problem. If you found this article beneficial, please recommend it your friends and family.