Quick Summary
Are you suffering from neck pain and looking for the best way to treat it? Or do you want to know whether chiropractic care helps with neck pain or not? Don’t worry. We have your back. We have prepared a detailed blog that will answer all your questions. Let’s explore.
Do you know that in any recorded year, 30% to 50% of the adults suffer from neck pain? According to a data from the survey, in the USA, out of 100,000 individuals, 957.71 suffer from neck pain. One of the best ways to treat neck pain is chiropractic care. It does not have any side effects like painkillers or other medications. Before we know what causes neck pain and ways to treat it, we have to start with the anatomy of the neck for a better understanding of neck pain.
Anatomy of the Neck
Our neck is one of the most important parts of our body, it contains several important nerves, the oesophagus, vertebrates, and muscles. The head is balanced on these muscles and vertebrates. The spine is classified into 3 different parts – Cervical spine, Thoracic spine, and Lumbar spine. The neck is part of the cervical spine. It has 7 vertebrae named C1-C7. They support the skeletal system and protect the spinal cord.
Vertebrae
The C1 is known as the atlas and is responsible for the flexion movements of the head. The C2 is known as the axis and is responsible for the left-right rotation of the head. C3 to C7 vertebrae protect the spine, support the neck, and allow for flexible movement.
Nerves
There are some important nerves that we need to understand to know about neck pain in detail. One of the most crucial nerves, the cervical plexus, originates from cervical vertebrae to stimulate the neck, muscles, diaphragm, and skin.
Muscles
Another major reason behind the neck pain is the muscles. We need to understand muscles to understand neck pain. The major neck muscles that control the movements, stabilize, and allow neck extension are the Suboccipital and Posterior neck muscles.
Common Causes of Neck Pain
From the anatomy of the neck, we can say that any issue in the vertebrae, nerves, or muscles can cause a severe neck condition. Your neck muscles are always active, which can lead to dysfunction, pain, and injury. If you are suffering from acute or chronic neck pain, then you may have one or more potential problems. To understand that, we will learn more specific details about the common causes of neck pain.
Accidents and Injuries
One of the major causes of neck pain are accidents and injuries. During an accident your neck suffers the most impact. What happens in such a situation is that your neck is lurched into one direction and then quickly rebounded into another direction. It is known as whiplash and it is the most common reason behind the neck injury. Whiplash is a kind of intense force and overstress on the neck muscles that causes them to contract and tighten, giving sharp pain.
Text Neck
Text neck is very common with smartphone users. Since the rise of the internet, smartphone and social media, text neck has become a very common neck pain issue among young adults and teenagers. The reason for having pain due to text neck is looking downward at the phone for a long period of time which overstretches the neck muscles.
Poor Posture
Poor posture has been a real medical issue for a really long time. People of all ages – kids, teenagers, adults, and elders can suffer from poor posture. It is not only the root cause of neck pain, but also joints and muscle pain in other body parts. You will get chronic neck pain if you are not able to hold your head directly over your neck. This condition is known as forward head posture.
Osteoarthritis
As we get older, the cartilage between the bones starts to wear off. Osteoarthritis is a type of progressive degenerative condition. It heavily impacts joint mobility. Bone spurs are created in osteoarthritis that puts pressure on the nerves from the cervical spine, which gives sharp pain during movement. According to a survey report from 2020, 7.6% of the world population suffers from osteoarthritis, which is an increase of 132.2% compared to 1990.
Muscle Strain
Muscle strain is another common problem for neck pain. It can happen due to many reasons, including accidental falls, heavy lifting, repetitive motions affecting the neck, and more. You can also get your neck muscles strained if you are sleeping with a pillow that does not provide proper support for your neck. Working on a computer for a prolonged time can also cause muscle strains.
Symptoms That Show You Need a Chiropractor For Neck Pain
In many cases, neck pain is normal and reduces after some time. If it is usually normal and gets better, then the question arises when to see a chiropractor for neck pain. If you are having limited range of motion, migraines, joint pain, and neck pain that is not getting better, then you need chiropractic treatment.
Persistent Neck Pain
If you are having persistent neck pain that is becoming worse with each passing day, then you might need to consult a chiropractor. They will diagnose your spine and other joints to find the cause of neck pain. Usually, impingement, spinal misalignments, arthritis, or any type of injury are the main reasons for it. Once they detect the issue then they will design a treatment to address the issue and help you recover from it.
Limited Movement in the Neck
After an injury like whiplash, the range of motion is limited and is very painful when you try to move your neck. If you are facing the same problem, then you must go for chiropractic care. The chiropractor will check your range of motion, flexibility, balance, and coordination, and craft a treatment plan addressing all these problems depending on the outcome of the diagnosis.
Muscle Soreness or Joint Pain
Mild muscle soreness or joint pain gets better with time, however, if you are having muscle soreness or joint pain that is very severe and not getting better, then you need chiropractic care for it. Severe muscle soreness or joint pain in the neck can significantly affect your daily life. A chiropractor will diagnose your condition and make a treatment plan to reduce this muscle soreness or joint pain with the help of a wide range of chiropractic methods.
Chronic Headaches or Migraines
We all know how bad migraines are. In some cases, neck pain can also be one of the reasons for migraines. If this is your case, then you should seek chiropractic treatment as soon as possible because this is a serious problem. A chiropractor will study your condition and will make a customized treatment plan to address chronic headaches or migraines and help you recover from them. Apart from this, chiropractors will also provide lifestyle guides to help you avoid chronic headaches or migraines in the future.
Ways a Chiropractor Treats Neck Pain
The method and approach of chiropractic for neck pain play a crucial role. The great method with a bad approach will give bad results. However, you can avoid it by going to experienced and certified chiropractors because they use a systematic approach along with the best methods to deal with neck pain. Here are some of the top methods used by top chiropractors around the world.
Cervical mobilization
As the name suggests, it is a mobilization method to improve the range of motion of areas with limited motion between the cervical spine segments. In this method, you have to lie on your back and relax. Then, a chiropractor will manually move the vertebrae from right to left and left to right and make figure 8 movements. It is applied at different degrees, making the head move forward, backward, and sideways. This method also helps in reducing headaches.
Cervical manual traction
Here in this technique, you either have to lie on your back or stomach, however the chiropractor tells you to. Then the chiropractor will stretch your cervical spine by pulling your neck. It is a type of manual stretching that is done at different angles between flexion and extension to search for the perfect angle to reduce stiffness and give comfort. Many chiropractors combine this method with cervical mobilization for better results.
Activator Method
It is a mechanically assisted adjustment technique. In this method chiropractor applies a thrust to adjust the misalignment of the cervical vertebrae. You first have to lie down on your stomach, and then a chiropractor diagnoses your leg length to detect spinal misalignment. Once the misaligned joint is identified then they place the activation in that area and apply high-speed and low-force thrust. This thrust aligns the joint back to its original position.
Cervical “drop” techniques
In this method, a special table is used. This table has a special head drop piece, which drops when a certain amount of pressure is applied to it. In this treatment, you either have to lie on your stomach or sideways, keeping your head on the lifted headpiece. Then the chiropractor will place their hand on the spinal area requiring adjustment and apply medium to high velocity and low thrust force until the lifted head piece drops. Here, chiropractors do not rotate or twist your neck like traditional chiropractic care.
What Are the Risks of Chiropractic Neck Adjustments?
According to the research of the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH), chiropractic treatment is completely safe when it’s done by a certified and experienced chiropractor and when you do not have certain medical conditions. Below we have mentioned some conditions, if you have any of them, you should avoid chiropractic care.
- Cancer in your spine
- Increased risk of stroke
- Tingling, numbness, or loss of strength in arms or legs
- Severe osteoporosis
- Herniated Disc
- Fractures
- Cervical artery dissections
- Cauda equina syndrome
Benefits of Chiropractic Care for Neck Pain
Compared to risks, chiropractic care for neck pain has a lot of benefits for the patients. According to a review from the Journal of Clinical Medicine, chiropractic care has positive effects on acute neck pain, and spinal manipulation alone can reduce the neck pain. Some other benefits are also mentioned below.
Improve Neck Pain
The main purpose of chiropractic care for neck pain is to reduce it, and that’s what it does. A chiropractor makes treatment plans for neck pain due to text neck, forward head posture or injury and treats it. It also improves the day-to-day life of the individuals.
Improve Posture
If you have poor posture, then chiropractic care can improve your posture and reduce neck pain. Chiropractors use manual adjustment treatment to correct the misalignment in the spine. Along with that, they also recommend some exercise that helps you keep your head right above your neck.
Reduce Stress
Persistent neck pain causes a lot of stress to individuals and ruins their daily life, reducing their quality of life. Chiropractors craft treatment plans that address the joints and muscles that cause pain and treat them to reduce stress.
Enhanced Athletic Performance
Chiropractic care is just like a boon for the athletes. Their whole body goes under intense work for a period of time, which puts a lot of stress on it. Chiropractors use treatment specifically designed for athletes to help them recover quickly and improve their function. In almost all sports, you need a stabilized head and neck; chiropractors help you achieve it through chiropractic care.
Improve Range of Motion
Range of motion is one the most crucial aspects in daily life of all the individuals, from workers to athletes. All of us face neck pain that reduces our range of motion. Chiropractic care reduces such pain and increases the range of motion, and makes daily life movements much easier.
Conclusion
Now, by the end of the blog, we can say that chiropractic care is one of the most prominent methods to cure neck pain. Now we know about the anatomy of the neck and what causes neck pain. Along with that, we have also provided the ways a chiropractor can treat your neck. There are usually no risks in it unless you have certain conditions. Chiropractic care has so many benefits for individuals suffering from neck pain; all they need is experienced and certified chiropractors. Where to find them?
You can find them at Town Physical Therapy. Here we have trained and certified chiropractors with experience of more than a decade. They craft treatment plans according to your needs and goals and help you achieve it. We provide expert chiropractic care, but we are not limited to it. We also offer physical therapy, acupuncture, occupational therapy, shockwave therapy, and more. We have clinics in Paramus, Emerson, Bergenfield, Clifton, and Maywood. You can search “chiropractic treatment neck pain or neck pain chiropractor near me” on the web and visit your nearest Town PT center.
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