Neck Pain Treatment… Neck Pain is the Worst!
At least with back pain, when you hurt you can sit or lie down and get some rest. However, when your neck hurts, it’s very difficult to get comfortable. Sitting bothers it. Lying down bothers it. Reading, working at your desk, driving.. it all bothers your neck! When your neck is uncomfortable you just want to scream.
The Reason Why Neck Pain Can Be So Bad…
Is because there are so many pain sensitive nerves in the neck. The neck is very important to keep us safe. From an evolutionary stand point, we needed good flexible necks to be able to look out for predators.
Your neck is designed to be very flexible. Even small amounts of lost motion in the neck joints are reported to the brain. Because the neck is important for your survival, the brain magnifies these signals. So a loss of a mere 2 degrees of motion is more upsetting to your nervous system than losing 10 degrees in your back.
And it’s not just a caveman era thing that makes the neck so important. Think about driving a car. You need very good neck flexibility to look for approaching cars when merging or turning. If your neck is stiff and you can’t look all the way to the left, you could get smashed by a truck! Not much different than a caveman getting pounced by a Mammoth.
What are the Main Causes of Neck Pain…
The primary underlying cause of a painful neck in most cases is a motion problem between two or more spinal joints (vertebrae). You can have a myriad of problems like strains of muscles, sprains of ligaments, disc herniations, arthritis, etc but at the root of each of these is a motion or mobility problem.
Your spinal joints have special nerves in the joints to tell the brain the joint is in the proper position and is freely movable. When the joints become misaligned or stuck, a signal is fired off to the brain. The brain may ignore it. But if the messages keep firing off, the brain will eventually send a message back to the muscles and tell them to tighten up (spasm) to protect the joints.
After a time, the muscles may become too tired to continuing their spasm and relax. Of if the signals diminish to the brain, the brain will relax the muscles again.
If it was a minor misalignment, it may clear on it’s own and the neck goes back to it’s normal function.
But What If It Doesn’t…
Often times repeated misalignments occur, so much so that the discs deteriorate and begin to bulge outward. Or the spinal joints become arthritic from chronic misalignment. In these cases the joint malfunction continues to send messages up the chain and spasms recur. This can continue over and over and worsen over time. This is the process of degeneration and can become permanent.
Treatment That Relieves Neck Pain and Prevents Degeneration
Of course the first step would be to restore normal motion and alignment to the spinal joints. Then the muscles must be improved to be strong to support the neck, but not in spasm which hinders mobility.
This is where chiropractic manipulative therapy (CMT) or spinal adjustments come into play. Adjustments specifically unlock the joints of the spine to restore mobility and function. Adjustments also send positive messages to the brain to tell it, that the spine is ok and not to send spasm signals any longer.
In addition to CMT, your chiropractor will also recommend exercises to be done at home or in the office to change the shape of your neck curve. You see, adjustments can unlock joints, but they can’t make an abnormal curvature change. You need the joints to be freely movable AND apply pressure to re-curve the neck.
Not all chiropractors do this work. Many, if not most, are content with unlocking the joints with adjustments. This relieves acute pain. Unfortunately, the misalignment or abnormal curvature will likely remain. So the problem will continue to re-occur periodically. Worse, is the spine will slowly and silently go through the process of degeneration. This results in permanent damage.
A Chiropractor Who Does Provide Short Term Neck Pain Relief and Also Corrects Misalignment?
Luckily, in Orange, CA, Dr. Barry Marks, DC provides both types of care. Since 1986, Dr. Marks has practiced chiropractic with an emphasis on rehabilitating the spine after trauma. Whether your neck problem stems from an accident years in the past, or a more recent strain in the garden, Dr. Marks is well versed in managing complex neck problems.
But before you think long term management of a neck misalignment means endless office visits, think again. After a period of treatment to relieve your pain, you will be trained by Dr. Marks, how to correct your alignment problems at home. You will then need far fewer visits to the office and periodic check-ups. This is a proven system that has helped thousands over the years.
In the long run, patients of Dr. Marks have fewer visits, but achieve longer-term results, compared to other chiropractors who simply relieve pain.
And the option is always yours. Dr. Marks will outline a specific plan for you and you can choose as much or as little as you’d like. He will provide his best recommendations, and it is up to you to choose what is right for your condition and budget. He will never pressure you.