At the end of this you should know:

neck pain treatment

The most likely source
of your neck pain.

shoulder pain treatment

Whether the problem
needs further treatment or a
specific diagnosis.

check

The best way for you
to get out of pain and
back to life quickest.

The Number One Myth About Neck Pain

The number one myth about neck pain is that it is normal and will go away on its own.

Neck pain is very common with over 60% of people having at least one sustained period of neck pain in the last 5 years. However it is not NORMAL!

Oh and its vary rarely about the muscles being weak (if someone you are seeing about your pain tells you that be careful they may not know what they are doing). The postural muscles work all the time even when you are asleep, so it is never about them being weak.

This One Thing Causes over 60% Of Neck Pain

So the way we approach anyone we see is to rule out the most common occurring problems first and over 60% of all neck pain comes from the intervertebral disc.

That’s the spongy shock absorber that creates space for the nerves to get out of your neck and down your arm.

chiropractic treatment for neck pain
chiropractor for shoulder pain

The next most common cause of your neck pain is a facet joint strain/sprain. This often happens with abnormal movement of your neck over time. Like spending long amounts of time with your head down working on a computer or phone.

Now facet joint problems make up over 20% of all neck pain. This can include being from excessive movement of the joints which is like when you drive an old car and you can wobble the steering wheel from one side to the other and the wheels of the car don’t move.

This excessive joint movement causes the joints to become inflamed and to eventually start to break down.

Here Is The Clincher...

Whenever you have excessive abnormal movement your brain perceives that as PAIN!!!

Let me explain how this works from my point of view.

I’m in a wheelchair and have no nerve supply below my chest. Now you would think that because I can’t feel touch or pressure below my chest then I don’t feel anything.

But here is why this is really important for you.

I have a constant burning sensation all the way from my chest to my toes all the time. This happens because my brain isn’t getting any information back from my legs and it then perceives any lack of information as PAIN!

So a lack of information is a major cause of pain and this is part of why Chiropractic is so effective at treating and correcting neck pain.

Diagnose Your Own Neck Pain

We are going to help you diagnose your own neck pain. Now this in no way replaces the expertise of seeing a health professional as it is not exhaustive and there are many other problems that cause neck pain that are not covered in this article including pain from infection, cancer, abnormal growths and spinal bone conditions including arthritides. So please take this as a guide and seek professional advice as soon as possible.

  • neck pain treatmentDoes your pain radiate below your shoulder? If it does it is more likely that the pain is from the disc in your neck.
  • neck pain treatmentDo you get neck pain when you cough or bear down like you are on the toilet? This is another indicator of a disc problem.
  • neck pain treatmentDo you get more pain when you turn to look over your shoulder like when you are checking your blind spot? If this is the case then there is an increased chance your pain is from the facet joints of your neck. This is the main source of arthritis.
  • neck pain treatmentDo you get any tingling in your hands when you are in bed or later in the day? If so again it is more likely a disc problem.
  • neck pain treatmentDo you feel weakness in your arms or hands on one side more than the other? A disc problem is more likely.
  • neck pain treatmentIf you get more pain when lying on your stomach and very gently lift your head off the table and you get pain straight away that doesn’t get worse when you lift your head as high as it can go then your pain may be muscular.

The Two Causes of Muscle Pain or Strain

There are two causes of muscle pain and they are Trauma from things like a whiplash injury and more commonly Repetitive strain. Repetitive strain occurs slowly over time often from postural problems where the muscles are fatiguing because they are having to work at abnormal lengths for sustained periods. As a result there is a slow accumulation of tissue adhesions, lactic acid build up in the muscles, tension and scar tissue over time.

Unfortunately this is where people slowly lose their normal movement often in a way that they don’t really notice except when maybe trying to see over your shoulder when driving.

Over time symptoms spread so that what was tight shoulders is now neck pain and tension headaches. Cervicogenic headaches are often felt at the back of the head or the temporal areas and are a tight band like feeling that gets worse with fatigue.

Because these problems develop slowly people often just put up with them as being a part of life. It doesn’t have to be that way though. With repetitive strain you can often feel very tender spots at the base of your skull or around the sides of your head and pressing into these areas will either bring on more pain or can give you some relief.

Below is a link to a quick 10 second video we did that can really help with chronic muscle strain. The problem is that this becomes chronic and then often people end up in sudden pain after not really doing anything unusual- “It just happened” is the most common thing I hear.

The neck and the discs in the neck weaken to the point that a person simply sneezes, or turns to look over their shoulder and all of a sudden they are in severe pain. They have a disc bulge, or torticollis another painful condition.

If they had done something differently – exercised, maintained their posture, or saw us they could have avoided the pain. If you think your problem is chronic muscle strain from posture then try this:

Get a ball or even an orange and place it just where the muscles of your neck attach to the base of your skull on one side. Push your head straight back into the ball and hold for 10 seconds.

Then repeat this on the other side and do both sides 3 times each morning and night, particularly after time on a computer or if you have done a lot of reading.

shoulder pain treatment

Is My Neck Pain From The Disc?

As disc problems are the most common causes of chronic neck pain it is worth ruling this out as a cause first.

So in our clinic we run a series of orthopaedic, neurological and chiropractic tests to help determine not only if your pain is from the intervertebral disc but if so what grade is the disc problem.

The grade of the disc problem greatly determines what will help you the most and this is something that we do and neurologists and neurosurgeons do.

The grading does not get higher with more pain though, you can be in severe pain with a grade 1 or no pain at all with a grade 4.

Grade 1, 2 conservative neurologically based Chiropractic care is your best option. Grade 3 conservative care with a cortisone injection is the best option. Grade 4 surgery is the best outcome.

Here is a research article for more detail of the grading system.

neck pain chiropractic

Is it Osteoarthritis?

Pain from osteoarthritis is not as common as you think. Osteoarthritis typically goes through a hot inflamed stage and then reduces and goes into a cold stiff phase.

Osteoarthritis pain is typically worse in the mornings and improves with movement. Natural anti-inflammatories such as curcumin from Bioceuticals can be very helpful as well as improving the mobility of the neck with general range of movement exercises turning your head as far as it can go to each side and tilting your head ear to shoulder each side.

Here is a video of something more specific you can do that can help.

Could My Posture Cause The Problem?

Posture often can exacerbate the problem particularly if you spend a lot of time at a computer. The high flicker rate of computer screens leads to postural muscle fatigue. When these muscles fatigue your head shifts forwards and can lead to sub-occipital strain.

Below is a short video that can help if you think posture is contributing to your problem.

The Best Way To Get Out Of Pain Fast

The best way to get out of pain fast is to get a specific diagnosis as this way you can target exactly what the problem is.
In our examination we conduct a thorough chiropractic, orthopaedic and neurological examination to find the cause of your problem.

Once we know what the cause is we can create a customized plan for you. This plan includes:

  • chiropractic treatment for neck painThe number one thing you must do to get out of pain ASAP.
  • chiropractic treatment for neck painSpecific postural exercises to strengthen and stabilize your problem.
  • chiropractic treatment for neck painNeuromuscular re-education once things are stable to stop further progression.
  • chiropractic treatment for neck painA specific plan for you to ensure the problem doesn’t come back (60% of people with neck pain end up having another episode of pain within 12 months).

When you have your health you have aThousand Dreams.When you don’t, you have one.