Pain in the Neck

Do you suffer from a pain in the neck?  I'm not referring to your neighbour, child, spouse or parent (bad joke, forgive me), but to a physical pain in the upper part of your spine.  The pain may be an ache, a stab, a burn, a throb or a shock.  It can be an annoyance or debilitating.  Regardless of the nature of the symptoms you are experiencing, neck pain shouldn't be ignored.  Pain is your body's signal that something is wrong.  Ignoring the pain is like ignoring a warning light on the dash of your car.  Ignore either your body's signals or your car's signals and there can be long term consequences.  (It's okay to ignore other people who are being a pain in the neck).

There can be many causes of neck pain, some quite serious.  The most common cause is a vertebral subluxation.  This is a condition where the joints of the spine lose their proper motion and the nerves next to joints become irritated.  There is associated damage to the surrounding muscles and ligaments along with swelling.  The pain can be localized in the neck or can travel into the arms, upper back and chest.  Subluxations in the neck are a frequent cause of headaches.

Chiropractors are specifically trained to find vertebral subluxations and correct them with spinal adjustments.  We are the only profession with this specific training.  Should the neck pain be caused by something other that a subluxation, we are also trained to determine other problems.  If there is a more serious condition, that is beyond our expertise, we will refer you for appropriate care.

If vertebral subluxations are not corrected, they can lead to accelerated joint degeneration, muscle atrophy, chronic pain, loss of mobility, and nerve degeneration.  These are not things any of us want to experience.  At our office we use Activator Methods to correct subluxations.  This is a very specific and comfortable procedure which restores normal joint function allowing healing of all the associated tissues.  During correction pain is usually the first thing to disappear.  Getting rid of the pain in the neck is the starting point.  Rehabilitating the muscles, ligaments and nerves can take much longer.  We will assist you through the entire process if you desire.  At our office it is always the patient's choice on how they proceed with their chiropractic care.

Don't ignore neck pain, or any other pain.  Pain is your body's way of telling you to do something.