Category: Neck Soreness

Treating Neck Pain with Chiropractic and Massage Therapy

Most people will experience neck pain at some point in their life, whether from poor posture, an auto injury or one of several other common causes of this condition. A combination of chiropractic care and massage therapy may help relieve discomfort and treat immobility associated with neck pain.

What is neck pain?

The neck is a small but powerful combination of vertebrae, muscles and ligaments that impacts most of our daily activities. However, due to its small size and big job, the neck is extremely susceptible to injury, stress and pain. Neck pain can limit your ability to drive, work, sleep or carry out everyday tasks due to the restriction of turning the head, numbness or tingling in the fingers and debilitating pain. Generally, people experience either acute or chronic neck pain.

Acute – Acute pain occurs suddenly from injury or stress on joints and muscles.

Chronic – Chronic pain is classified as pain lasting longer than three months.

What causes neck pain?

There are many contributing factors to neck pain, and your situation could result from one event or a combination of circumstances.

Neck pain can indirectly occur from common events:

·         Whiplash

·         Poor posture

·        “Text neck”

·         Sleeping on stiff pillows

·         Stress

·         Repetitive movements

·         Accidents (auto or bike)

·         Aging

And medical conditions:

·         Osteoarthritis

·         Spinal Stenosis

·         Degenerative disc disease

However, the aforementioned events may directly cause certain changes in the joints and muscles that lead to different types of neck pain:

·         Muscle spasms

·         Inflammation

·         Misaligned vertebrae

·         Disc herniation

·         Pinched nerves

How can a treatment plan of chiropractic visits and regular massage cure neck pain?

Your muscles and joints work together to create movement. Over time, tight muscles can cause misaligned vertebrae and vice versa. By keeping all the components of the neck in optimal condition through chiropractic and massage therapy, you may experience faster healing and decrease the chance of future strains.

Benefits of Massage

Massage typically addresses soft tissue and relaxes tight muscles to increase blood flow and muscle flexibility, decrease inflammation in tendons and tissues, and relieve physical and emotional stress that may be contributing to soreness. This therapy targets neck pain associated with spasms, strains, tensions and overworked or pulled muscles.

Benefits of Chiropractic Care

Chiropractic care focuses on hard tissue like the joints and spine. Adjustments encourage proper alignment of the vertebrae to decrease mobility restrictions and reduce inflammation. This treatment also removes nerve interference from misaligned vertebrae, loosens stiff joints, and increases range of motion even after one session.

Beginning your session with massage warms up and loosens your muscles to make chiropractic treatment more impactful. When the joints are properly aligned, your body can heal more quickly. Together, these ongoing treatments have the potential to alleviate inflammation, restore mobility and promote proper nerve function in the neck and shoulder region. Ask your chiropractor about supplementing your treatment plan with massage therapy for more holistic healing.

Here Are the Signs, Symptoms & Solutions for “Text Neck”

Most of us know that looking down at a cell phone or tablet every day takes a toll on your neck and upper back muscles, which can lead to both acute and chronic pain. More and more, people are relying heavily on smart phones for all kinds of communication and often you can see several people with their heads down, looking at a phone, when you are in a public setting. The text neck has become an actual medical condition that affects millions of people each year.

Some studies show that the population between 18-50 years of age have their cell phones with them 100% of the time, and it’s only at night when they are sleeping, that the phone isn’t in-hand.

SIGNS & SYMPTOMS

Text neck typically presents itself as neck pain and soreness, however, pain can often be felt in other areas of the body. Upper back pain, shoulder tightness, or even pinched cervical nerves are all conditions that can point back to bad habits with digital devices. If left untreated, text neck can lead to inflammatory issues in the neck, nerve irritation, and even increased spinal curvature.

• Pain- can be localized to one spot or may be spread over an area, usually the lower part of the neck. The pain can be described as a dull aching or can also be stabbing or sharp pain
• Radiating pain- The pain can often radiate down into the shoulders and arms
• Muscular weakness- shoulders muscles namely, trapezius, rhomboids and shoulder external rotators are often weak
• Headache- sub-occipital muscle tightness can lead to tension type headaches.
• Stiff neck- soreness and difficulty in moving the neck is usually present when trying to move the neck after long usages

TREATMENT

Chiropractic care is helpful for text neck and treatment can include manual adjustments and other pain reducing techniques such as acupuncture. Statistically, Chiropractic and neck pain relief work well in unison.

Beyond chiropractic care, neck stretches can be incredibly helpful in reducing the strain from text neck. It’s also important to reevaluate your posture and usage habits.  We can help you make sure you are in a safe position when using your cell phone or tablet. We can also help you plan for better cell phone habits.

If you or someone you love is feeling the effects of text neck, Total Body Chiropractic & Massage treats adults and children for this very condition and would be happy to set up an appointment so you can get some relief. We’ve seen many patients that are damaging their bodies with bad posture and overuse of digital devices. Let us help you manage the pain and find some better solutions for using digital devices, so text neck can be a thing of the past.