The cervical spine (better known as the neck), which has seven vertebrae, has its origin at the base of the skull. It's up to your neck to hold your head. Your head, however, weighs several pounds so the task isn't easy. Your neck is quite flexible, letting you move your head in many directions. This flexibility also comes at a price, for it also makes it more vulnerable.
The biomechanics of the neck is what renders it vulnerable. Various issues can affect the health of your neck; among them are injury, aging and its associated issues, and sitting for prolonged periods. Cervical pain is very uncomfortable, no matter what the cause is.
These are what causes neck pain?
1. Accidents and injuries: Take whiplash, for example. The sudden jolt of the neck provokes a rebound effect that can harm the tissues that hold up the head and neck. The muscles are responding to the strain by contracting; this is ?rebound? effect. Contractions provoke pain, stiffness, and muscle fatigue. Whiplash cases, when serious, are known to coincide with intervertebral joint injury, and to damaged muscles, ligaments, nerve roots, or discs. Whiplash and car accidents are often connected.
2. Age: Conditions that are degenerative in origin can produce the likes of osteoarthritis, spinal stenosis, and disc conditions that are age-related. These, in turn, influence the spine.
What spinal stenosis does is contract the vertebrae's nerve passageways. This, in turn, also contracts the nerve roots and hinders them. In addition to cervical pain, the condition also influences the shoulder and arm (making them numb and painful, for instance).
The intervertebral discs may suffer damage to its height and elasticity, causing a hernia to develop on a disc, for example. Pain, tingling, and numbness could also affect the arm.
Osteoarthritis (a common occurrence) prompts the body to form bone spurs from degenerating cartilage in joints, getting in the way of joint motion.
Also, a few habitual routines can harm the cervical spine. Maintaining a poor posture and being overweight can cause changes in spinal balance and cues the neck to compensate by leaning over. Emotional problems, as well as stress, make the muscles compress and tighten, thus inviting stiffness and pain. Stress on the spine may induce persisting neck pain, and could also end up bringing about problems in the upper back and arms.
A thorough evaluation of the experienced symptoms is employed in order to find out the exact source of the pain. Questions that could be asked are how long you've lived with the pain, what methods have been tried to deal with the pain and which parts of the body are affected; in addition, your chiropractor may want to know what has helped address the pain. Your chiropractor may also conduct physical and neurological exams. Physical examinations like these help to reveal your posture, range of motion, and physical shape, as well as isolating the kind of movements that create pain. Your spine's condition is manually evaluated to see its alignment, curvature, and muscle spasms (if any). In addition, your shoulder could also be assessed.
The neurological exam will look at the strength of the muscles, reflexes, and how far the pain has spread. Some cases may also make it necessary to perform additional tests to diagnose the exact condition. A contracted disc space, bone spurs, and fractures can be revealed with an X-ray. A magnetic resonance imaging test (a MRI), or an axial tomography scan (CAT or CT scan), could establish the spot of a dilated disc. If your chiropractor has reasons to believe that your pain is due to nerve damage, he or she could recommend the employment of an electromyography (EMG). This test can measure how your nerves respond to stimuli.
What Neck Adjustments Do: Chiropractors usually employ hands-on adjustments to the neck joints. The goal of these neck adjustments is to improve mobility of the spine, and aid its range of motion. Cervical manipulation could also help restore movement of the adjoining muscles. People who undergo cervical adjustments typically report that they are better able to move their heads; they also have less pain, stiffness, and soreness.
According to different studies, patients who suffer from chronic neck pain benefit from chiropractic neck adjustments. According to different trials, patients with chronic neck pain experience pronounced improvement of their symptoms following spinal manipulation. Following weeks of treatment, the different trial groups demonstrated improvement of reported symptoms.
Each patient stands to benefit from a personalized line of treatment. Your chiropractic doctor could also suggest additional methods like massage, rehabilitative exercises, and mobilization of the treated area. Your chiropractic doctor will show you how to care for your cervical spine. Contact him/her!