Does Chiropractic Care Really Help Relieve Neck Pain?

People are turning to their chiropractors to ease their neck pain.

Your neck pain chiropractor can perform a manual adjustment, among other things, that will treat the underlying issue of your pain.

They won't just throw pills at you — pills that often have nasty side effects.

Neck conditions your chiropractor can treat are:

• Cervical (neck) intervertebral disc injuries that don’t require surgery

• Cervical sprain injuries

• Degenerative joint syndrome of the neck (e.g., facet joints)

• Facet joint sprain

• Whiplash

So, are you curious as to what a chiropractor does in order to relieve your pain?

In this blog, we take an in-depth look into how chiropractic care works for Neck Pain Relief.

Do Manual Chiropractic Adjustments and Therapies for Neck Pain Help?

Neck pain can be extremely debilitating.

If you suffer from neck pain, or if you ever have, I'm sure you were desperate for relief.

Our first reaction is to grab the painkillers or go to your primary care doctor to be prescribed painkillers.

Manual therapy and resistance techniques can help reduce neck pain and other symptoms.

Therapeutic massage can help relax tense muscles. Trigger point therapy is used to relieve tight, painful points on a muscle.

Not sure when is the right time to receive treatment for your neck pain? Read our blog post, When to See a Doctor for Neck and Upper Back Pain, for more information.

How Does a Chiropractor Diagnose Neck Pain?

Instead of doing a "one size fits all" treatment, chiropractors treat the source of YOUR pain.

Your chiropractor will evaluate your spine and range of motion as a whole because other regions of the neck, mid-back, and low back may be affected as well.

A Chiropractor may educate you on nutrition, stress management, and lifestyle goals along with treating your cervical spine pain.

Your chiropractor will determine any areas of restricted movement and will look at how you walk as well as your overall posture and spinal alignment.

After the physical exam, they will go through your entire medical history.

Your chiropractor may use an x-ray or MRI to help diagnose the exact cause of your condition.

This will give your chiropractor more information about your neck, which allows them to customize a treatment plan just for you.

Types of Chiropractic Treatment for Neck Pain

Chiropractic treatments will include a combination of spinal manipulation, therapy, and other techniques as part of your treatment plan for the pain in your cervical spine.

The following are techniques your chiropractor may use:

1. Flexion-distraction technique is a gentle, hands-on spinal manipulation that involves a pumping motion on the intervertebral disc instead of direct force.

2. Instrument-assisted manipulation uses a hand-held tool to allow your chiropractor to apply force without directly thrusting into the spine.

3. Specific spinal manipulation helps restore joint movement using a gentle thrusting technique to a given vertebral region.

4. Instrument-assisted soft tissue therapy uses special instruments to address muscle tension.

5. Manual joint stretching and resistance techniques helps to mitigate neck pain and other symptoms.

6. Therapeutic massage can help relax tense muscles.

7. Trigger point therapy is used to relieve tight, painful points on a muscle.

Is Chiropractic Care Safe?

Is it safe to go to the chiropractor to treat your neck condition?

The short answer is yes.

As long as it's performed by someone trained and licensed, it's safe to go to the chiropractor.

Most people may find relief after just one appointment.

Complications associated with chiropractic care are infrequent, but could include:

• A herniated disk or a worsening of an existing disk herniation

• Compression of nerves in the lower spinal column

• A particular type of stroke after neck manipulation

Yes, people have had strokes, but they were more than likely going to have a stroke regardless of the treatment they chose.

If you suffer from any of these ailments, please discuss them before your treatment:

• Severe osteoporosis

• Numbness, tingling or loss of strength in an arm or leg

• Cancer in your spine

• An increased risk of stroke

• A known bone abnormality in the upper neck

Does Chiropractic Care Work?

A review of scientific literature found evidence that patients reported significant improvement following chiropractic spinal manipulation.

The review was published in the March/April 2007 issue of the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics.

The researchers reviewed nine previously published trials and found “high-quality evidence” that patients with chronic neck pain showed significant improvements following spinal manipulation.

The benefits of seeing your chiropractor for your neck pain are starting to come to light.

Relieve Your Neck Pain at Arrowhead Clinic

If you're suffering from neck pain, lower back pain, or another ailment, it's never too late to see your chiropractor.

If you're ready to fix your neck pain, along with your overall health and wellness, you should visit the doctors at the Arrowhead Clinic.