Neck pain.

Neck pain can be caused by a number of reasons – from something as simple as improper positioning while sleeping, or even sitting or standing with bad posture.  It can also occur due to injuries, accidents, heavy lifting or other spinal issues.  Neck pain and neck stiffness often results from tension and/or muscle strain, and commonly affects areas near the neck, including the shoulder, head, jaw and arms.

The neck is made up of many small muscles and carries a lot of nerves, and can easily suffer from a disc injury or pinched nerves. Because of its flexibility and mobility, the neck has a high risk of injury. Some of the more common sources of neck pain include:

Stress, prolonged postures, headaches, arthritis, strains and sprains form minor injuries and falls, referred pain, whiplash, pinched nerves, soft tissue damage and over use.

Your muscles control the position of bones, your ligaments control and limit movement and the your joints rub against each other. Sometimes one side of your facet joint can become stuck causing the vertebrae to flex, extend or rotate out of alignment with the other vertebrae.  When a joint is stuck, it will cause pain and stiffness and limited range of motion in a certain direction.  Sports chiropractic care is an excellent choice when a vertebrae is misaligned because when treated, the joint can immediately bend and twist normally again.

Your neck relies on several muscle groups, tendons and ligaments to hold your head upright or turn it from side to side.  Ligaments can become injured in a violent act that causes them to tear.  If you stretch these soft tissues beyond their capacity, you can experience pain, stiffness and headaches. Whiplash, a violent jerking of the head that tears and strains neck muscles, offers a vivid example of this kind of injury.  Chiropractic care and physical therapy using non-resistive movement can help the fibers heal properly in long-term injury cases.

Delicate fluid-filled discs act as shock absorbers for your spine, cushioning the vertebrae in your back and neck.  Nerve injuries usually happen because of an outside compression on the nerve from a bulging disk or bone growth. Discs may also herniate or bulge out of their normal position, pinching nerves and sending pain or numbness throughout the body. Bulging disks in the neck are not as common as the lower back, because of the lighter load that the neck supports. Treatment for nerve injuries and involves removing the compression on the nerve.

Neck pain is the number three cause of chronic pain worldwide, with more than 25% of Americans reporting neck pain.

Neck Pain arises from tight muscles, joint stiffness, weak muscles and inflammation. It is also very regularly tied to headaches and migraines and many times is a result of auto accidents, sports injuries, and other traumas where the head is forced to move backward and/or forward rapidly beyond the neck’s normal range of motion.  Fortunately, diagnosis and treatments exist to help relieve a sore, injured or stiff neck.

At DSM Spine+Sport we focus on advanced training techniques, so that we can offer a variety of treatments to relieve your specific neck pain. Our job is to evaluate your source of the pain by evaluating your entire spinal regions along with talking about nutrition, stress, exercise, and the active and inactive parts of your lifestyle.

What neck symptoms do you currently experience?