Help With Neck Pain
Neck pain can be effectively treated with chiropractic care. The neck forms the transition from the chest to the head. It is very flexible so that we can quickly look in all directions and are able to swiftly move our head out of the danger zone if a door is too low or something threatens to hit us on the head.
The Anatomy of the Neck
The nape is the back of the neck. This is where most of the muscles and the cervical spine are located. If you take a closer look at this sophisticated structure, you quickly realise that it is an immense task for our delicate neck to direct and stabilise our five to six kilo head quickly and precisely as it moves in space. The brain is also aware that the position of the head is important: it meticulously ensures that our eyes are always horizontal so that our visual perception and our equilibrium organs in the inner ears can provide us with accurate information. These mechanisms are important to keep us functional in everyday life. At the same time, this complexity often causes problems for our neck.
The Neck as the Last Link
When injury occurs or a joint, muscle, or tendon within our musculoskeletal system functions suboptimally, our body strives to redistribute the load. During this compensatory process, two points remain relatively fixed or can only adjust minimally: our feet, firmly planted on the ground, and our head, which must maintain a relatively level position to preserve the crucial functions of the eyes and equilibrium organs. Tension is diverted to all other parts of the body. Due to the great mobility of our neck and its strategically central position just below the head, it usually receives a considerable amount of this tension.
If it becomes clear during the diagnosis that this or a similar mechanism is the cause of your neck pain or tension, your chiropractor will explain it to you in detail and place great emphasis on releasing the tension in your entire body in order to have a positive effect on your neck pain.
Forward Head Posture as the Main Cause of Neck Pain and Neck Tension
If you look around you on the underground or suburban railway, at work or in the family, you quickly realise that most of our fellow human beings have a posture similar to that shown in the sketch. The neck has to take most of the load, as it functions like a pole on which our head balances. To understand better what your neck has to do in such a situation, I invite you to do a little experiment.
Take a hammer and grip it so that your hand is far down on the handle. Now turn your hand slightly so that the hammer head tilts to the side. You will notice that the hammer is now much harder to hold. But you may also think: “It’s not that bad.”
Well, for a short period of time, such a position is not a problem. However, most people with a head-forward posture spend a lot of time in this position day after day, year after year. Sooner or later, this posture will lead to discomfort and other issues.
Treatment of Neck Pain
The treatment of neck pain proceeds as follows: First, chiropractic work is done to straighten you up. You will be amazed at how quickly you see good results here. The next step is to eliminate tension in your body. This is because these different types of tension put your neck in the awkward position of having to compensate for other areas of the body in the first place.
After a short time, on average 70 to 80% of the neck pain and tension is significantly alleviated or has disappeared completely. If the cause of your neck pain originates from the neck itself, we will also use neck adjustments, following prior consultation with you.
Give us a call. We will be happy to advise you and determine whether and how we can help with your specific problems and symptoms.
