"A real pain in the neck!"
Neck Pain
Neck pain affects around 1 in 3 people and it's most likely to become more and more common as the use of phones and tablets increases. Young children, teenagers and college age adults are growing up with habits of looking at and using their phones for many hours throughout the course of their day, often looking down and not considering what it's doing to their neck. Everyone would most likely agree that having a slouched, hunched over posture looks bad and is bad for them. Sadly, we do virtually nothing in our culture to promote good posture or recognize all the things that are harmful to our posture and spine. We have great looking teeth, but our spines get ignored ususlly until we're in pain.
Causes
Being born, believe it or not, is the first opportunity to suffer a neck injury. Twisting, turning, pulling, being jammed through the birth canal, creates tremendous stress on a newborn's neck. It's even likened to a whiplash injury, in some cases. As we grow as little ones there are abundant opportunities for us to hurt our neck. Falls, tumbles down the stairs, falling off of our bike, sports and other jarring jolts are a normal part of growing up. Again, looking down at our electronic devices, though convenient and attractive, is one of the most destructive things that's occuring to young spines.
High School sports create another significant opportunity for traumas to the spine, especially the head and neck. Football, hockey, gymnastics, even basketball, are filled with contact from other players and hard surfaces.
Auto/motor vehicle accidents are another significant problem and can be some of the most injurious to our spine because they can involve such high rates of speed and forces that our bodies were never meant to tolerate. If you've been involved in such an accident, it's almost a certainty that you've sustained a neck injury.
Chiropractic, a great first choice.
Since 1895, Chiropractic has been safely and effectively helping people find relief from pain and improve countless health conditions by addressing misalignments of the spine called, "vertebral subluxations". Chiropractic uses spinal "adjustments" to reduce subluxations that have been located during the examination and usually x-rays. These adjustments restore motion to the spinal segments and promote improved biomechanics, improved neurology and improved posture, to name a few benefits. Oftentimes, ergonomic recommendations are made and the patient is given spinal and posture strengthening exercises as part of their care program.
Chiropractic is a natural approach that deals with the cause of pain. Pain relievers, especially over the counter kind, only mask the symptoms. Once the chemicals wear off, the pain returns. Not only do pain relievers not deal with the cause of pain, they can be extremely dangerous and even deadly, if taken for long periods of time. It's a documented fact that 16,000-20,000 people die from intestinal complications from taking non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS). Opioids have also tragically killed hundreds of thousands of Americans since the year 2000.
So, if a safe, natural and effective approach is attractive to you, chiropractic may be just the right choice. If you have any personal questions you need answering, don't hesitate to call our office at 701-235-2700.
