The Causes of Neck Pain and How a Chiropractor Can Help

If you suffer from chronic sore, stiff neck muscles or painful headaches that originate in your neck, seeing a chiropractor can be an effective path to finding relief. Read on to better understand what causes some of the most common neck pain issues and how tailored chiropractic treatments can help alleviate debilitating symptoms.

Common Neck Pain Causes 

Neck soreness and discomfort often result from abnormalities or injuries to soft tissues like muscles, tendons and ligaments which support proper cervical spine motion. Some of the most common culprits behind painful neck complaints include:

Muscle Strains

Overexertion activities like heavy lifting that violently shift neck position can trigger strained muscle fibers, spasms, and inflammation. Repetitive activities like prolonged computer work bowed over screens/phones also prompts neck tightness over time. As muscles tense to maintain static positions, blood flow is restricted and waste products like lactic acid build up, sparking aches and stiffness.

Pinched Nerves

Herniated discs or bone spurs caused by spinal arthritis can press directly on nerve roots exiting the cervical spine. This nerve compression ignites pain and numbness that radiates down shoulders, arms and hands. Pinched nerves can stem from gradual age-related spinal changes or traumatic impacts tearing outer disc layers.

Whiplash Injuries

Sudden neck hyperextension and acceleration-deceleration trauma, typically stemming from motor vehicle accidents, sports impacts or falls, sprains ligaments and strains supportive neck structures. Unaddressed, early stage whiplash leads to long-term degeneration, headaches and pain. The jagged damage tears fibers, unleashes inflammation chemicals, and restricts circulation. Scar tissue may later adhere muscles together awkwardly.

Postural Issues

Modern desk-bound lifestyles keep many people slumped over with shoulders rounded for long periods daily. Over time, this forward head posturing strains the neck severely, sparking persistent soreness, tension and headaches. Collapsing spinal curves also accelerates disc deterioration.

How Chiropractic Helps Relieve Neck Pain

Instead of masking neck pain and dysfunction with medication or suggesting costly, invasive surgery procedures of questionable efficacy, doctors of chiropractic take a holistic, hands-on approach. After conducting a thorough medical history, chiropractors perform orthopedic and neurological assessments tracking down root causes of chief complaints. By evaluating your range of motion, balance, coordination, posture and alignment, custom treatment plans are designed aimed at:

 - Gently restoring normal joint function 

 - Relaxing irritated or compressed nerves

 - Rehabilitating weakened muscles with stretching and massage

 - Reinforcing proper form and strengthening work for activities of daily living

Rather than just chasing symptoms, chiropractors offer correlative therapies to address underlying mechanical and postural contributors to nagging neck pain. This multi-modal approach delivered through a combination of spinal adjustments, modalities like heat/ice therapy, and personalized exercise helps provide progressive, longer-lasting relief.

Let the neck pain specialists at Mobile Upstate Chiropractic eliminate the need to commute for expert spinal adjustments and vital aftercare therapy. Visit Dr. Battersby in our office located in Starr, SC, as well as a mobile unit to bring care directly to your home or workplace. Upstate Mobile Chiropractor offers  mobile neck pain treatment and provides convenient at-home assessment and care customized to resolve your unique pain triggers. Whether you choose an appointment at our Starr clinic or to have our chiropractor meet you onsite, we develop personalized plans aimed at long-term neck and spine health. Call Mobile Upstate Chiropractic today to discover the convenience of quality mobile chiropractic house calls!