Neck pain is the second most common reason people go to the chiropractor. It’s no surprise because over 50% of people will experience neck pain at some point in their lifetime. While it may be common, neck pain is not normal.
Pain is a signal from our brain that something is wrong. Our neck is a fragile area of our spine. It is made up of seven cervical vertebrae that stack on top of each other and balance a 10-pound head on top of it. Around 30 muscles balance the neck, trying to create stability in a region that has a high natural range of motion. When we consider all of that, it’s no wonder that so many people struggle with neck pain.
In between each of the seven vertebrae is a nerve that exits the side of the neck. Whether it is a joint, nerve, or muscle issue, the challenging aspect of treating neck pain is determining which structures are causing the problem. As a patient, your first appointment is a thorough examination to determine the specific cause of your neck pain and what we need to do to correct the problem.
Neck pain can impact so many aspects of our daily lives. Making it harder to have good posture at work, increasing the struggle of caring for our children or family members, or even creating pain and weakness down the arm and into the hand. The cervical spine is the first area the spinal cord passes through once it leaves the skull. Because of this, almost every signal that goes from the body to the brain and vice versa has to pass through the cervical spine. We can recognize that this is a critical area.
Effectively treating the root cause of neck pain is critical for overall health and wellness. A Medical Doctor will often prescribe muscle relaxers or pain medications for neck pain. Although this may work, it often only provides short-term relief and does little to nothing to treat the root cause. These medications are chemical answers for what is a mechanical issue. Mechanical issues respond better to mechanical solutions rather than chemical solutions.
Massage therapy, which is a good option for many, is limited in its treatment capabilities. Massage won’t treat much outside of the tight muscles, and doesn’t treat the underlying reason the muscle got tight in the first place.
Physical Therapy is another option for neck pain. It often focuses on strengthening weak muscles, which is crucial for long-term improvement. However, it may also be limited in what else it treats. It focuses on muscle tension and strength but often misses treating spinal disc or nerve involvement. This is often why PT works best when paired with chiropractic.
As chiropractors, we take a holistic approach to determine which areas in the neck aren’t functioning optimally, resulting in pain and tension. Identifying the exact cause will give us the direction as chiropractors to treat that specific condition and the neck as a whole, versus just one singular piece of the puzzle. We then tailor a plan using all the treatments at our disposal – chiropractic adjustments, soft tissue mobilization, shockwave, laser, dry needling, and rehabilitation exercises – to get you feeling the best you possibly can.
$99 New Patient Special
Includes consultation, exam, doctors report of findings, PosturePro analysis, and first adjustment.
How Our Care Plan Works
1. Better
No matter where you start, we can improve together. The first phase focuses on making progress in your current ailments. Typically, this means alleviating pain and helping you return to your daily activities as smoothly and quickly as possible.
2. Stronger
Now that you’ve made progress, how do we KEEP it? We’ve all experienced improvements, only to regress when our focus shifts. This phase empowers your body to sustain the hard-earned progress you’ve worked so diligently to achieve.
3. Healthier
True HEALTHcare! So often, we are only concerned with our sickness and dysfunction, seeking treatment only when we experience symptoms. This is SICKcare. During the healthier phase, we focus on your overall health and maintaining your well-being.
How We Treat Neck Pain In Fuquay-Varina, NC
Neck pain is a major problem for a lot of people and can really prohibit movement and comfort. Chiropractic care can help pinpoint the issue and make corrections to resolve the neck pain completely.
Comprehensive Consultation and Exam
Every neck pain treatment starts with a comprehensive consultation and examination. Patients start with a digital range of motion and posture analysis, a full consultation with one of our chiropractors, and a thorough examination. The examination is used to get to the root cause of your neck pain. We dive past your symptoms to determine what is causing them and why they keep coming back. This examination will allow us to rule out any underlying conditions and help us tailor a treatment plan specifically for you.
Specific Chiropractic Care in Fuquay-Varina, NC
Subluxations within the cervical spine are one of the primary causes of neck pain. Subluxations are any change in a joint’s ability to move or function freely and fully as it is intended to. These subluxations can also be called segmental joint restrictions, misalignments, and other synonyms.
Subluxations can cause neck pain, but can also refer pain and other symptoms elsewhere, like radiating pain or weakness down the arm, muscle spasms, or even pain radiating into the shoulder blades.
We use adjustments to restore proper motion to the spine, allowing the body to return to normal, pain-free function. Neck pain is a mechanical issue, and mechanical issues respond better to mechanical solutions, not chemical solutions. This means that restoring proper motion through the joints will yield better results than something like a muscle relaxer or steroid injection, which is just a chemical way of trying to trick the body into relaxing. The long-term results of chiropractic are far better than those of both muscle relaxers and steroid injections, and research backs this up time and time again.
Corrective Exercises
Corrective exercises are crucial for maintaining long-term neck pain relief. Our cervical spine has an extensive range of motion spread between seven different vertebrae. With a multitude of muscles to help with this range of motion, these muscles must create stability in our cervical spine. Having proper stretches to target tight muscles, as well as simple at-home exercises to strengthen weak muscles, helps maintain the essential balance between stability and flexibility.
Subluxations often create or exacerbate muscle imbalances. Adjustments and the removal of these subluxations increase the proprioception (communication between the brain and body) of each joint. Each care plan we create includes diagnostic-specific corrective exercises designed to help improve the stability that each patient needs.
Deep Tissue Laser
Deep Tissue Laser, or the more specific name, photobiomodulation, uses infrared light to penetrate two to three inches deep into a patient’s soft tissue. This light does three things:
- Increases the production of ATP, Adenosine TriPhosphate
- Increases oxygenation
- Increases circulation
Our body naturally heals itself by going through the inflammatory cycle. Once our body experiences trauma or an injury, it responds by recruiting more blood cells to the area to bring in more oxygen, as well as specific cell types called macrophages and leukocytes to remove the debris. It takes a significant energy expenditure to cycle through this process. Laser therapy supercharges this natural healing process, speeding up recovery time. Areas that don’t heal well due to a lack of natural blood flow, like ligaments and discs, respond fantastically to deep tissue laser, allowing them to heal more effectively and efficiently.
Deep tissue laser applied to the skin and muscles on the neck will create a deep warming feeling that lasts for a few hours following treatment. Some patients notice an immediate decrease in pain, but most patients report more lasting improvement following three to four treatments.
Shockwave Therapy
Shockwave therapy uses both pressure and sound to create a pulsing pressure that penetrates soft tissue. These shockwaves break up scar tissue and inflammation, promoting blood flow and healing in the muscles, tendons, and ligaments in the area.
Shockwave feels like a mixture of a massage gun and a TENS unit. When using this modality, patients often notice immediate results like decreased pain and increased range of motion. Treatments are quick, usually complete within five minutes, but they allow the body to work through the healing process for the next three to five days. Significant changes from just a few minutes of treatment!
Common Causes of Neck Pain in Fuquay-Varina, NC
Bulged Cervical Discs
A cervical disc is made up of two parts, a nucleus and an annulus fibrosus. The nucleus is the center of the disc, a fluid-based or gelatin-like substance. The annulus fibrosus is a rigid, layered outer ring that holds the nucleus in place. A disc bulge is when the annulus fibrosus starts to weaken and the nucleus pushes backwards, putting pressure on the tissues behind the disc, the spinal cord, and spinal nerves. This can cause pain in the neck at the level that is injured, as well as pain radiating out from this nerve root.
Herniated Cervical Discs
A herniated disc happens when the nucleus pulposus, the jelly-like substance, pushes completely through the annulus. This can be the result of a complete separation of the annulus and more of an injury than a disc bulge. When a piece of the disc is pushed out past the annulus fibrosus, it can create a large amount of inflammation around a nerve root, creating shooting nerve pain.
Degenerative Disc Disease
Degenerative Disc Disease is a result of our discs going through an aging process. However, time is not the only factor that determines the progression of the degeneration. The amount of wear and tear we put on our discs plays more of a role than just time itself. As we put stress on our discs throughout the day, it applies force on the fluid and disperses it outwards. Once we rest and remove the pressure from the disc, it will reabsorb the fluid back into the disc. If this process continues for a prolonged period, the disc will eventually start to degenerate, and the reabsorption process will slow down, reducing the “recovery” time of the disc.
Spinal Stenosis
Spinal Stenosis is when the spinal column, the tunnel through which our spinal cord travels, starts to shrink. This process can happen from degenerative changes in the disc or as the bones of the spine themselves begin to degenerate. Symptoms will include pain in the neck area, as well as radiating symptoms down the arm on both sides. These symptoms can often radiate into the fingertips. Patients with cervical spinal stenosis usually notice improvement of symptoms when leaning their head forward. However, being in this position for a prolonged period may increase symptoms in the long term.
Muscle Strain
A muscle strain is when a muscle is over-pulled or stretched, causing damage to some of the muscle fibers. Muscle strains can occasionally heal on their own, but if they heal incorrectly, they can create long-term issues like changes in range of motion or chronic pain. Treating muscle strains includes treating the muscle itself with soft tissue mobilization techniques, strengthening exercises, and joint mobilization, as well as treating the surrounding tissues. Each muscle is a piece of the kinetic chain, and even small muscles make a big difference when looking at the big picture, like squatting or walking.
Tech Neck
As technology becomes more prevalent in everyone’s day-to-day life, so too is this common posture that can create a cascade of health problems. Tech neck is a common posture we all assume when we are using our phones, tablets, and computers:
- Head jutting out over the shoulders
- Shoulders rounded forward
- Visibly reduced cervical spine curve
- Increased tension in our posterior neck and upper back muscles
This posture is often sustained, meaning the population sits in this posture for long periods at a time. This posture can lead to a wide array of symptoms, including:
- Upper back and neck tension
- Headaches
- Numbness and tingling in the arm or hands
- Fatigue
- Brain fog, memory, and cognitive issues
As we can see, it is vital to identify this poor posture and fix it to function optimally.
Facet Joint Dysfunction
The facet joints are on the back side of the vertebral column, and are the areas where each vertebra connects to the one above and below. This pain can often radiate down the neck and even into the arms. Pain will often feel sharp or a stabbing sensation and can be reproduced with specific movements. Chiropractic care is the best treatment for a facet joint injury, due to the ability to restore proper motion through these joints, followed by stabilizing the surrounding ligaments and musculature.
Subluxation
Your spine is made to move and function with you throughout your life, but sometimes, depending on many factors, these vertebrae get stuck or misaligned, causing a cascade of symptoms later on. Your brain and nerves make up your central nervous system and communicate back and forth with every cell in your body. Subluxations can cut off up to 60% of this essential communication, creating symptoms far worse than pain, as these nerves affect organ and system function.
Osteoarthritis
Osteoarthritis is an inflammatory process that happens over time, as we age. The word can simply be broken into “osteo,” meaning bone, “arth,” meaning joint, and “itis,” meaning inflammation. Therefore, it directly translates to inflammation of the joint. This is caused by wear and tear of the joints throughout our lives. Osteoarthritis affects the cartilage, which is the joint’s cushioning and gliding material. The degeneration of this cartilage affects the joint’s mobility and increases inflammation of the joint, leading to pain and discomfort. It is tough to reverse the effects of this; however, seeing a chiropractor to be adjusted regularly can decrease the progression of your osteoarthritis, as we help to keep those joints moving the way they should!
Whiplash
Whiplash is an injury that occurs on impact to the body, resulting in the inertia of the head and neck countering that impact. This can happen during a multitude of events, but most importantly, car accidents and contact sports. When there is an impact to the body, the head and neck absorb that force, and to counter it, the head and neck reach their end range and force it back in the opposite direction. This abrupt force applied in each direction can cause substantial damage to the neck, head, and surrounding tissues and should be taken seriously.
Check Out Our Location Near You
609 Attain St #141, Fuquay-Varina, NC 27526
Frequently Asked Questions About Neck Pain
Is a chiropractor in Fuquay-Varina, NC, good for neck pain?
Yes, neck pain is the second most common reason people go to the chiropractor. Chiropractic has a 95% satisfaction rate, and our office has over a 90% success rate with neck pain.
When should you see a chiropractor for neck pain?
The sooner, the better. Chiropractors can address both big and small issues that can cause neck pain. Earlier treatment significantly decreases the likelihood of the pain progressing and drastically increases the success rates of treatment. The quicker you can get it examined and treated by a chiropractor, the better.
Is it okay to “pop” my own neck?
When you “pop” your neck, you release nitrogen gas from the joint capsule. Pushing on your neck to force the joints to “pop” creates hypermobility within those joints. Hypermobility is one of the primary risk factors for osteoarthritis later in life. So, it may provide very short-term relief, but it can also create more long-term issues.
Is a massage or chiropractic better for neck pain?
When it comes to neck pain, both of these options are great for getting you out of pain and back to your daily life. These two professions complement each other greatly and can both help substantially.
Do medical doctors recommend chiropractors for neck pain?
Yes. Chiropractic is safe and effective, supported by a substantial body of medical research.
Are chiropractors covered by insurance for neck pain?
Chiropractic is one of the best ways to treat neck pain, and insurance companies recognize this. Although each plan is different, if our providers are in network with your insurance company, then your neck pain will be covered by your insurance plan.
How can I relieve my neck pain?
Relieving neck pain is a complicated process depending on the cause of the pain. Chiropractic takes a comprehensive approach, looking at not just the muscles or bones, but also the discs and ligaments as well. Although massage and physical therapy are great at treating muscle issues, they may not take a complete, comprehensive approach. Stretching and at-home rehabilitation may also be helpful, but could miss the mark on your specific condition. If the problem has progressed to the point of pain, seeing a chiropractor is one of the best first steps you can take to resolve the condition.
How should I sleep with neck pain?
Sleeping can be difficult when struggling with neck pain. The simplest answer is to sleep with your neck supported. The perfect position is to sleep on your back with a small pillow underneath your neck, supporting the lordotic curve in your cervical spine, not pushing you into excessive flexion. If you are a side sleeper, sleep with a pillow that is similar in width and supports the width of your shoulders. Once again, not too small or too large that pushes you into excessive lateral flexion one way or the other. Avoid sleeping on your stomach when struggling with neck pain. When sleeping on your stomach, it forces your neck into extension and rotation for a prolonged period, which can exacerbate issues.
Why does my neck hurt on one side?
One-sided neck pain means there is an imbalance between the left and right sides of your neck. This could mean muscle spasms on just one side, the disc herniation is only on one side, or a pinched nerve is only on one side. When treating this, we will still look at the entire spine, as we affect one side, it also affects the other, even with symptoms only presenting on one side.
How can you tell if your neck is out of alignment?
We spend the entire first appointment finding the severity and location of your subluxation. We start with range of motion and posture analysis. We follow this with a thorough consultation and examination. We take all of this information to formulate the severity of the issue and develop a plan of attack to adequately treat each patient.
$99 New Patient Special
Includes consultation, exam, doctors report of findings, PosturePro analysis, and first adjustment.
