Neck pain affects millions of Americans and if you have ever woken up with a kink in your neck, suffered a whiplash injury, experienced chronic neck stiffness, felt popping and crackling whenever you move your neck around or suffer with chronic nagging pain in your neck that travels up into the back of your head, you know what I’m talking about. this can be intensely irritating and cause a disruption in your daily life. Neck pain can affect your ability to concentrate, sleep, play sports, read, do household chores or even watch TV.

What causes neck pain? Neck pain may be caused by any number of causes including car accidents, falls, emotional stress and chemical toxins. Neck pain occurs when the bones in your spine become misaligned causing severe irritation the muscles, ligaments, tendons, and to the nervous system causing pain. Spinal misalignment also stretches and severely irritates the spinal cord & sets the stage for premature wear and tear of the spinal cord and nerve roots. That pain in the neck may even be a pinched nerve.

One of the main causes of neck pain is trauma. A car accident, slip and fall, the birth process, a sports injury or some other type of trauma can cause damage to the bones, joints, discs, ligaments, muscles and other connective tissues of the neck. If you have experienced any kind of trauma past or present you should have it checked out. Neck injuries can lie under the surface for years before you notice major symptoms such as pain or numbness and by then it may be too late for a complete recovery. Chiropractors are uniquely qualified to evaluate, diagnose and treat neck problems due to trauma. A chiropractor can even tell you if that pain in the shoulder is referred from the neck.

Medical Approach

A common approach to treating neck pain involves going to a pharmacy for an over the counter (OCT) medication such as Tylenol, Motrin or Aleve. These medications sometimes work to offer temporary relief. However the problem usually comes back. At this point, many people will call their family doctor for help. The family doctor’s typical course of action will be to prescribe more powerful medications (such as a narcotic for the pain and muscle relaxants). Medications don’t really do much other than to mask symptoms. They don’t actually cure you or go after the root cause of your problems.

 Chiropractic Approach: How to treat neck pain

At Mahler Family Chiropractic Center, we offer a unique approach to treating neck problems. Our methods are extremely effective at getting you out of pain, restoring range of motion, improving posture, and correcting misalignment. We have treated people who had been to numerous medical doctors, various therapists and even other chiropractors and weren’t getting any results until they came to us. Our methods are different and they work. Please call our office to schedule an appointment for a free, no-obligation consultation.

Laser Therapy for Neck Pain:

Recently the medical journal Lancet performed a review of studies and concluded from the results that low-level laser therapy is immediately effective for acute neck pain. Lasers therapy is effective within the first treatment and lasts up to 22 weeks following a complete treatment protocol for chronic neck pain. The study reviewed 16 previous studies and found laser therapy to be effective overall, with results comparing “favorably with other widely used therapies, and especially with pain killers and other medications, for which evidence is sparse and side-effects are common.” That’s good news considering that neck pain is one of the most common and disabling conditions, accounting for substantial lost workdays, diminished productivity, and use of over-the-counter medications. If you suffer from chronic neck pain call us now and we may be able to help.