Suffering From Neck Pain in Mobile AL?

You know the old saying, “It's a pain in the neck”? Well, when you live with neck pain long enough, you know it's important to find the best chiropractor in Mobile AL. Neck pain can make even the simplest of movements involving the neck, head, arms, shoulders, and back excruciatingly difficult. Neck problems can lead to headaches, upper body discomfort, and sore muscles. Immobility resulting from neck pain can cause the muscles to become weak and degenerate over time.

Understanding the root of your neck pain is a necessary step toward acquiring the treatment that will be effective in both short and long-term recovery. The following article looks at the causes of neck pain and explains how Mobile AL chiropractic care can be a useful alternative to conventional treatments.

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11 Questions a Chiropractor Should Ask About Your Neck Pain and Symptoms

Questions 1 and 2: “Where do you feel your neck pain is coming from? Is it only in your neck, or does the pain shoot into your shoulder, elbow, or hand sometimes?”

This matters because a chiropractor wants to find out specifically where the pain is coming from. Since what a chiropractor does primarily is manipulation of the neck, they want to find out if the symptoms are coming from a vertebra being out of place in the neck, or if the symptoms in the arm are causing a problem in the arm. A chiropractor wants to find the exact cause of the problem.

Questions 3 thru 5: “Tell me, when did your neck pain begin? Was it all the sudden, or has it been gradually worsening over time? Why do you think time matters?”

Letting a problem get worse over time obviously matters, something like letting a car’s faulty dashboard light stay red until the engine blows up. The issue commonly seen occurs with neglect due to the priorities in someone’s life, allowing something relatively simple to correct, to gradually worsen over time to where chronic issues like natural spinal fusion and atrophy can occur. The squeaky wheel gets the grease. Don’t put off today, well, you know the rest.

Questions 6 thru 9: “What might you be doing to cause the pain in your neck to get worse? Are you doing too much, or not enough? Is it worse when you move your head, lift something, sit or text too long? Why do you think what you do or aren’t doing matters?”

Often symptoms are related to work. Texting can cause poor posture resulting in the neck having to be supported by the upper and thoracic trunk muscles because they are needed to hold the neck in flexion for too long. Problems also come from bad habits occurring because employers are asking their staff to do something that is only going to cause bad body dynamics to occur. Spinal adjustments, coupled by using proper therapy modalities, along with teaching a patient specific exercises and proper stretches should help the affected area relax more, get stronger where it is needed, and allow the body to function the way it is supposed to.

Questions 10 and 11: “Often neglected is the body’s lack of proper sleep in regard to how healthy a person is, and how their lack of sleep may be causing their symptoms to worsen. How are you sleeping? Why do you think sleep might be important to your overall health?”

On a positive note, I can’t tell you how many times I have had a patient tell me that they slept better for the first time in months and even years after they had a spinal adjustment. Sleep, or lack of, is directly proportional to the body’s ability to allow the body to heal properly. Removing stiff, fixated joints allows the patient to rest comfortably, and with proper rest, healing can take place.

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Neck Pain Relief Options in Mobile AL

Although the neck is a relatively small area of the body, it is comprised of some complicated structures that do the important job of holding your head up. The small size of the vertebrae of the neck allows for a lot of mobility, but can also make the neck more vulnerable to injury and pain. Some of the causes of neck pain include:

• Trauma, such as whiplash
• Sleeping position
• Poor posture
• Repetitive stress
• Abnormalities in the bone structure
• Joint issues
• Muscle strains and pulls

Most of these issues are either caused by or impact, the alignment of the spine. When muscles in the neck go into spasm, the spine gets pulled out of alignment. When the spine is misaligned, the nerves become irritated and cause further tension and other systemic problems. Because every nerve in the body has its root in the spinal column, issues that have their source at the neck can have a major impact throughout every other system.

Many people let spinal problems go uncorrected in Mobile AL. They hope that if they wait long enough the pain will simply go away. In some cases it will go away, but the misalignment that caused the problem is usually still there. Over time, that area can become aggravated, and the pain can return. If the problem is not corrected it can become much more serious. Some patients let things go to the point where surgery may be the only option.

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Conventional vs. Holistic

Most commonly, people try to deal with their neck pain using prescription or over-the-counter medications. This may help to relieve the symptoms in the short-term, but not only are patients dealing with side effects, the underlying issue goes unaddressed. Massage Therapy has become more popular over the years and this can help to relieve some muscle tightness. If the issue is in the bones or joints, the problem will remain.