We all experience neck pain from time to time. Perhaps you slept awkwardly, or spent too much time looking down at screens. Or maybe the cause is a mystery.
Most people rely on oral medications for relief from this pain. Sometimes that helps, but does it really solve the root of the problem?
Neck pain remains one of the most common musculoskeletal disorders, with the risk of experiencing it growing as you age. However, with the right guidance and a team of experts, you can treat your neck pain and learn how to prevent it in the future.
At Family & Sport Chiropractic, we treat neck pain at the source by determining the underlying cause. Each patient receives personalized care and tailored treatments from our neck specialists. Your neck pain is unique, so a one-size-fits-all solution just won’t cut it. Instead, we offer a range of chiropractic and wellness services to help you find neck pain relief near Iowa City.
To learn more about the cause of your neck pain, and the benefits of chiropractic care for neck pain treatment, read this article.
Know Your Neck Pain
Neck pain can be felt just in the neck (axial) or it can radiate to your shoulders and arms (radicular). For some, it’s acute and only lasts up to 6 weeks. Other people experience chronic neck pain that lasts longer than 3 months and severely interferes with their daily activities.
People come to Family & Sport Chiropractic to receive care from our team for these symptoms in their neck:
- Persistent aches
- Stabbing or burning pain
- Shooting pain that radiates to other parts of the body
- Stiffness that also radiates to your shoulders and upper back
- Inability to turn your neck
- Numbness or tingling that radiates to your shoulders and arms
Neck Pains and Migraines
You may find this surprising, but neck pain can actually cause headaches and migraines. As if it can’t get any worse, right? Suddenly, not only are you experiencing aches and shooting pain in your neck, but now you have the pounding, throbbing, and pulsing symptoms of a migraine. Most people rely on oral medications, sleep, and resting in dark rooms until the pain passes. These temporary methods may help, but chiropractic care for neck pain relief near Iowa City could provide lasting results.
Many headaches and migraines originate from tense neck muscles, or really anywhere along your spine, even your lower back. So for chronic migraines treatment, we may rely on different methods of neck and back pain relief, depending on the underlying condition and source of your pain.
Addressing your neck pain and understanding what caused it is the first step to helping you find relief. For this, we look at the anatomy of the cervical spine.
The Cervical Spine
Your spine consists of vertebrae (stacked bones) separated by spinal discs that act as shock absorbers and enable spinal flexibility. The first 7 of 33 vertebrae make up your cervical spine, also known as the neck, supporting your head and allowing for a range of motions.
The vertebrae support a lot of weight, so it may be surprising to discover how small they are. With such an important job (literally a weight on your shoulders), it’s no wonder that even the most harmless things, like reading in bed, can cause strains and pain to your neck.
What causes neck pain?
Now that you understand how easily you can injure the vertebrae in your neck, let’s look at some of the most common causes of neck pain.
Injury and Trauma
The forceful, back-and-forth movement of a whip known as whiplash is what brings a majority of patients to us for neck pain relief near Iowa City. Car crashes, sports accidents, and falling can cause whiplash.
Muscle Strains
You hear about the importance of posture all the time, but it’s so easy to forget when living our day-to-day lives—especially in the internet age, when looking down at a computer screen pays your bills and also provides you with endless amounts of entertainment. This posture results in overuse of the muscles, causing strains and stiffness in the neck.
Even if you live a physically active lifestyle, repetitive movements and strenuous activities can also negatively affect your spine’s alignment.
Aging
As we age, our joints become susceptible to wear-and-tear, causing deterioration of the cervical spine. A lifetime of stress, repeated head movements, and muscle strains can lead to a disc injury.
Related Reading: Disc Herniation Treatment at Iowa Wellness
Mental Stress
Something you’ll learn from chiropractic care is how interconnected the body truly is. Mental stress takes a toll on your body, causing physical symptoms like headaches, weight fluctuations, and even muscle tension. When you’re stressed, your muscles tighten without you even realizing it until you notice pain, stiffness, or any other discomfort. Think of the stressful factors in your life literally being a “pain in your neck.”
Why Come to Family & Sport Chiropractic?
It’s understandable that you may hesitate to visit our chiropractic center for neck pain relief near Iowa City. After all, won’t the pain eventually dissipate?
Maybe. But also, maybe not. Residual complications like spinal misalignment or a herniated disc might affect the health of your cervical spine in the future.
While you may understand what causes neck pain, it’s not worth the trial-and-error of guessing what causes your neck pain. We integrate functional medicine ideologies to look at the whole body, not just individual symptoms, to address your physical, mental, and emotional needs. While you may assume your neck pain stems from overuse, chronic stress could also be a culprit without you even realizing it.
It’s best to see a neck specialist to determine the underlying issue, and not bury the pain for temporary relief. We have a range of treatment options at our chiropractic office. Because we share a roof with Iowa Wellness Center, we can further tailor your treatment for neck pain by combining our care with various regenerative medicine options. When treating the underlying issue, we seek to prevent future complications and improve your overall well-being.
Here’s what to expect when you come to Family & Sport Chiropractic for neck pain relief.
In-Depth Consultations
The key to finding your neck pain relief near Iowa City starts with an in-depth conversation. We’ll ask about the severity and onset of your symptoms as well as your lifestyle to determine if certain activities, like work or sports, contribute to this pain.
After this discussion, your chiropractor will perform a thorough neck examination, assessing your cervical spine to find the root of the problem. We may also ask you to move your head up and down or side to side to observe your range of motion. Once we determine the cause of your neck pain, we develop a personalized treatment plan for you.
Chiropractic Care
Chiropractic care involves gentle, noninvasive adjustments to help you return to your normal activities. During this process, you will either sit upright or lie on a padded table as we rotate and stretch your neck to realign it.
In some cases, we may also use targeted massage techniques to alleviate the muscle strain in your neck. This method works well for treating chronic migraines and headaches.
Physical Therapy + Rehab
If whiplash or another injury caused your neck pain, our physical therapy services can get you back to your best self. Through a series of adjustments, stretches, and massages, your physical rehabilitation doctor will help you find neck pain relief near Iowa City.
We may utilize a roller table to provide gentle, controlled pressure to the vertebrae and decompress the spine. Most people find this helps with mobility and stiffness.
Our pulsed electromagnetic field (PEMF) therapy may also work as a noninvasive physical therapy method. This treatment stimulates a series of magnetic impulses throughout your body, allowing your mitochondria to absorb the waves. These electrical signals activate a series of reactions that enhance cellular communication, improving nerve regeneration, relieving neck pain, and improving functionality in the spine.
Complementary Treatments
Chiropractic care and physical therapy work well to help you find relief, but our wellness services also help accelerate healing.
Ozone Therapy
If your neck pain results from the wear-and-tear effects of aging, our ozone therapy can help relieve spinal pressure. Ozone therapy uses medical-grade ozone to boost oxygen levels in your body.
Related Reading: Ozone Therapy: A Natural Approach to Wellness
We rely on ozone therapy especially as a disc herniation treatment, because it shrinks the disc and lessens pressure on your nerves.
PRP Injections
PRP injections use the power of your own blood to accelerate healing in specific areas, like your neck. We make a concentrated serum rich with platelets, elements in your blood that contain growth factors and stimulate tissue regeneration and healing. When injected into your neck, these injections treat tendon, ligament, muscle, and joint injuries.
Cold Laser Therapy
Cold laser therapy uses visible light radiation to promote pain relief by stimulating cell regeneration, increasing blood flow, and reducing inflammation. Using a small device, we administer cold laser therapy to the treatment area, where it uses low levels of light energy to pass through injured tissue. Your cells absorb the light and convert it to cellular energy.
Ongoing Treatments With Our Team
We commit ourselves to finding you neck pain relief and preventing further injury. After each session, you can feel less pain and discomfort while enjoying the benefits of improved mobility. The specific treatments you’ll need depend on the severity of your pain. During your consultation and ongoing sessions, we’ll talk you through our processes and assess your condition to determine whether you may require additional services or adjustments to your treatment plan.
Find Your Relief at Family & Sport Chiropractic
Don’t wait to find neck pain relief near Iowa City. The sooner you visit our team, the sooner you can get back to your favorite activities. It all starts with a click of a button to help you find restored mobility and eased pain. You can try our treatment planning tool, or request a consultation. Once we receive your submission, we will contact you with available appointment times and potential treatment options.
