Neck pain can be very uncomfortable and can even prevent you from turning or tilting your head. Neck pain can make it hard to sleep at night, work at your job or take care of your family; pain in your neck can also stop you from enjoying your favorite sports or hobbies. We see many patients come in with neck pain here at Zaker Chiropractic. Chiropractors are doctors that focus on treating neck pain without the use of surgery or invasive methods.
The human neck is a complex structure of bones, muscles, tendons, and cartilage. Nerves run from the spinal cord to the rest of the body. Several conditions and injuries can affect the bones and tissues of the neck to cause neck pain.
The complex structure of the neck makes it vulnerable to pain from text neck, whiplash, and other causes.
Neck pain is often the result of muscle strain from overuse. Spending too many hours hunched over a computer or looking at a smartphone can strain neck muscles. Even reading in bed or gritting your teeth can result in muscle strain.
Just like the other joints in your body, the joints between neck bones can wear out with age. Osteoarthritis can cause the cushioning discs between those bones to deteriorate; your body can then develop bone spurs that affect the motion of your neck and cause pain there.
The deteriorating discs and bone spurs can press against the nerves coming out of your spinal cord to cause neck pain. Pinched Nerves are a common reason many patients come into our office. There are many reasons why a nerve may be pinched.
Text neck is a relatively new but increasingly common cause of neck pain. It can develop when you look down at your phone too long or too frequently. The average human head weighs 10 to 11 pounds. When you stand in an upright position with your ears perfectly aligned with your shoulders, your head exerts 10 to 11 pounds of stress through your neck muscles. Tilting your head forward slightly to look at your phone, like when you are texting, increases the stress on the muscles of your neck. This increased stress can strain your neck muscles to cause pain.
Whiplash is a common cause of neck pain after an auto accident, especially after a rear-end collision that causes a forceful back-and-forth whipping action of your neck. In fact, auto accidents are a major cause of whiplash.
The injury typically occurs when your head and neck move backward and then forward suddenly, much like a whip cracking. The lightning-fast motion and extreme stresses involved in the auto accident can injure the bones, muscles, tendons, ligaments, discs, and nerves in your neck.
Neck pain and other symptoms of whiplash typically develop within 24 hours, but they may not develop for several hours or even days after the auto accident or other incidents.
Holding your head in the wrong position or slumping your shoulders may lead to neck pain.
Sometimes a problem in one part of the body can cause pain in another part. Back problems may sometimes cause neck pain. A proper evaluation and examination can determine if neck pain is the result of a problem in the neck or in other parts of the body.
Chiropractors provide safe, effective care for neck pain associated with whiplash, text neck, and other causes. Our doctor can recommend a personalized treatment plan according to the cause of your neck pain and its severity. You may benefit from chiropractic care, massage therapy, cryotherapy, decompression therapy, and physiotherapy to treat your neck pain. In some cases, our chiropractor may recommend Manipulation Under Anesthesia (MUA), a non-invasive procedure that treats neck pain that may not be treatable by standard chiropractic adjustments.
If you have neck pain or have been in an auto accident, Zaker Chiropractic can help. Our chiropractors provide a wide variety of services to diagnose and treat your neck pain. Zaker Chiropractic has several locations to serve you. Call (949) 734-4454 for an appointment in Newport Beach Pain & Wellness in Newport Beach, (424) 235-1562 for South Bay Pain & Wellness in Torrance, or (310) 831-0003 for an appointment with San Pedro Pain & Wellness in San Pedro. Each clinic offers a multidisciplinary list of services.
