Index
Without the proper curvatures in your spine, it doesn’t have the shock absorption it was designed for and you risk premature degeneration.
What problems can an unhealthy curve cause?
Many patients experience frequent headaches or migraines , and it is sometimes directly related to the curve of the neck.
Typical headache or migraine patients will have a straight neck (hypolordotic / alordotic) or a reverse curvature (kyphotic), many patients have been dealing with these symptoms for years with little or no relief.
How can chiropractic help for cervical rectification?
Certain chiropractic adjustments and supportive exercises and therapies are designed to restore the ideal (lordotic) curve. For the vast majority of patients without lordotic curvature, these treatments have caused most headaches to dissipate, if not completely disappear.
The best recommendations
Visit your chiropractor for an exam and x-rays of your cervical spine; closely follow their recommendations for your plan of care and stick with them! You can start to feel better right away, which is great, but spinal correction takes time and will need regular maintenance.
Be mindful of your posture at all times (think: sitting, driving, texting, standing, etc.). If you have poor posture, your curve can easily change from a healthy curve to a troublesome curve.
Sit and stand with your shoulders back and notice that you are not pushing your head forward, your ears should be aligned vertically with your shoulders.
While it may be comfortable, sleeping on your stomach is not good for your neck or back; Over time, this position can cause spinal curvatures to change. Ask your chiropractor for the best sleeping position and type of pillow for you.
See how you work! If you are often sitting at a desk, pay attention to how your workspace is set up and how you use it.
Your monitor should sit directly in front of you and rise approximately 3 inches higher than eye level (you should never look down at your screen), your feet should be able to rest flat on the ground (get a small footstool if necessary) And again, make sure you are sitting with your shoulders back.
Avoid having your wallet in your back pocket, this can create an imbalance, put it in your front pocket or remove it when you sit down. And if you carry a heavy bag, buy one with a strap that goes across your chest and switches sides from time to time.
Treatments for neck pain
Relieving neck pain, stiffness, and tension can range from simple short-term treatments, such as rest, ice, compression, and elevation, or over-the-counter pain remedies, to ongoing long-term therapies, such as myofascial release or regular exercises to keep the neck structure flexible.
We all know the increasing risks of medications, so we are better off with other treatments.
Rest, ice, compression, and elevation is almost always a first-line treatment for soft tissue injury. Rest, ice, compression, and elevation continue to be therapeutic in most healing processes.
Physical therapy : A physical therapist can teach you to correct posture, alignment, and neck strengthening exercises, and may use heat, ice, electrical stimulation, and other measures to help ease your pain and prevent a recurrence.
Myofascial Release : Massaging the neck regularly is very helpful in reducing pain, stiffness, and limited mobility. They just don’t happen when you treat neck pain as soon as you notice it.
Cervical traction – This is the neck lift often performed by osteopaths and other body workers. You can also do it at home, the goal of neck traction, whether done with the hands of a therapist, a towel, or a special device, is decompression of the vertebrae.
Exercises at home : Begin gentle daily stretches, including neck and shoulder rolls, once the worst of your pain has subsided. Gently bend, bend, and twist your neck. Your doctor or a physical therapist can instruct you to do these exercises.
Light Therapy – Photostimulation is a non-invasive therapy that uses light or near infrared light energy that causes tissues in the body to display specific complex biochemical responses, essentially healing injured tissues.
The technology is being used in the form of lasers and LEDs by physical therapists and sports medicine specialists to treat a wide variety of acute and chronic musculoskeletal injuries and pain.
Exercises for neck pain : Exercise is medicine. Increasingly, we are seeing doctors refer neck pain patients to physical therapists, personal trainers, and fitness specialists for relief by relieving symptoms.
The reason is because it works – the body is designed for movement!
Grounding – There is nothing new about the benefits of grounding, except that we now have scientific proof of its merits. We all need to ‘get back to nature’ to improve our general well-being, as well as to treat pain.
Microcurrent – Electromedical devices are an effective, non-invasive pain therapy that can be used as often as needed and provide considerable relief.
The use of electrical stimulation to treat pain dates back to Ancient Rome, when they stood on electric fish on the seashore; Fortunately, the method has improved a lot, but even Benjamin Franklin endorsed the use of electrical stimulation to treat pain. It is the future of medicine.
Watsu – This aquatic therapy is a relatively new treatment performed by a certified professional that cradles the body as it moves and stretches through the water.
If you are lucky enough to have a Watsu practitioner in your area, take a look. Otherwise, simply floating in a pool of water or even in the bathtub can provide relief.
Attitude : Last, but far from being the least important and as effective as any other pain treatment, is our attitude. Positive thinking is not triviality or lighthearted dispositions, science tells us.
Recent studies indicate that the ability to use thoughts to regulate pain perceptions uses a different pathway in the brain than the pathway used to send pain signals to the brain.
This explains how we can move on sometimes, despite physical pain. Scientists call it cognitive self-regulation; chronic pain sufferers call it nothing short of a miracle.
