3 causes of neck pain

Providing Natural Neck Pain Relief in Centennial & Greenwood Village

Neck pain is a sign that something in your body is malfunctioning, or is out-of-balance.

Neck pain can appear out of nowhere, starting immediately after a car accident, or after rolling out of bed. It may even come on gradually throughout the day or after a hard workout.

Once you begin to feel the pain, it may feel like a burning, or throbbing sensation, or possibly even like a dull ache. Sometimes, it radiates down the back into your arm, hands, and fingers. And other times, it may lead to headaches, migraines, or upper back pain.

Common Neck Pain Causes

Some Of The Common Reasons You May Experience Neck Pain Include:

  • Text Neck (AKA Tech Neck) due to poor posture while looking at your phone, working at your desk, or reading. Do you find yourself looking down? A lot? By placing your neck and spine in a poor position repeatedly, the vertebrae will begin to shift out of their normal position. Some people notice a visible hump developing in the back of their neck (think the Hunchback of Notre Dame), while others feel a muscle spasm. The nerves and muscles attached to your spine are irritated, and will stay that way until you correct the underlying structural problems and learn how to hold your spine in a healthy position.
  • Loss of the normal cervical curve. This is commonly due to text neck. A normal neck should contain a curve that helps to distribute the weight of your head evenly across the muscles. When you lose the curve, or worse, develop a reverse curve, the weight of your head creates enormous pressure down on to your vertebrae and discs, which were never designed to carry that kind of load. This extra stress can contribute to neck pain, until a normal curve in your neck is attained. An important note, we now see this issue in kids as young as 8-years-old. A decade ago, this issue was dramatically less common.
  • Whiplash from an auto accident or hard fall – Whiplash typically occurs when there is a sudden stop and your head continues forward, before being pulled back sharply. This irritates the muscles around the neck, as well as the ligaments, tendons, and spine. Pain from whiplash or a similar type injury can last days, weeks, months, or years if not addressed properly.
  • Muscle Tension from emotional or physical stress – I find emotional stress (and physical stress from technological devices) held most commonly in the neck and upper back, leading to neck discomfort.
  • Improper sleeping position – How you sleep can contribute to your neck pain. Stomach sleeping is a common factor in neck pain and should be avoided, if possible. Bad pillows can also cause neck pain. What’s a bad pillow? Anything that’s too soft, or too big. If sleeping on your back, I recommend using a thin, firm pillow, so your ears stay in-line with your shoulders. If sleeping on your side, a firm, thick pillow is necessary to keep your neck from becoming kinked.
  • Spinal abnormalities, such as scoliosis – An abnormal curve in your spine may also contribute to neck pain, because it irritates the nerves in your cervical spine.

Neuro-Structural Chiropractic Care for Neck Pain

Many people are familiar with Traditional Chiropractic. This approach is focused on short-term pain relief, and increasing ranges of motion. Traditional chiropractic can be very helpful to get quick relief, but it’s oftentimes short-lived, much like a pain killer.

As a Neuro-Structural chiropractor, I work with neck pain cases everyday. Based on my experience, no neck pain is normal. It may be common, but not normal.

Neuro-Structural Chiropractic is very different. We’re focused on correcting core problems in your spine and nervous system that may contribute to your neck pain, and may also contribute to other symptoms you’re not thinking about at this moment. The goal is lasting change by improving the fundamental structure of your body.

Neck pain is usually not entirely due to changes in your spine. As mentioned above, muscles, emotional stress, and other lifestyle factors may all play a role. Lasting change when it comes to health, only happens when you begin to address all the basic requirements.

The good news is, we try to make it easy. Aside from building a healthier spine and nervous system during each visit in our office, we’ve grouped the basic requirements for your body to be healthy into something we call the Prime Seminar Series.

If you haven’t yet attended one of our seminars, make sure you check with the front desk next time you’re in to reserve your ticket for the next online training.

Furthermore, after beginning to correct the core problems in your spine, we suggest you implement our corrective exercise regimen. These exercises help your spine hold its natural position and motion better. This makes pain and shifting in your spine less likely.

Once beginning Neuro-Structural Chiropractic care, most realize neck discomfort and pain gets better. Plus, they also notice other tremendous health benefits (increased energy, better hormonal balance, improved sleep) that show up as a result of creating a healthier spine and implementing our various strategies and recommendations.

-Dr. Matt Pennetti – Call Us Today To Schedule An Appointment.