This isn’t going to be just another blog bashing the overuse of pain medication in America. Sure, painkillers are not the ultimate solution to neck pain. At the same time, an occasional anti-inflammatory can help you get through the day or get a good night’s sleep.
Today’s focus is going to be on long-term solutions – fixing the problem instead of the symptoms. Here are some natural ways to find real neck pain relief.
Table of Contents
If your neck is most often stiff in the morning, the problem could be your sleep position or even the pillow that you are using. Here are some dos and don’ts for sleep when you suffer from neck pain.
Text neck is a term used to describe neck pain that results from looking down at a smartphone repeatedly throughout the day. Modern technology use shows all the signs of addiction with 10% of responders in a recent Asurion survey saying they go an average of 3 minutes between phone glances while on vacation. The average American checks his or her phone every 12 minutes. That’s about 80 times per day (assuming you sleep 8 hours per night which many of the mobile-addicted don’t do). When we’re not traveling, we use work as an excuse to check the phone just as often.
How does looking down at your phone over and over again affect your neck? If you look all the way down at your lap, that places the neck at about a 60-degree angle. Whereas the spine is used to supporting the head, which weighs about 12 pounds, looking down at a 60-degree angle increases the pressure on the spine to about 60 pounds. Now multiply that by looking down 80 times per day, and you can see why people are causing so much wear and tear to the neck at an earlier and earlier age.
Did you know that there are chiropractors who specialize in providing precise and gentle adjustments to the top two bones at the base of the skull? If you have been reluctant to try chiropractic because the twisting and popping makes you nervous, then this is the subspecialty for you. Because diagnostic imaging is used to take precise measurements of C1 and C2 misalignments, adjustments can be made (either manually or with an adjusting instrument) in a low-force manner and with the adjustments tailored to each patient.
If you are suffering from neck pain, we hope this article has given you the tools you need to seek out natural care. With a few little lifestyle adjustments and some gentle upper cervical adjustments, you may be free of neck pain once and for all. So use the search feature on this website to find one of our preferred upper cervical practitioners in your area. A consult may be your first step on the path to better overall health and wellness – and that’s something we can all benefit from!
TV show host Montel Williams describes how specific chiropractic care has helped his body.
The content and materials provided in this web site are for informational and educational purposes only and are not intended to supplement or comprise a medical diagnosis or other professional opinion, or to be used in lieu of a consultation with a physician or competent health care professional for medical diagnosis and/or treatment. All content and materials including research papers, case studies and testimonials summarizing patients' responses to care are intended for educational purposes only and do not imply a guarantee of benefit. Individual results may vary, depending upon several factors including age of the patient, severity of the condition, severity of the spinal injury, and duration of time the condition has been present.