Even though neck pain is a very common complaint, many times it is difficult to know why you are experiencing it, as a precipitating event is not remembered.
Of course it is easy when you know exactly when it started, such as after trauma like an automobile accident or a fall, and so you seek care in those cases. However, neck pain that comes on slowly over time is many times ignored or considered “part of life” until it cannot be stood any longer.
There are many different causes of neck pain and knowing which one is causing your problem can be difficult. For instance, most people know that an auto accident can cause whiplash, but most do not understand that it can be caused by everyday accidents and just overuse or misuse. For instance, in a fall, where you trip over something, start to fall and catch yourself, but bang your knee hard, your knee hurts, and so you do not remember the violent movement of your head back and forth.
As the knee pain wears off, you may later notice mild neck pain, or the next morning you notice neck pain and say, “I wonder why my neck is hurting, I just hit my knee.”
Another example is the person who works with their head extended – such as painting. There is no pain right away, but the next morning the neck hurts and something that caused it is not remembered as there was no specific moment when the pain started.
Symptoms of a neck injury, besides the obvious neck and shoulder pain, can include arm pain, stiffness of the neck and or shoulders, headache, dizziness, visual disturbance, nausea, sore throat, difficulty swallowing, loss of voice and many others.
Some necks are more prone to injury because of pre-existing conditions, such as disc herniation or bulges, degenerative conditions of the disc or joints, ligamentous injuries, various medical conditions, chronic poor posture, and many others.
Considering that your head weighs about 10 pounds, balances on a stack of vertebrae, and moves about with the assistance of your neck and shoulder muscles, it is really a surprise that it is not injured more often than it is. So how do you decide when you need treatment for your pain and when you do not?
You would be wise to seek treatment if you have any of the symptoms listed above or if your neck pain lasts longer than 24 hours without significant improvement. You should seek immediate treatment if you have pain that is made worse by sneezing, coughing, or laughing, is accompanied by nausea or vomiting, dizziness, numbness, or any other seemingly unusual symptom.
The next decision is who to see for your pain. Unless you have a close relationship with an orthopedic or neuro surgeon, they should not be your first step. Recent reviews conducted by a medical research group shows that family doctors and internists receive fewer than 20 hours of training in medical school in musculo-skeletal conditions. So it becomes obvious that the chiropractic physician is the most well equipped to be the first contact doctor for diagnosing the cause of your neck or back pain.
There has been a recent trend toward determining the “best practices” for each condition. This is to determine the most effective and cost conscious way to treat specific conditions. Chiropractic care for uncomplicated neck or back pain clearly fits in these practices. It is conservative (nonsurgical), as compared to other treatment methods such as anti-inflammatory medications, which account for hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on complications and side effects, is very safe and cost effective for treatment of these conditions.
If you are worried about treatment method, choose a well-experienced chiropractic physician who works closely with other types of providers, such as family doctors, orthopedic surgeons, and other specialists. Steer clear of any type of doctor who holds themselves out to be the only provider who can help you, or who has the only method that can help you.
