COMMON TREATMENTS FOR NECK PAIN
The most common treatments are rest, medication, physical therapy, chiropractic, acupuncture, cupping, exercise, massage, and other various conservative therapies.
While most acute bouts of neck pain will resolve on their own within a few weeks, the risk of recurrence is very high. The greatest risk of injury is the previous injury — if you’ve done it once, it’s very likely to happen again.
Few individuals need surgery for neck pain. Have a disc bulge? Even if it’s relevant, disc herniations have been shown to resolve on their own without surgery.
If you have intense and unrelenting radiating pain down the arm with progressive muscle weakness, or specific structural problems not responding to conservative therapy, surgery may be warranted.
WHAT YOU CAN DO ABOUT NECK PAIN
With all mechanical pain, there’s a ‘what’ and a ‘why’ — what the problem is and why it’s occurring in the first place. To achieve resolution it’s crucial to not only identify and correct the problem at hand but address the behaviors which lead to the issue’s occurrence. Here are some self-help tips:
- Keep moving
- Eat an anti-inflammatory diet
- Avoid sitting for longer than 30-minutes at a time
- Take micro-breaks: stretch, use the bathroom, grab a snack, move around
- Sit with upright posture with lumbar support
- Learn proper shoulder & lifting mechanics with Dr. Annas
- Take mental notes of what you are doing when your pain feels better or worse to identify any behavioral patterns
STILL STRUGGLING WITH NECK PAIN? WE CAN HELP!
Our approach isn’t to just “fix” the problem, rather understand what it is and what it isn’t, so the correct treatment is applied to the right problem — only then can we achieve a solution. Why use a hammer if you’re not positive it’s a nail? The guessing game must be eliminated in order for the proper treatment to be prescribed.
Nexus Spine & Sport initiates treatment for neck pain by utilizing evidence-based protocols, such FAKTR or Mckenzie Method (MDT). MDT is a proven system of examination, treatment, and classification of spinal, joint, and other musculoskeletal pain, backed by years of research, evidence, and practice. These systems have been shown to be low cost, fast, and effective even for chronic pain. The MDT system is designed to identify the mechanical problem and or improve the mechanics, thus decrease or eliminate the pain and functional problems. A variety of orthopedic and neurological examinations will be performed to determine the source of dysfunction. It is then that the proper solutions can be implemented.
If a mechanical force caused the problem, then it is logical that a mechanical force may be part of the solution. Treatment can range from adjustment/manipulation, to cupping, to laser, to nutritional consultation, to MDT end range loading. A trial of conservative care can range from a few days or weeks to a couple of months.
The goal is for you to be able to understand and control your pain yourself, not needing your doctor/chiropractor on a repetitive basis. If your problem is something we are unable to treat, we will know this within the first few visits, and then we recommend the next best course of action to find you a solution.
Sick of suffering the same old symptoms, but nervous to reach out to a pro for help? Schedule a courtesy call to Nexus Spine & Sport. We’ll point you in the right direction!