What are some of the causes of Neck Pain?
Neck pain is a frequent complaint among Australians. Some of the most common causes include:
- Poor Posture: Extended periods of hunching over devices or sitting incorrectly can strain neck muscles and cause discomfort.
- Muscle Strain: Often due to overuse, poor posture, or sudden movements, leading to neck muscle discomfort.
- Herniated Disc: When the cushioning discs between neck vertebrae rupture or bulge, they may press on nerves, causing neck pain.
- Osteoarthritis: The gradual wear and tear of the cervical spine's facet joints can result in chronic neck pain.
- Whiplash: Usually caused by car accidents, it involves sudden, forceful back-and-forth neck movements, resulting in pain and stiffness.
- Spinal Stenosis: Narrowing of the spinal canal can compress neck nerves, leading to pain, numbness, or weakness.
Common Neck Pain Symptoms we help relieve at Wynyard Chiropractic
- Pain: This can range from a dull, aching pain to sharp, shooting pain.
- Stiffness: Difficulty moving the neck, especially when trying to turn the head.
- Headaches: Neck pain can often lead to tension headaches.
- Radiating Pain: Pain that travels down the arm, possibly accompanied by numbness or tingling.
- Weakness: Reduced strength or difficulty gripping objects.
- Numbness and Tingling: These sensations can occur in the arms, hands, or fingers.
- Difficulty Swallowing: Rarely, severe neck pain may make it hard to swallow.
- Voice Changes: Severe compression of the nerves can affect the voice.
Neck Pain & Your Chiropractic Consultation
At Wynyard Chiropractic, we take the time to asses everyone individually as no two spines are ever the same. The options for care will be discussed by your practitioner, which are patient centred and tailored to your needs as there is no “one size fits all” adjustment. As part of a thorough consultation, our chiropractors will assess and chat to you about your current and previous neck problems, previous injuries, posture, workplace ergonomics, daily habits, types of exercises and even your diet to understand the underlying causes of your current issue.
Our chiropractors will then examine movement restrictions of the neck and shoulders, along with a thorough examination of nerve function as our starting point. The appropriateness of chiropractic adjustments for your neck will be dependent on the how it moves, age, previous injuries and experience, and patient choice.
Traditionally, chiropractic care has been centred around the use of spinal adjustments to restore movement. Adjustments can be specific movements or pressure applied to the spine at key points to restore movement of each involved segment, which importantly stimulates the nervous system to normalise its function. Your care may consist of a combination of adjustments, dry needling, cold laser, massage, exercises, stretches, postural advice, lifestyle advice and more.
The Chiropractic Approach to Neck Pain
Chiropractic care is one way to help relieve discomfort caused by neck pain.
Wynyard Chiropractors work in partnership with their patients to provide appropriate, tailored care as well as provide lifestyle advice including posture tips, to help prevent reoccurrence.
Vital Functionality of our Necks
The neck (or correctly known as the cervical spine) serves a unique function to allow the brain to position the head in space. The neck is a coordinated network of nerves, bones, joints, and muscles controlled by the brain and the spinal cord.
1. Digital Australia: State of the Nation 2015–16, Ernest & Young, https://digitalasiapacific.ey.com/Home/pdf?id=SotN-Report-AU-2015-16
2. Neck Pain, Australian Government Health Direct website: https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/neck-pain
3. Hogg-Johnson S, van der Velde G, Carroll LJ, et al. The Burden and Determinants of Neck Pain in the General Population: Results of the Bone and Joint Decade
2000–2010 Task Force on Neck Pain and Its Associated Disorders. Eur Spine J. 2008;17(Suppl 1):39-51. doi:10.1007/s00586-008-0624-y
5. Australian Journal of General Practice: https://www1.racgp.org.au/ajgp/2018/may/neck-pain
Souza, T. A. (2016). Differential diagnosis and management for the chiropractor: Protocols and algorithms. Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
6. Neupane S, Ifthikar Ali UT, Mathew A. Text-Neck Syndrome-Systemic review. Imperial Journal of Interdisciplinary Research. 2017;3(7):141-148