Neck pain is a frequent form of discomfort for some people. It’s a common complaint that can range from a mild annoyance to a debilitating condition. There are multiple causes of neck pain, including injury, trauma, stress, nerve compression, poor posture, repetitive movements and muscle strain. These activities can lead to damage of the muscles, ligaments and joints as well as the discs of the cervical spine. Pain can be in the neck and arm, frequently accompanied by numbness and weakness in the hands.
Identifying the source of neck pain. Neck pain can affect every aspect of your life. It may be difficult to perform the simplest of activities. Family Chiropractic Center can evaluate your condition and determine what structures are being injured. Chiropractic care can modify those causes to prevent further damage.
Cervical disc injury. If your neck pain is due to a cervical disc injury, vertebrae may be misaligned, which can result in premature degeneration of the discs. If the injury is left untreated, the disc space can narrow and result in a bulging disc. When this occurs, fibers of the bulging disc can rupture, spilling their contents onto the nerves and spinal cord. When the nerves are affected, the pain can be both severe and intense and radiate to the hand or arm, causing numbness and weakness.
Ignoring symptoms. If these symptoms are ignored, the problem can lead to cervical disc herniation that protrudes into the spinal canal compressing the nerves, spinal cord, or both. Given that the area inside the cervical spinal canal is small, nerve compression can lead to acute pain and spasms with radiating pain to the shoulder, arm, hands and fingers. Additionally, there is often numbness, tingling and decreased strength or the shoulder, arm or hand.
If you have neck pain, Dr. Staley will determine what structures are involved and correct the situation.
