What is Acute Neck Pain?
Pain that is very new to you or a flare-up of something you have had in the past. Acute pain can be a result of a trauma or injury but it can also be pain that you woke up with.
Most of the time acute neck pain starts after a bad night’s sleep, spending a long time in a poor posture, carrying heavy items, slips, falls, and other accidents. Acute pain comes on quick, can range from dull to sharp and excruciating, sometimes will stay just in one spot but can also spread(radiate) into your arms or hands.
How does neck pain affect you?
Acute neck pain usually limits movement, pain that makes your neck or affected joint feel locked up or blocked when you try to turn or look in a specific direction is common. This pain is both a warning to you and a way for your body to treat the injury.
Why does it hurt?
Your body is working hard to stop further injury. When you start having pain you will move less, change what you were doing and usually start to seek treatments. The pain comes from the tissue in the area going through a inflammatory phase. We have inflammation because it triggers the body to fix the change and get you back to feeling good.
Do I need to see a doctor for Acute Neck Pain?
The good news is that most cases of acute neck pain go away on their own within about 3-5 days but if you are dealing with intense pain, radiating pain into your arms or hands or a sense of being unable to move in a specific direction then you should reach out to your chiropractor at Rising Sun Chiropractic + Weight Loss.
When in doubt seek medical care!
How to treat Acute Neck Pain
The good news about neck pain, if there is such a thing, is that the chiropractors at Rising Sun Chiropractic + Weight Loss can help, fast! Most episodes of acute neck pain are treated within a few visits very successfully. Your chiropractor will work with you to understand and diagnose your injury, give you treatment recommendations, at home recommendations and get you quickly back to the life you want to live. Our chiropractors have several post graduate certifications so they can approach your case with the most up to date and cutting edge treatments available.
Top 3 Reasons Your Neck Started Hurting
Cervical Spinal Restriction
What is joint restriction?
Spinal joint restriction, it’s what we see and treat primarily as chiropractors. What is a joint restriction? All the joints of our bodies have a range of motion that should be pain-free and unrestricted. Depending on the part of your body your joints all move in different ways. As a chiropractor, we work with the musculoskeletal system and understand how joints should move and how they feel if they are restricted. Each of the joints in your spine has 6 primary ranges of motion and depending on the part of the spine we are looking at will have 2-4 movements that the region specializes in.
How do you know if you have a restricted joint?
When you start noticing changes to a range of motion in a joint, especially if it is painful, that joint is restricted. Chiropractors are excellent at treating restricted joints and the chiropractic adjustment is one of the most effective treatments for this kind of injury. Restrictions in your spine can be the cause of many different injuries and symptoms. We see cervical spinal restriction as the cause of headaches, neck pain, arm, and shoulder pain, and more.
Cervical Sprain or Strain
Do I have a sprain or a strain?
Sprain or strain, what’s the difference? Well, for treatment and what to expect there are some big differences. Cervical sprain and strains are among the most common injuries we see in the office.
A cervical strain is when an injury occurs to the muscles and tendons of the neck. A cervical sprain is when an injury occurs to the ligaments or joints of the neck. Sprains and strains both however, have similar pain and symptom patterns. Symptoms of sprain/strain are sharp pain, stiffness, swelling, and neck pain that gets worse when attempting to perform certain movements.
When our muscles or ligaments become injured, it can lead to pain, dysfunctional movement patterns, and cause spinal instability. Sprain injuries can be caused by lifting when your not ready for the weight or the position, falls, accidents, usually anything that is a fast action. Strains typically come from poor posture stress, repetitive lifts or movements during the day, and overuse injuries.
How long does a cervical sprain take to get better?
These injuries do have different healing times and that is an important part of any injury, what should you expect. Sprains involve tissues like ligaments that don’t have great blood supply, which means you should expect a slower recovery. Ligaments need healthy movement and activity without overdoing it in order to help them get back to pain free. With a sprain expect anywhere from 2-24 weeks depending on the severity of the initial injury. Sprains are graded on a system of severity and that helps to guide us to understanding when they should heal.
How do we treat sprains or strains?
Sprains can be assisted and help them heal much faster through both home exercise and in office therapy. The therapies we see the most success with in our office include:
Taping-Dynamic Tape and Kinesio tape both help with fluid transfer, which reduces swelling and brings nutrients to the area.
Nutritional Supplements-using fish oil for inflammation, enzymes for pain and inflammation, and collagen help give the body the tools for repair.
Laser therapy is a powerful tool to reduce pain, improve rate of recovery and reduce inflammation.
Typically in the first weeks of sprains we don’t do any traditional chiropractic adjustments to the joint involved, but having treatment above and below the injury can help keep your pain levels down and avoid injury to joints and muscles that are compensating for your injury.
How do we treat neck strains at Rising Sun Chiropractic?
Strains typically are treated differently because of their muscle involvement and much better blood flow. You have probably strained a muscle a few times and just let it heal on its own. Most strains can be treated with light duty and staying active. When you have a moderate to severe strain that involves both tendon and muscle you will likely want a little extra help.
Strains are treated with taping and soft tissue therapy first AND loading the injury. Your chiropractor at Rising Sun will give you specific exercises that will help the muscle and tendon heal, promote improved blood flow and will get you back to preinjury quick.