Neck Pain: Chiropractic vs. Medical Treatment
January 16, 2015
Chiropractic vs. Medical Treatment for Neck Pain:
“To pop a pill or not to pop a pill?”
That is the question… There are still some people that get really bent out of shape over what is better, a chiropractors or medical doctors treatment in regards to neck pain. I am not one of them. There are plenty of times where both medical and chiropractic is the preferred choice when dealing with neck pain. There are times where pain is so severe that a temporary muscle relaxer or pain reliever is necessary in order to calm the symptoms down enough to where a chiropractor can actually get deep enough in the spasmed muscle to help with acute neck pain. There are also times where I’ve seen a patient who has been prescribed tons of pills for weeks or months on end and just told to let it heal on its own. The words “let it heal on it’s own” are some of the most dangerous words spoken by medical providers.
Medical treatment of neck pain usually revolves around the following protocol: prescribe medication and rest → if it remains, prescribe more and maybe use heat → if it still remains either prescribe more or send to physical therapy – for exercises that may make it worse because there is a locked joint that they’re trying to exercise around → finally, if it is still not going away its time for surgery or injections into the region. There is certainly a time and place for medication, injections, and even surgery, but for the vast majority of neck pain or headaches this is a poor way to treat. This approach to neck pain pretty much does everything but actually look at the possible cause for why it began in the first place: something with your body mechanics is off!! When your car’s radiator is starting to break down and smoke, do you just keep refilling it with water again and again and hope it gets better on it’s own, or do you take it to a mechanic? It sounds to silly in this example, but this is exactly how we treat neck pain. Your body’s engine warning light is going off like crazy and all we’re doing is ignoring it.
The Chiropractic Approach
Chiropractic approach to neck pain is completely different. While there is a time and place for temporary medication, 2 things need to be investigated: 1 – what specifically is going wrong. 2 – what caused it to go wrong? What I see most in clinic is a spasmed neck pain where the only thing the patient can do is hold their head straight forward. Any movement causes significant pain and pinching. In this type of case there is severe muscle spasm that have completely locked down the joints in the neck. Instead of the neck joints being able to glide on top of each other, they are now compressed by the muscle spasm. The chiropractic treatment is to get the neck pain down by calming down the muscles with soft tissue work/massage, then adjust the joints that have been grinding on themselves.
After the painful episode has decreased, then further investigation is done as to why it all began in the first place. Hint: usually it’s bad posture. See my previous post on that. Next entry will involve more information about the specifics of treatment by a chiropractor for neck pain.
If you have neck pain that’s not going away and would like chiropractic treatment, please call our office at 503-206-4620.
Yours in Health
Dr. J
After the painful episode has decreased, then further investigation is done as to why it all began in the first place. Hint: usually it’s bad posture. See my previous post on that. Next entry will involve more information about the specifics of treatment by a chiropractor for neck pain.
If you have neck pain that’s not going away and would like chiropractic treatment, please call our office at 503-206-4620.
Yours in Health
Dr. J
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