7 Signs to Immediately Seek Help for Neck Pain
 

Although neck pain can be caused by injury, such as ‘whiplash’ injuries, it is often caused by the cumulative effect of improper sitting posture, reading in bed, poor work habits, stomach sleeping, lack of proper exercise and other lifestyle-related factors. These factors cause misalignments in the spine and eventually pain. The most important factor producing neck pain is spinal misalignments. Even for people who complain that “stress” is causing their pain, the great majority of those have significant spinal misalignments that are contributing to their condition.

If these go uncorrected for periods of time, these spinal misalignments can eventually cause neck pain. As a spinal misalignment worsens, pressure can be put on the nerves, sending the surrounding neck muscles go into painful and movement-limiting spasm, headache, even numbness, tingling or weakness in the arms or hands. I tell my patients that their recovery time can be short if they see me right away. If they wait until the pain has severely affected their everyday movement, the recovery time can be a lot longer.

Below are 7 instances in which you should reach out to your chiropractor for neck pain:

1. Your neck pain and/or stiffness does not improve within a few days.

2. You physically can’t look to the right or left without causing yourself discomfort or severe neck pain.

3. You feel that you must use over-the-counter pain medications in order to make it through the day. Or, you are using over-the-counter medications regularly to treat your neck pain.

4. You’re worried that your neck pain may have a serious cause due to injury or health concerns.

5. Your neck pain has started in the neck but has spread towards your hands or wrists and has caused numbness and/or tingling.

6. Your neck pain began within a few days of a car accident; this could be an indication of whiplash.

7. Your neck pain is worse when you first wake up in the morning but begins to feel better as the day progresses.

If any of these factors describe your current state, it is in your best interest to schedule an appointment with your Chiropractor OR schedule a free, New Patient Exam at Integrative Healthcare Solutions.