5 Common Causes of Neck Pain

Have you ever thought about how amazing and powerful your neck is? Not only does it support the full weight of your head, but your neck muscles, along with a complex structure of nerves, blood vessels, and other connective tissues, offer incredible flexibility so that you can move your head in practically any direction. Sadly, unless you’re a chiropractor like me, you likely don’t pay much attention to the intricacies of your neck unless you’re dealing with quite a bit of neck pain.

Neck pain is something we all deal with. While some of the reasons may be obvious, such as an accident or injury, it’s not uncommon for practice members at Compassion Family Chiropractic to admit they aren’t sure why they keep suffering from debilitating neck pain.

Our team can help you know for sure. But in the meantime, here are a few potential reasons for your neck pain.

5 Common Causes of Neck Pain

1. Accidents and injuries — Perhaps you were in a car accident and suffered whiplash, or you pulled a muscle playing football, laughing, or working out at the gym. As powerful as your neck may be, sudden or forceful movements can force it to move awkwardly, stretch the muscles beyond their max, and lead to intense neck pain that reduces mobility and causes stiffness. 

2. Muscle strain — A few of the more annoying neck pain scenarios are due to muscle strains during conditions you didn’t even realize would be an issue. Sleeping awkwardly at night (either in a weird position or by using a pillow that doesn’t quite support the neck like it used to) can cause you to wake up with a surprise crick in your neck. Working in front of a computer all day is also a culprit of neck pain, as are repetitive motions and accidental falls.

3. Poor posture — Constantly looking down, up, or to the side all day places unnecessary stress on the joints, discs, cervical spine,  muscles, and soft tissue in your neck and can lead to acute or chronic neck pain. The same is true for sustained hunching of your upper body or repetitively hyperextending your neck forward. 

4. Text neck — Are you paying attention to how often you look down at your phone daily? Text neck is an interesting spinal condition that has naturally popped up amid the rise of smartphones and social media and is characterized by overstretched tissues in the neck from looking downward for prolonged periods. 

5. Underlying conditions — Degenerative disc disease, osteoarthritis, and rheumatoid arthritis are common causes of neck pain. With degenerative disc disease, the intervertebral discs wear down and create a bulge or hernia. Along with the neck pain, you may also experience tingling or numbness in your arm, hand, or shoulders because of this condition. With osteoarthritis, the cartilage between a person’s joints can progressively deteriorate, leading to bone spurs that impact joint mobility. 

How Does Chiropractic Care Help?

No one wants to deal with neck pain, whether it’s a temporary annoyance from sleeping awkwardly or a chronic condition that hasn’t gone away, no matter what you’ve tried up to this point. But anyone who has received chiropractic care for neck pain has learned over time that true healing and improved function happen when you maintain a consistent correction schedule. By adjusting your cervical vertebrae through gentle and specific adjustments, we can realign the spine, treat muscle tension and poor mobility in the neck, and alleviate pressure on the nerves in your neck.

Next thing you know, the small changes you experience can become more significant and last longer. 

•   Your posture can improve

•   You can experience less neck pain and body dysfunction

•   Many of the conditions you’ve faced can become less frequent

•   Your body as a whole moves and functions better

Everyone visits the chiropractor for different reasons. Perhaps yours is because of neck pain. For someone else, it might be chronic headaches, lower back pain, old injuries that never healed, or shoulder issues that have steadily worsened over 5-10 years.  

Chiropractors are more than just “back crackers.” We improve how your entire body functions! 

Call Compassion Family Chiropractic Today!!

At Compassion Family Chiropractic in Lewisville, TX, our goal is for you and your family to feel like a part of ours. On your first visit, you will be greeted by warm smiles and a whole team that is happy and willing to serve you. We aim to provide you with the most thorough and effective chiropractic care available while treating you with unparalleled service all along the way.

We look forward to the opportunity to become your family’s home for chiropractic care in Lewisville!

Give us a call today at (469) 240-2322. To learn more about Dr. David Ravdin, click here.