People experiencing neck pain often turn to chiropractic care for help. Read on to learn more.

A licensed chiropractor can start to address the underlying issues that are likely causing neck pain, and use a combination of techniques to help alleviate pain. Adjustments involve the chiropractor applying controlled but sudden force to a joint, pushing the joint beyond the range in which it normally moves. This is intended to loosen up joints that move poorly or painfully due to tissue damage or scarring caused by either trauma or repetitive stress. For neck pain in particular, chiropractic neck adjustments, called cervical manipulation, loosen up the joints of the cervical vertebrae in the neck, and this can reduce pain caused by pinched nerves and muscle spasms. Chiropractors use their hands to twist the neck sharply and snap the vertebrae back into alignment.

When It May Not Be Helpful

• You’re feeling pain or numbness down into your shoulder, arm, or leg. You might have suffered a spinal cord injury or a herniated (slipped) disk and possibly require a neurologist or neurosurgeon. You may need to go to the emergency room if the discomfort is severe.
• Your neck pain is accompanied by fever, headache, or vomiting, or if you find yourself wincing at light. You might have meningitis, a serious infection of the membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord. If meningitis is possible, you need to go to the emergency room immediately.

Also, keep in mind that your neck pain could be caused by other medical conditions like arthritis or fibromyalgia. Muscle relaxants and other medications prescribed by your doctor might be better able to alleviate pain in these instances than chiropractic. By restoring mobility in your joints, chiropractic offers neck pain treatment that aims to fix the source of the pain rather than just treat its symptoms. This no-drug, no-surgery approach may be the answer you’ve been looking for.

Source: https://www.everydayhealth.com/neck-pain/neck-pain-chiropractic-care.aspx