Back and neck pain are two of the top reasons people seek chiropractic care. In today’s world, these ailments can be the result of many things or more commonly, a combination of factors. The beautiful thing is that most causes can be reduced or even completely reversed. It’s just a matter of finding the root of the problem and restoring function from its source.
At the root, pain is an indicator that something is off in your body and living with pain, no matter how big or small, it is not normal! Covering up this signal with medication only allows the real problem to worsen over time since that problem isn’t being addressed at the root.
Back and neck pain are common conditions that affect many individuals and limit various daily activities. This pain can manifest as stiffness, soreness, or localized discomfort with varying intensities and duration. The spine is intricately involved and simple motions like bending, turning or sitting are exacerbating the discomfort, you should seek help from a chiropractor.
Back or neck pain can be attributed to a variety of factors stemming from the complex structure of the neck and spine. Some common causes of pain include:
• Poor posture from sedentary lifestyles
• Acute injury/car accident
• Overuse Injury/altered movement patterns/compensation
• Muscular imbalance or muscle strains
• Herniated discs, arthritis, or degenerative conditions
• Organ system referral
• Stress
• Bad mattress or pillow
• Emotional manifestation
Understanding the specific causes of YOUR pain is crucial for implementing targeted interventions, ranging from lifestyle adjustments, exercises or medical consultations to alleviate discomfort and promote spinal health
Chiropractic care is a common relief for back and neck pain, but many chiropractic offices operate in a one-crack-fits-all manner, giving each patient the same, basic adjustment before sending them on their way.
At Active Edge, we want to hear about all your pain, when it started, how long it lasts, and what relieves it. We make a timeline of what your body has endured before physically examining it and then work backwards to address each related issue at a time.
Chiropractors were the original spine specialists, treating back pain and other spinal dysfunction naturally and with effective, non-invasive solutions. We consider even the smallest of traumas and work to undo the compensation patterns each trauma has caused your body to develop in order to help relieve your pain.
Our chiropractic services are unique and individualized for your body and include extremity adjustments and muscle work, in addition to the general vertebral adjustments. With this comprehensive approach, our back pain doctors can get you feeling better faster and longer by working through the root problem areas in order.
Relieving back and neck pain may require exercise therapy and movement retraining in addition to chiropractic adjustments to relieve the vertebrae from stress caused by suboptimal movement patterns. Posture correction is an integral part of the process for reducing stress on the back and neck. Other important elements may include muscle work, dry needling, and more. Our chiropractors and interconnective therapists will work with you to get you moving right and feeling better.
Posture: The human body is designed to be in motion and properly aligned (straight on top of itself). We spend a lot of time sitting. This creates muscular imbalances that change the way we sit and stand, shifting us into less efficient, slumped or swayed postures. In these suboptimal positions, our bodies have to work harder for us to remain upright. This creates endless possibilities for misalignment and over or underutilized muscles.
Acute Injuries and Car Accidents: These are best treated right away. We often brush injuries off and wait for them to go away, and this is understandably so because often they do. However, many times the pain goes away because of compensation patterns your body establishes rather than because they’re healed and happy. It only takes about two weeks for your body to figure out a different way to move to avoid using or aggravating an injured area. This is all well and good until it leads to a new, overuse injury because of the muscular imbalances that result from creating suboptimal movement patterns.
Muscular Imbalances and Movement Pattern Insufficiencies: Our bodies are designed to remain in balance, front to back, top to bottom, and inside out. When we get out of balance in one way, we find a new way to create balance so we don’t tip over. How cool is that?!?
Make an appointment today with one of our chiropractors to get adjusted and learn how to improve your posture throughout everyday life. Call us at (614) 407-5335.
As Doctors of Chiropractic, our education is based on the foundation that our bodies are intelligent and interconnected. Our curriculum includes some of the most in-depth training in spinal anatomy, musculoskeletal conditions and diagnosis, vertebral subluxations, kinesiology, and more. We’ve refined our knowledge over the years with continuous study about spine health and the far reaching affects it may have on your body as well as how other dysfunction can affect spine function and health.
Our doctors are trained in a variety of techniques and utilize this diversified approach to make each patient’s experience as effective and comfortable as possible. Some of the techniques in our office include:
Applying these and other modalities in private practice since 2012, we balance musculature and retrain movement patterns for optimal movement which allows patients to see positive improvements in pain reduction and range of motion.
Pain from sleeping can be from the position you sleep in, your mattress, or your pillow. If you sleep on your back, replacing the pillow under head with a rolled towel under your neck and putting a pillow or towel underneath your knees can help align your natural spinal position. Side sleepers may want to put a pillow in between their legs or under their neck for support. Stomach sleepers will want to use a thinner pillow under the edge of your head to reduce your head turn. Discomfort while your sleeping can also indicate nutritional deficiencies such as magnesium, muscular injury or dysfunction if pain/stiffness is increased after periods of stillness. If the pain only presents while you’re sleeping, you should bring that up to your doc as it could indicate something more ominous.
If you’re back hurts when you breathe, it could indicate a number of things. This is not an exhaustive list, but some of the most common causes include:
There is a lot of discussion about what optimal posture is. Realistically, we are not designed to be still for long periods except when sleeping. So below you will find the “official recommendations,” but from our perspective there is more to it than supported ergonomics.
Optimal posture while sitting will help reduce strain on your back and neck. These are guidelines of how you should sit:
At this point, you are feeling better than you ever thought you could as you are feeling energized and thriving. You have learned a lot about your body, you are moving more efficiently, you understand your body’s cues, and you have a good idea of what to do with these cues. This means you get to try new things, achieve new goals, and conquer new challenges! As you do, we will be here as your resource, as needed, to help you nourish, boost, and refresh your health.
Pain is generally the last symptom to show up and the first to go away. This means that by the time you realize there is a problem, there has been a problem for a long time. Especially for chronic or recurring issues, understanding how you got to where you are is so important for getting to where you want to go. In this stage of your journey, you will resolve underlying dysfunction, remove cheats, and retrain habits. As we aid you in activating your body’s natural healing potential, we will help you regain movement, energy, and body function both inside and outside. Throughout this process, you will start to feel greater ease and inspiration as you restore communication and efficiency in your body. Together, we will constantly assess, observe, and reassess your body’s responses to boost your results.
You are your own person, with your own collection of life events which brought you to where you are today. You deserve to be heard, seen, and treated as the individual you are. Your journey begins with your Discovery Evaluation. This first visit includes your exam which works to uncover the root of your issue(s), new patient diagnostics, and, of course, your first treatment. This is how we will help you begin connecting the dots and feeling better. After your first treatment, we will ask you to observe your body’s responses– good, bad, or indifferent. There is no wrong answer as this is just starting point information and direction for moving forward. In your second visit, we will review this feedback and your diagnostics to further identify potential underlying causes and compensations. We will combine everything we have learned about you, consider your goals, and together create a plan to resolve your concerns from the roots up.
