Most people associate chiropractors with back and spinal pain treatment, but a chiropractor works with the entire spinal column from the neck to the pelvis. In today’s digital age, many people experience neck pain as a result of sitting at a desk or typing on a computer for hours on end every day. Even if we don’t work in a stationary environment, we tend to slouch or hunch over when we participate in activities like reading, using our phones, or playing video and computer games, which can cause neck pain and make it difficult to enjoy those hobbies.
Since your spinal column is a delicate and interconnected system, your chiropractor won’t just look at your neck when you go in for an evaluation.
Issues in one region may cause symptoms in another, so a complete assessment of the cervical (neck), thoracic (mid-back), and lumbar (lower back) regions is necessary to help pinpoint the source of your pain.
Your chiropractor may ask you to do some mobility checks to determine if you have decreased range of motion and will likely examine how you walk as well as look at your posture and spinal alignment. They will also go through your medical history and may order imagining like an x-ray or MRI to help diagnose the source of your pain. After a thorough examination, your chiropractor will be able to determine if they can treat your neck pain with noninvasive measures or if surgery is needed. Should you need to have surgery, they will be able to refer you to a spine surgeon.
If surgery is not needed, your chiropractor will work with you to devise a noninvasive treatment plan to alleviate your neck pain. Noninvasive treatment may include applying pressure or manipulating areas of the spine, which will bring your vertebrae back into alignment and help calm any inflammation in the area. This is all done without drugs or chemicals, allowing patients to live pain-free without the risk of addiction or other harmful side effects.