The most frequent questions that are asked are:

Should I use heat or ice?

Should I take a pain pill or anti-inflammatory?

When will it get better?

And the list goes on and on. As a chiropractor, one of the first questions I ask is when did you start to notice the neck pain and what initiated the pain? Was it after a traumatic accident or occurrence or did you just wake up with it because you slept wrong? I will test for degenerative disc disease, rheumatoid arthritis or other degenerative/chronic conditions. Most of the time, the neck pain after an accident comes from a miscommunication of the nervous system which branches out into the neck muscles causing spasms and pain. When left untreated for a length of time, torticollis can occur which is very painful and limits range of motion in the neck. The degenerative spine and soft tissue adjacent to the trauma area has become inflamed and needs to be addressed professionally so the pain does not get worse. Chiropractors are doctors who specialize in the care of non-surgical conditions of the spine and nervous system. When the spinal nerves and spinal mechanics are returned to normal function through spinal adjustments, the communication is restored. The body then will be able to heal and return to the proper state of health.