TIPS ON PREVENTING NECK PAIN
It was a rainy morning in 1993 when I was attempting to cross traffic in my Mazda RX7 sports car when I was suddenly T-boned from another car. The impact crushed my little car and sent me flying into the oncoming traffic. I had instant sharp shooting pains in my neck and wasn’t sure how badly I was hurt.
I ended up at a chiropractor’s office and had vital signs done, a physical exam with orthopedic and neurologic tests done, and also a series of x-rays of my neck from every angle. The diagnosis was a hyper-flexion/hyper-extension injury or whiplash. My neck was so stiff and my neck muscles in such spasm that I could hardly function.
The treatment to finally get me feeling and functioning better was a course of spinal manipulation to the cervical spine, interferential therapy or electric stim, intersegmental traction, massage and then rehab. I went twice a week for about six weeks and was shocked at how quickly I started feeling better.
Before being released from care, the doctor told me about several things I could do to prevent the neck pain from coming back. There were exercises I could do, but also warning signs to look for and also preventative habits that will increase the odds of not suffering chronic neck pain for a lifetime from a silly car accident that happened thirty years earlier.
Some exercises people can do to help prevent neck pain are the following: Isometrics and active/passive motion exercises. Isometrics- Attempt to turn your head to the right, but block the rotation with your right hand against the cheek. Then attempt to turn your head to the left, but resist the motion with your left hand. Hold the resistance for a count of three seconds and then rotate your head to the opposite side. Repeat this process a few times.
Active and passive motion exercises consist of moving your head in the six ranges of motion for the cervical spine. 1. Forward flexion, 2. Extension, 3. Left lateral flexion, 4. Right lateral flexion, 5. Left rotation, 6. Right rotation. Actively take your head as far into each range of motion as you can physically move your head without any assistance. Once you have reached maximum range on your own, then take your hand and physically move your head an additional degree or two in that same range of motion thereby increasing the overall range achieved (passive motion).
Warning signs to look for in neck pain would include some or all of the following: tight and/or sore neck muscles, headaches, decreased range of motion, crunching noises (crepitus) when moving your head, referred pain patterns down the arm-numb, tingly.
Some great preventative habits to prevent neck pain from coming back would include ALL of the following: Sleep with a cervical spine pillow which is a special pillow that has a curve carved out on one side of the pillow to support the natural curve or lordosis, of the cervical spine. Make sure to get adequate sleep each and every night of seven to eight hours nightly. Stretch and strengthen the neck muscles by continuing to do the isometric strengthening and the Range of Motion active and passive stretching exercises. Get adjusted by a chiropractor to keep the cervical spine in alignment and moving. Get massage of the neck and upper back muscles specifically the trapezius, scalenius, and posterior occipital muscle groups. Supplement with either glucosamine sulfate OR chondroitin which are over the counter supplements that are precursors to the formation of new cartilage. These supplements are hydrophilic which means they love and bind water into the matrix of the cartilage and help prevent/treat osteoarthritis. Hydrate-strive to consume one half of your body weight (in ounces) of water each and every day. e.g. 150 lb person should drink 75 ounces of water.
Preventing neck pain is very achievable by following as many of these suggestions as possible. The BEST results will occur if a person does ALL of these suggestions. It’s like baking a cake, if you leave out one ingredient, your cake will not turn out right.
#neckpain, #chiropractic, #askdrlask, #whiplash, #mva, #health
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