Can A Chiropractor Fix Neck And Shoulder Pain
Your neck and shoulders contain a wide range of muscles, bones, nerves, ligaments and other supporting structures. Many conditions can cause pain in the neck and shoulder area, from a traumatic injury and degenerative health conditions to poor posture. Pain can range from soreness or tenderness in the general area to sharp stabbing pains in cases of extreme neck and shoulder pain.
Chiropractic care can be extremely beneficial when it comes to chronic neck and shoulder pain relief. Chiropractors use a holistic approach and their expertise regarding the musculoskeletal and nervous system to find the root cause of the pain and the best approach to treating it.
See A Chiropractor For Neck Pain If
Your chiropractor will conduct a thorough consultation and examination asking you questions about your symptoms, the history of your neck pain, what types of movement make it worse and which things make it feel better.
During the exam your chiropractor will check to see how well you move your neck. He will look for tenderness or numbness and tingling in your arms or hands.
Seeing your chiropractor for neck pain is always a good choice if you are aware of a specific movement that resulted in neck pain such as lifting, falling or a whiplash injury.
Injuries resulting from abnormal motion often cause muscles to become overextended and the vertebra in our neck to shift out of alignment.
Through chiropractic therapy your chiropractor can re-align your vertebra and restore normal motion in your neck.
Different Types Of Massage For Relief Of Neck Pain
There are different types of massage that can be used to treat neck pain. In a study published in Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, researchers looked at different over 800 abstracts from databases of information about types of massage and how they benefit neck and shoulder pain. They looked at techniques like stroking, kneading, and percussion.
They also looked at “Swedish massage, Shiatsu, Rolfing, reflexology, Myofascial release, and Craniosacral therapy.”
The researchers were unable to determine whether one type of massage was better than others, but they were able to determine that massage therapy was beneficial for immediate neck pain relief.
Researchers tried to understand why it was so beneficial using rationales that involved local manipulation of the body that affected the neural activity in the spinal cord that changed the perception of pain.
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The Benefits Of Deep Tissue Massage
Many benefits accompany deep tissue massage. They include:
- Improved blood flow
- Manual muscle manipulation for hard to reach areas
- Increased flexibility
- Speeds up the healing process
- Stronger and more resilient after healing
When combined with other therapies, massage supports the healing process so that it goes much faster. It also works on the affected muscle groups when exercise is not an option. Because of its many benefits, chiropractors will often include massage therapy in the treatment plans they create for their patients.
Chiropractic And Osteopathic Treatment For Neck Pain
Chiropractic and Osteopathy can give fast, effective relief from neck pain. With our unique vision of the body as a whole, our team of Reading Chiropractors and osteopaths aim to restore function via specific joint manipulation, massage and other therapies. We use a variety of manipulative techniques for the management of neck pain as there is a difference between every patient presentation each chiropractor and osteopath see. Both Chiropractic and osteopathic care is safe, gentle and effective.
If you have any questions please contact our clinic in Caversham, Reading today on 0118 946 2100 and ask to speak to one of our Reading Osteopaths or Chiropractors. Reflex Spinal Health have helped many people to resolve neck pain and Feel Alive!
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Symptoms You Should Not Ignore
Pain isnt necessarily the first or only sign that something is wrong with your shoulder joint. Numbness, pins-and-needles, or tingling in the arm can also indicate a problem. Tightness and reduced range of motion are also indications that something may be wrong with these large and highly complex joints.
The longer you pretend a problem isnt there, the worse it can become. Minor shoulder pain might clear up on its own, but if it persists, you can end up in crippling pain or with a completely frozen joint. Here are signs that its time to seek help.
- The Pain Lasts More Than A Week Or Frequently Recurs
- You Can Feel Clicking Or Popping In The Joint
- You Cant Raise Your Arm/Arms Over Your Head
- It Hurts To Carry Things
- You Have Bruising Or Swelling
You Have Experienced A Loss Of Mobility Or Flexibility
Chiropractic care works to help restore mobility and flexibility by working individually with each joint. Care is given to provide intentional movements within each joint to improve alignment. Tendons and ligaments sometimes become tight as they try to keep the bones where they are meant to stay. This can cause us to lose flexibility and impede how well we move.
Chiropractic massage therapy brings direct care to the joints while providing care for the associated muscles. From this, the muscles learn how they may better interact with the connective tissues that make up how our bodies link themselves together. Caring for muscles and joints in a collective fashion adds immense health benefits for our bodies as they work to function for us as a whole.
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You Want To See How Chiropractic Massage Can Enhance Your Current Care Benefits
Perhaps you are already receiving chiropractic care and are just curious. Go for it! Many patients love to receive a massage just following their chiropractic adjustments. This is great for further promoting the bodys ability to work through the process of joint alignment.
A spinal adjustment offers joint care and a massage helps the muscles associated with those joints to recognize their relationship with each joint. As proper alignment is restored, greater and greater communication is developed between that joint, the brain, and the rest of the body.
Does Stress Cause Neck Pain
We know about the biopsychosocial model for health for some time now.
However, not many if at all chiropractors or physiotherapists actually address pain in a holistic, whole-person approach.
The status quo is chiropractors trying to adjust or manipulate your joints or physiotherapists trying to breakdown scar tissue or release tension.
Both structural approaches are considered to be outdated not not congruent with best evidence practice.
With advancement in neuroscience, we know that people your state of mind can change how your brain process pain. Similarly, we also know that you can change your brain even to a structural extent with mindfulness practice.
Other research has shown that stress can make a person more susceptible to pain and it is only of the potential reasons why some people experience chronic pain.
A 2018 study looking at 2339 neck pain sufferers and 3290 healthy participants found that anxiety/depression symptoms are associated with neck pain.
A later study in 2019 examining depression and anxiety in lower back pain patients found anxious and depression patients to experience more severe pain.
In short, the neck discomfort you experience is NOT strictly physical.
Take a few minutes to consider your own experience.
Are you able to identify stressful or busy periods when you experience more severe symptoms than usual?
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You Have Experienced An Injury
If you have suffered an injury, chiropractic massage treatments can help to improve recovery times. Injuries are painful. Minimizing the pain that we feel as we recover can be a tremendous benefit. When pain from an injury is present we often look to minimize how much of it that we feel while we are healing.
Minimizing pain that has arisen due to an injury will vary depending on the injury and the patient. However, working in this direction can help us to increase the effectiveness of the recovery process. Helping the body to heal itself is what chiropractic care is designed to do. When less pain is felt as we heal, the more likely that we will be effective with physical therapy activities and other healing tasks.
Massage Benefits For Specific Health Conditions
We spoke with several medical experts. Most notable was our conversation with Dr. Mark Rapaport, a Chairman at the Emory University School of Medicine who has published more than 180 peer-reviewed studies for a variety of prominent publications. Our conversation with Dr. Rapaport was also instrumental in conducting our review of the best foot massagers as well.
In addition to providing health benefits to generally healthy individuals, neck massages also provide significant health benefits for a wide variety of health conditions.
Expert Consulted:
Dr. Mark Rapaport
Chairman – Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Emory University School of Medicine
Our conversation with Dr. Rapaport educated us to the fact that individuals with a generalized anxiety disorder were recorded to have dramatically lower cortisol and stress levels, with increases in oxytocin levels and a general sense of well-being, after receiving a neck massage.
Another excellent example of how neck massages can provide health benefits comes from the studies which indicate that massages lead to decreased stress levels in women who have recently undergone a C-section. The corresponding decrease in cortisol levels and increased levels of oxytocin are excellent both for the mother and her newborn child.
While the specific benefits are still being researched, one thing is clear: Neck massages offer significant benefits both for healthy individuals and those suffering from a wide range of medical conditions.
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Also Great: Invospa Shiatsu Kneading Massager
The InvoSpa Shiatsu Kneading Massager has the most attractive design of this type of massager that we tested, and its performance is quite similar to the RESTEK. The InvoSpa has eight massage nodes four large and four small that closely simulate a Shiatsu massage given by a masseur. It works especially well on neck muscles because the massagers design allows the nodes to work the muscles on either side of the top of your spine and just beneath the base of your skull. By tugging down on the massagers handles you can increase or reduce the intensity of the massage.
Our testers found the InvoSpa to be best for massaging the neck. To access shoulder and mid- to lower-back muscles, it took some trial and error to find the right spot. Because of the size of the larger nodes, we found it best to use the massager on back muscles by standing up. Our testers held on to the straps and lowered the massager bit by bit to precisely find and hit sore muscles. After testing, our team agreed that the InvoSpa was good for relieving fatigued muscles and slightly less effective on pulled or strained muscles.
Also Great: InvoSpa – Shiatsu Kneading Massager
An excellent alternative to our top pick, the InvoSpa delivers a vibrant massage to neck and shoulder muscles. Also included are two power cords and an attractive, matching carrying bag.
Key takeaways:
Home Remedy #: Good Posture
Improving your sitting posture helps to relieve neck and shoulder pain. Poor posture creates extra pressure in your neck and shoulders, which can lead to chronic pain over time. Whether youre sitting, walking, or standing, try to correct your posture as often as possible. When your head, neck, and spine are in proper alignment, youll prevent and reduce pain.
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Discover Activities That Make You Happy
Ongoing pain in the back can ruin your life, affecting your valued partnerships, finances, and your capacity to get things done at the workplace and in your home. Locating activities that make you pleased can help decrease some anxiety and might relieve some discomfort.
Some individuals discover that also doing simply 3 points that make them really feel great every day such as delighting in a reassuring favorite or coffee, calling an old close friend, walking the dog, or receiving a lengthy 30-second hug from an enjoyed one can make pain much more tolerable.
Also something as easy as laughter with a pal may stimulate feel-good endorphins.
Discover The Benefits Of Chiropractic Adjustment For Shoulder Pain
Those suffering from shoulder pain may not know that chiropractic for shoulder pain offers great added benefit. Due to the intense work that chiropractic care does for joints in the body, it actually makes a lot of sense to have a physician of this type to guide healing. Care is specific, natural, and client-oriented.
Imaging technologies, physical assessments, and pain tests may be utilized to diagnose the cause of shoulder pain. From there, a shoulder pain treatment plan can be orchestrated to allow for the most efficient healing process for each patients needs. Recovery plans may include chiropractic adjustments, rehabilitative therapy, and chiropractic massage therapy.
Chiropractic adjustments may be used to address the underlying cause of pain. Even if a joint has not been dislocated, it may not be positioned in a way that allows the neuromuscular system to function properly. The body uses pain to let us know that something is not exactly right. Signals, registered as pain, will let us know that something needs attention.
With a chiropractic adjustment for shoulder pain, the joint is gently shifted, realigning it to its natural positioning. This key role of chiropractic care helps the body to recognize its own ability to regain wellness. The neuromuscular and musculoskeletal systems can begin to work in tandem for the benefit of the patient as care is provided.
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Neck And Shoulder Massage Pillow: 10 Ways To Handle Reduced Back Discomfort In The House
it while working in the backyard or cleaning residence. Or your back may harm from an old sports injury or a persistent problem such as joint inflammation ankylosing spondylitis Sudden or extreme neck and back pain must be examined by a doctor or a physiotherapist. That also chooses discomfort that will not go away.
However sometimes you can treat irritating pain and pain on your own.
Wilson Ray, MD, principal of spinal column surgical treatment for the Department of Neurological Surgical Treatment at Washington College School of Medication in St. Louis, states natural remedy have a tendency to be better when theyre incorporated than alone.
Chiropractic Care For Neck And Shoulder Pain
Well, it is no secret that shoulder pain often brings neck pain. Imagine an antique scale that is meant to provide a balance between its two sides to show when the sides are equal.
Each side is directly affected by the other. The middle balancing mechanism takes on the biggest portion of alteration and allows for the other side to represent the difference. The neck often takes on this role of a middle mechanism between the shoulder units. When one shoulder has an issue that needs attention, great tension can develop in the neck area.
Chiropractic treatments work to bring alignment back into the body as a whole, directly healing to the neck as well as either one or both shoulders.
Perhaps you are uncertain if your pain actually originates from the neck or one shoulder or the other. You may have pain in both shoulders and your neck. Sometimes we do not realize the impact that our daily activities can have on our bodies. It is easy in todays modern world to get into repetitive postures that can dramatically affect the bits of us that we cannot see. Then, once we become aware of our habits, it can take some work to get us back to a pain-free status.
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You Have A Chronic Pain Condition
Chronic pain can develop out of a pain condition that did not heal well. Those pain signals never did get quite the right message and they think there is still something to fix. However, sometimes an injury or ailment has already subsided.
So, why does our body still think it needs to tell us there is something not right? Well, as any communication central facility, sometimes things just get a bit messed up. The body may have become so accustomed to sending such messages that even once the condition has diminished, the instructions are still in place for the messages to be sent.
Therefore, we find ourselves still experiencing pain long after the injury or reason for pain has departed. So, what can be done? Chiropractic treatments are at the heart of this answer: Help the brain and body work together through efficient communication through joint synapses, muscles, bones, tendons, and ligaments.
This is what chiropractic does. It brings the portions of the body together that have forgotten to work together as a unit. Once the communication highways are in better condition the body can begin to recognize that the reason signals were being sent has long since been removed or greatly diminished. Chronic pain can be a sign that you need to see a chiropractor for care.
How Chiropractic Care Relieves Shoulder Pain
Are you popping pain relievers for your shoulder pain? Stop. Seek help and visit your Dallas chiropractor to identify the cause of your pain for corrective chiropractic treatment. Although taking medicines can give you immediate pain relief, it does not address the cause of pain. It should not be a surprise if you will still feel the pain after the medication wears off. Instead of relying on painkillers, visit your chiropractor or book an appointment for your corrective treatment. It would ensure that the cause of the pain was identified and corrected to prevent the pain from coming back. But how does chiropractic work?
Essentially, chiropractic treatment is manipulating the musculoskeletal system and not just addressing the pain on your shoulder. It means that your joints, cartilage, bones, ligaments, tendons, and connective tissues are getting attention and care. Hence, taking medications can relieve pain, but the stress or injury in your musculoskeletal system is still present, which can even cause you pain. With this, chiropractic treatment ensures that your body and musculoskeletal system are cared for by locating the discomfort’s source, especially your shoulders’ discomfort.
How do chiropractors relieve the pain and adjust your shoulder?
But you may ask, “What are the common shoulder problems that cause pain?” The typical problems that cause shoulder pain are tendonitis, strains, bursitis, shoulder dislocation, sprains, rotator cuff injury, and frozen shoulder.
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