When dealing with neck pain or upper back pain, you may have red areas in the neck or puffed out inflamed regions, or even areas that give off heat. When this is going on we can use ice to bring down the inflammation. This tends to be more surface inflammation however.
Use your cervical pillow to align the neck … this helps open up all the foramen where the nerves flow out of. They travel from the spinal cord out the neural foramen on each side of the neck connecting and branching into smaller nerves. By freeing up the nerves and allowing correct spinal alignment, and therefore motion, it allows inflammation to dissipate. Your chiropractor’s treatment does the same thing. Getting your spine adjusted restores motion and allows inflammation to dissipate.
In fact, our #1 chiropractor recommended pillow is the Arc4life Cervical Linear Traction Neck Pillow. Using the pillow regularly, and especially following your chiropractic adjustments, helps you hold good neck posture and alignment.
- Eat more fruits and vegetables. Foods rich in the best vitamins and minerals help the body to work the best. Also, fruits and veggies have a high water content.
- Drink more water- our body is mainly made of water. It is important for nearly all body chemical reactions not to mention it helps to flush out your system- inflammation included!
- Get rid of the fried foods. Most of this stuff is junk and loaded with or cooked in bad hydrogenated oils. This can increase your body’s free radicals, something you don’t want!
- Decrease the stress. The body first shows physical changes, then things start to breakdown elsewhere. Stress can affect any or all of the body systems; so get rid of it!
- Decrease sugars and processed foods- just like the fried foods. They actually promote free radical build-up, breakdown, and inflammation.
If we don’t reduce the inflammation it can lead to illness, disease, and aging. So, if you want to be healthy and stay young and pain-free do the things mentioned on the above list for the best results.
Additional Reading Resources
- How to Choose the Right Neck Pillow for your Needs
- Decrease Muscle Pain By Eating Ginger Everyday
- Natural Pain Relief for the Neck that Does not Include Surgery
- Products for Pain Relief: Positioning Pillows, rolls, Wedges and Bolsters
- Meals that Heal Inflammation
