Here is a great video that shows the neck anatomy and how discs can be a neck pain factor as well.
A disc, if injured, and that can be a herniation, bulge, or degeneration; we can get a multitude of symptoms. Keeping the neck mobile and in alignment tends to help hold the discs more stable in place.
Proper neck support is Vital for Good Posture and No Neck Pain
There are many ways to optimize the neck support you are getting- by using the right neck pillow, by exercising good neck posture and even by sitting properly in the car or sleeping at night. It is easy to fall into a pattern of neck pain, stiffness, achiness and overall neck pain discomfort. This blog post will discuss ways to make sure you are are optimizing the support you need in the cervical spine- or NECK as we all know it!
Stop the Neck Pain that stops your life in its tracks.
Find a solution for your neck pain.
Neck pain can really hinder you and the activities you do in your life. If you have ever suffered from a bout of neck pain, than you know that it is a real pain in the neck. It is something that occupies your mind constantly. How do i get rid of it and what can i use to get rid of it? Neck pain will affect your sleep, your driving, your working on the computer and everything else in your life. It can stop you from exercising and doing the activities and hobbies you love.
For Short Term pain relief in the neck, use a towel to get the support you need.
How to Create Towel Roll for Neck Support
Chiropractor from Glastonbury Shows you to Easily Create Neck Support
You can do this with existing neck pillow that you have at home as well to get the neck support that you need.
Use a Supportive Neck Pillow at Night
Choosing the Right Neck Pillow is Very Important
Getting the right neck pillow for sleep can be difficult. These days everyone on TV thinks they have the "Magic Pillow"- Dr Oz talks about it, The Doctors Talked about it,and I am sure you have seen the commercial for the Total Pillow too. Getting the neck pillow means getting the right support in your neck. Imagine taking a soft towel, rolling that up, and putting that behind your neck- this would simulate neck support that is vital for proper posture and support of the cervical spine. Dr. Bellinger, a Chiropractor In Glastonbury created a video a few years back showing his patients how to create this towel roll (See Above). When choosing the neck pillow, get one that give you that "roll" that you need in the neck. This ensures that you will have the proper C Curve when sleeping- whether on your side or on your back. A supportive neck pillow should accommodate you in all positions.
Wrenching or cranking your neck while sleeping in an awkward position will set you back- it will bring the neck pain back every morning.
Don't Sleep on your Stomach or in another Weird Compromising Neck Position
Sleeping on a couch also is not recommended !
Sleeping on your stomach can create tension, stiffness, and pain in the neck. It stretches muscles and ligaments that really should not be stretched in that way. Avoid it all costs. Especially,the next time you decide to sleep on your friends couch.
Make sure your neck is supported while Driving
This also means watch your neck and back support while sitting at the computer
For some people they spend a lot of time in there car. There are a few things you can do to make your car ride more comfortable. Most importantly, make sure that the headrest part of your car seat is UP. This also prevents things like whiplash from taking place. Whiplash can be the cause of neck pain for many years.
Have Good Neck Posture Throughout the Day
Watch that Forward Head Carriage
Habits can be hard to break. Especially the habit of forward head posture. You don't even realize that you are doing it after a while. Imagine a 10 lb bowling ball- this is the average wt of the human head. When it sits on the head in a neutral position- it is 10 lbs. The body can handle that. In fact, the body is designed to do that. Now imagine if your neck posture is off or you have forward head carriage. Your chin just out- your head moves forward. What happens to that 10 Lbs. Now this is more like your neck, shoulder, and upper body having to juggle 100 lbs. Forward head posture can be very dangerous, and it can be root of a lot of neck pain.
Stretch Your Neck for Comfort and relief- Let the nerves breathe and get the proper nutrients.
Stretch Your Neck with Neck Traction
Help get that C- Curve Back into Your Cervical Spine
Neck Traction- When I say this people run for the door. They think about these dinosaur contraptions that look like you are pulling a tooth from a pained patient! Yes,the over the door traction units were the original type of neck traction. They can be slightly painful, and something can cause jaw pain. Recently though many new type of neck traction have surfaced that are much more comfortable and user friendly.As a bonus, they help to the C Curve back into your neck. Two example of this are the posture pump 1000 and the pronex pneumatic traction unit.
Do Neck Strengthening Exercises
Movement is life - Make your Body Stronger
Strengthening exercises are very important. Just like an athlete conditions himself herself to make their bodies the best that they can be- well you can do the same with your neck muscles. You can become stronger, thus making it less likely that you will injure yourself. Click here for strengthening exercises for the neck. This arc4life page also features important stretching exercises that are important as well.
If you have arthritis in part of the spine then there is a good chance it's in other parts too. We break the spine up into the neck, middle back, and low back. In other words: cervical, thoracic, and lumbar spine.
Arthritis is basically a break down or degeneration type effect. Not unlike an old car, our body's start to break down to. Lots of miles, wear and tear, that sort of thing. Or maybe a few fender benders occurred also; maybe some old soccer injuries.
The injured joints may breakdown a little faster than the unaffected ones. Or what about wear and tear from repetitive strain. Maybe one road you drive on daily always has construction on it to fix massive pot holes that keep coming back. In this example your body, as well as the car may get some shock.
Mostly in my office it's the daily grind of being on the computer every day. Perfect ergonomics and posture falter when you are working without taking periodic breaks.
Next, let's say that your car is notorious for having bad suspension. Well, this is analogous to our DNA. If everyone in the family has bad arthritis, it may be in your genes.
Ok, back to the question... Now we know how the spine is divided and some things that may be contributing or have contributed to faster breakdown. We divide the spine into these sections but the spine is all connected.
If we injured our low back it probably effected the neck too. Not only that, but if the lower back is injured for instance, you neck may have to pick up the slack. For example, since you can't bend or turn the lower spine, then the upper will do more of that.
Next, if our job is lifting bags of concrete daily, then your low back may get more breakdown then the neck. All that being said, motion is good because if we lead a too sedentary life, that may cause some arthritis build up to.
The key is motion and exercise, but to be careful with major strains or repetitive motion that may cause strain. In the office we end up seeing just as many real physical workers as one just typing on a keyboard all day.
Lastly, it sometimes can have to do with what kind of arthritis you have. I am thinking of one that really happens at the extremity joints versus the spine. It may be there also, eventually, or just not as bad or not causing as severe a symptom.
All that being said, if you start to correct alignment in one part of the spine it will help another part.
There can be a lot of truth in this statement. For example, it's possible that your back pain is throwing off your gait (the way you walk), and that pain has worked all the way to the neck. Or maybe it's causing you to be in a more flexed posture; now you extend your head back so that you neck is straight.
Remember that your whole spine is connected and if one part is shifted out of alignment then something else will shift to compensate.
Also, if you body is diverting all of your attention to the low back, for healing, it may leave your neck susceptible. Same goes for you compensating for one part of the body.
Lastly, your neck may start hurting, but you don't even notice because your low back hurts so much!
I recently took a seminar in Tampa Florida where we stayed at the Marriott. I remember my sleep being somewhat interrupted because of the soft pillows with no support. This happens a lot with me.
I think this happens with a lot of people. Just this week, Tiger Woods just complained about neck and back pain. The Reason? The hotel mattress that he slept on was too soft. This caused tightness in his neck and back.
"My neck and back are a little bit stiff. It was stiff this morning after a soft bed and just one of those things, sleeping in hotels," said Woods, a participant in the The Barclays pro-am at Liberty National Golf Course "I didn't want to push it, so just took it easy and chipped and putted."
Tiger also went on to say that his neck and back pain are not long term issues. He simply blamed it on the hotel beds.
Just today, I read that Tiger Woods has pulled out of a charity event for good friend Notah Begay because of his back pain.
One of the important functions of the cervical spine is to support one of our most important features: our head. Our heads hold our brain, our eyes, and other sensory features.
The spine is responsible for holding up this valuable computer system and for aiding the functions it is responsible for. For example, our neck’s flexibility allows us to move our head almost 180 degrees from side to side. This mobility enhances our ability to observe the world around us through our senses of sight and hearing. The neck is able to give us this flexibility because it is designed in a set of vertebrae. This structure allows us to move our necks relatively freely, as it is not as restricted by structures such as the rib cage or pelvis which constrict movement of other parts of the cervical spine.
However, at the same time, this means that the neck is less protected and more vulnerable to strains. They have even come up with a specific term for when the head gets jolted in a car or other event. This is called "whiplash". Typically, the head "whips" forward and back or side to side giving trauma to the muscles and other structure of the neck.
You can imagine the importance of the brain and spinal cord; they were built encased in bone. The brain itself is protected by our skull and the spinal cord by the vertebrae. For your body to function, the brain sounds signals or messages down the spinal cord and out the nerves to the body. When the neck is strained we can cause muscle spasm, inflammation, and sometimes disc injury which can inhibit or impede these signals from the brain.
It is this inflammation that usually causes the most pressure to the nerves. We will typically get a pain response but we can also get something worse. Because the cervical spine is so close to the brain we have that much more nervous system activity. We must keep our neck’s in good shape to help protect the rest of the body.
Neck Pain prevention - what can I do you ask. Here's a list of a few things:
Exercise, this includes stretching! Yes, just getting moving helps the body heal. It may even help more to regularly stretch the neck if you've had problems there too.
Eating Healthy is a big one. You have to give your body good fuel. If you give your car bad gas or don't take care of it, then it will break down. Your body is similar. If you beat yourself up day in and day out, cover up symptoms with drugs, and ignore pain it will catch up with you.
A Regular Sleep Schedule is also important in staying healthy. You maybe can't live without your neck pillow but going to bed and awaking, not only on a fairly regular schedule is important, but at normal times is too.
Be aware of activities that may have a negative impact like stressful ones to the neck and shoulder. Are you constantly with your head down reading?, on your smart phone?, or maybe logging crazy hours on the computer? You don't have to completely stop! Just take periodic breaks...
See your Chiropractor, massage therapist, Acupuncturist, Herbalist... All the guys that fall out of the allopathic window. If you see your traditional doc (which of course, is fine, especially if you have a bug or natural therapies aren't working this time, he'll say "come back when you are SICK". Remember we are looking for no harm ways for prvention. Drugs and surgery are not preventative medicine.
Did u know that a giraffe has the same number of bones in the neck as
humans do?
On a recent trip to Florida, I read an interesting fact that I didn't know as I
waiting for my plane to take off. A giraffe has the same number of bones in
their cervical spine (neck). A giraffe is a mammal just like us and it shares
the same number of vertebrae. The only difference is the height of these bones.
In a giraffe the length of the vertebrae are 10 inches. Wow !!!
A Muscle spasm or muscle tightness or a muscle knot can happen at any time; A car accident, a quick unexpected sprint, a sudden turn of the neck or maybe a violent sneeze. Muscle spasm can occur in any muscle and is common in the lower back, neck, mid back, and shoulders. When you do experience a muscle spasm all you want to do is go back to the minute before when you had not pain at all. You just want the pain to go away sooner than later !
BioFreeze is a great topical gel that you can apply to areas of muscle spams or trigger points. Today I am going to talk about using BioFreeze for neck pain relief.
This blog post is specifically for treating the neck and upper back area.Muscle spasms in the neck and upper back can occur in the cervical paraspinals, suboccipitals, and the upper trapezius,and rhomboid muscles.
**You can get hot and cold packs in different sizes and shapes. Choose the hot and cold pack depending on what area you are treating:
For treatment of the lower back, use a larger ice pack- such as a 10x13. This rectangle shaped hot/cold pack can also be used in the midback or thoracic area. For the neck the 6x20 ice/heat pack works very well and provides coverage to the cervical paraspinals and the suboccipitals. For the neck and the shoulders, use the 9x16 ice pack because it provides great coverage to both areas. This trisectional hot and cold pack is a little heavier, so keep that in mind. For smaller areas such as knees, legs, elbows and arms, you can get smaller hot/cold packs such as 6x10 and 3x5. You can get hot/cold packs with and without a strap.
Here are step by step instructions for treating a muscle spasm in the neck and upper back area.
The hot and cold pack that we have suggested is specifically for the neck and upper back area. Another ice pack that is allows for even more coverage of the back and neck is the trisectional hot and cold pack: with dimensions of 9x16. It has flaps where the shoulders are so you get the ice pack in the neck, upper back and shoulder area.
Make sure your 6 x 20 ice pack has been in your freezer for at least 4 hours.
Take your ice pack out of the freezer and wrap your ice pack in the towel
Apply to your neck. Start from the top of your neck in the back (just under your hairline in the back) and start to massage in small circular strokes. First do the right side, then the left side. From top to the base of the neck. Keep your head in a neutral position.
After you have a massaged for about 1.5 minutes on each side, apply the ice pack that has been wrapped around the towel. Apply this ice pack right around your neck, allowing the ice pack to hang from your upper shoulders. Relax, sit (or lie down face down) lie down for 10-15 minutes.
More things to remember about treating muscle spasm: If someone can help you treat the muscle spasm, you can get greater benefit
* It is a good idea to have someone else do this for you, but this is not always possible.
* Biofreeze is odorless, and greaseless but you don't want your fingers tingling afterwards. Wearing a glove will also save you a step from having to wash your hands (you can concentrate fully on your neck pain)
* It is a good idea to keep your ice pack in a seperate plastic bag so that it does not pick up the freezer smells. You want to get a 6 x 20 ice pack because this will fit nicely around your neck.
We often talk about figuring out the source of your neck pain, that will help us eliminate it. But what if you have a permanent injury or chronic neck pain?
Here are some great ways to deal with that neck pain:
1. Mental distraction - have you ever got busy with work or whatever and totally forgot about your pain? We all have! "Ok, you don't work any more, you're always home", try Meditating! Don't think of it as something New Age or weird. You can call it whatever you like - maybe quiet time, time to reflect, maybe just relax and go over your goals in your mind... Just get your mind focused on something else.
2. Exercise - start with thing that don't bother the neck. Eventually, you'll notice you can do alot more and it won't seem to bother the neck. Start out slow, use good form, and be safe. Don't forget, exercise is so great in many ways. It get you breathing, it makes you sweat, and produces something in the body called Endorphins.
3. Eat healthy - Here's the big ones: Drink more water and eliminate sugar. Your body needs water for almost every reaction; and we need a healyh immune system to fight pain. Sugar weakens the body's immune system.
4. Improve your sleeping situation - Are you getting a good night's sleep? Is your room for sleep only (quiet, dark,no tv...), basically very conducive to sleep. How about your pillow? Does it support the neck as good as possible?...
