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Neck pain is one of the most common chronic conditions that affect the quality of life of nearly 30 percent of Americans yearly. Anyone who has suffered from chronic neck pain knows how it can steal from enjoying life, performing at your best at work, and decreasing your ability to be fully present.
Chronic pain pulls you out of the present moment and keeps you in a state of distraction and limits your ability to enjoy life fully. Unfortunately, the grand majority of people who suffer from chronic neck pain take daily pain-killing medication because they are unaware of many natural healing procedures that can not only relieve pain but remove its underlying cause. In this article, we would like to discuss soft tissue injury to the joints of the neck and how it can lead to loss of cervical spine motion and lead to chronic neck pain.
Then we would like to discuss a little-known procedure called Blair upper cervical care which has been helping people overcome chronic neck pain by correcting its underlying cause for decades.
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Neck joints, ligaments, soft tissue, and neck pain
Each joint in your body is surrounded by a strong ligament known as the capsular ligament. The capsular ligament gives the joint strength, and limits it from moving out of what is termed “ normal physiological range of motion.” When the joint capsule is healthy the joint moves normally and there is no restriction in motion or muscle tightness.
However, when someone sustains an acceleration-deceleration injury that overcomes the strength of the capsular ligament it tears. The degree to which damage occurs is a function of the forces sustained during the accident. When the joint capsule tears there is an immediate inflammatory reaction that occurs followed by pain, loss of range of motion, and muscle stiffness. This soft tissue injury can set the stage for long-term chronic neck stiffness, pain, and loss of normal mobility.
Instead of assessing the root cause of most chronic neck pain, the majority of people resort to the chronic use of pain-killing medication. The pain killer helps you feel better but it does little to resolve the underlying reason the person is suffering from chronic pain. In a moment we will discuss a little-known procedure called Blair upper cervical chiropractic whose goal is to locate, analyze, and correct spinal misalignments that often are the root cause of people who suffer from chronic neck pain.
Cervical spine injury causes a cascade of physiological effects that end in neck pain and other chronic health problems
Neck injury causes more than just neck pain! There is a cascade of effects that occur to the body's posture and physiology following an upper neck injury. The most immediate reaction is inflammation, pain, and stiffness.
Following these initial reactions is a cascade of postural adaptations, the first being the loss of the neck normal backward c shaped curve called cervical lordosis. When the muscles tighten in response to injury they flatten the cervical curve.
This typically causes the person's head to move forward and in response to the head moving forward the mid back muscles between the shoulder blades tighten to keep the head upright against gravity. If the underlying spinal misalignment is not corrected these postural changes become chronic and are accompanied by tight muscles, pain, loss of range of motion, and often a host of other symptoms such as cognitive fog, fatigue, sleep disturbance, and loss of motivation. Unfortunately in our symptom-based health care system, these symptoms are treated with medications that never correct the primary cause, upper neck injury, and spinal misalignment.
Listen to one of our patients talk about how upper cervical care changed her life! Verifiable on google reviews for Los Angeles upper cervical!
Melody M
About a year ago I started having so many issues. It started with pressure in the back of my skull n pain at the base of my skull. After several trips to the E.R and every kind of testing imaginable, I was told I had an ear issue. Had many visits with an ear dr who dosed me up on steroids which left long-lasting issues. I was shaking 24/7, had no strength, no appetite, stopped sleeping mostly.
My quality of life was deteriorating quickly. I even had to start seeing a neurologist because it was so bad. Finally after getting a proper MRI done of my head AND neck found out I had several neck issues and then I said enough is enough. I'm researching things myself and not trusting anymore of these doctors who were guessing what was wrong.
I found Dr. Drew on youtube by chance and he was within driving distance so I like many others took a chance since he was my last hope. He found on my x-rays I had a few things going on and we figured out it was most likely from an old car accident that had really messed me up. I have been going to him ever since!
Now I sleep normal, my appetite is back, anxiety is mostly gone (huge improvement) and I overall feel like myself again when I didn't think I ever would. Western medicine can be good at times but overall those types of Drs don't focus on healing and finding the true cause. They usually try n mask everything which tends to make matters worse. I am beyond thankful to have found Dr. Drew. He and the staff there are all so awesome and it truly was one of the best decisions I ever made. Thank you so much, you guys. ?
What exactly does an upper cervical chiropractor get to do?
Blair Upper Cervical doctors are specially trained to locate spinal misalignments in the upper cervical spine and correct them. Spinal misalignments are located by running a battery of neurological tests that locate the spinal segments that have been injured and misaligned by a prior neck injury.
Once located, precision imaging in the form of digital x-ray or cone-beam computed tomography (cbct) is used to precisely determine which joint has misaligned and the angulation of the misaligned joint. Each person’s anatomy is different and therefore imaging is used to uncover the blueprint to be used to correct each patient’s individual misalignment pattern.
Once this information is gleaned, a gentle, light correction is made without twisting, popping, or pulling. The patient is then monitored overtime to ensure that the correction is holding. If the testing indicates the need for another correction, then it is performed.
However, the goal of Blair Upper Cervical Care is for the patient to stay in “adjustment”. It isn’t the correction that produces healing. It is the removal of nerve irritation and the adjustment “holding” in its normal position that allows the body to function better and proceed through a healing process.
This is how Blair Chiropractic care can often help remove the underlying cause of many who suffer from Eustachian tube dysfunction, tinnitus, Vertigo, Meniere’s disease, neck pain, migraine headaches, and other chronic health problems by supporting the body in healing itself.
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