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What is a Common Neck Pain?
Common neck pain affects more than 30% of adults in the United States with about 20-70% who say their neck pain interferes with their day to day activities. Common neck pain is when your neck begins to ache or become uncomfortable to move while turning or doing specific activities. This may be due to an accident, or an underlying health issue the body is experiencing.
How to “Read” Common Neck Pain
Think you have common neck pain? Below are the most common symptoms for neck pain:
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Stiff Neck - You may have a difficult time turning your neck around or tilting it side to side.
- General Soreness - This soreness could feel achy and not sharp. This could also be in one area of the neck.
- Tingling, Numbness, or Weakness - When experiencing common neck pain, you could have symptoms that radiate beyond your neck area. Tingling, numbness, and weakness sensations could be felt through the shoulder, arm, or fingers – usually happening on only one arm instead of both. In some cases, patients have described having a “pins and needles” feeling in these areas.
- Sharp Pain - Sharp pain associated with common neck pain may be felt in one spot. This sensation is described as a sting or stabbing pain and often occurs around the lower neck.
- Trouble with Gripping or Lifting Objects - Because of the tingling, numbness, or weakness symptoms that could accompany your neck pain, you may experience trouble with gripping or lifting objects if the feeling is carried throughout your arm or fingers.
- Headaches - Common neck pain can irritate the surrounding areas of your neck including the muscles and nerves connected to your head. While these are irritated, they can cause headaches such as a tension headache as your muscles begin to tighten or occipital neuralgia if you have a pinched occipital nerve in the neck.
- Difficulty Sleeping - Common neck pain can be uncomfortable and disturb your sleep. Whether it be from the pain itself or other symptoms, such as headaches, that begin to stir up during the night.
If your common neck pain symptoms worsen over time and continue to make it difficult for you to sleep, they could disrupt your daily activities as well such as driving, working on the computer, carrying groceries, getting dressed, and other simple tasks.
What Can Cause Common Neck Pain?
The cause of your common neck pain can vary. It could be from doing tasks that require the neck to be still for longer periods of time, such as computer work. Straining the neck could cause common neck pain if you carry objects that are too heavy such as wearing a backpack that puts too much stress on the body. Other causes of common neck pain could be the following:
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Worn Joints - As we mature, our body gets older and our neck joints can wear down over time. Cartilage between the bones can deteriorate and the body will form bone spurts that limit your range of motion and cause you pain.
- Injury - Whiplash associated with car accidents, contact sports, falls, or any other event that causes the neck to abruptly move forcefully can injure the neck. Whiplash strains the soft tissues (muscles and ligaments) in your neck which causes neck pain.
- Disease - Some diseases can bring about common neck pain. Some of these diseases include rheumatoid arthritis, cancer, or meningitis (an inflammation of protective membranes that cover the brain and spinal cord).
- Muscle Strain - Straining the muscles around the neck can lead to common neck pain. This strain can appear from having poor posture, having a habit of looking down toward the ground or smartphone, reading hunched over or keeping your neck completely still as you read, or gritting your neck.
- Nerve Compression - When a misalignment occurs, your vertebrae can press on the very nerves it’s protecting. This compression can create pain that travels throughout various places of the body – including the neck.
Most Common Reasons Adults Have Neck Pain Problems
Some of the most common reasons adults may have common neck pain problems are from habits they develop over time that takes a toll on their body. This could be how they talk on the phone (such as tucking it between the ear or shoulder as they talk), carrying heavy bags, and poor posture while sitting and standing. In addition to this, adults may have worn joints and a misalignment could interfere with how these joints recover and heal.
Most Common Reasons Children Have Neck Pain Problems
Poor posture may be one of the most common reasons a child may experience common neck pain. It is important to teach them good posture and to keep them from looking down too much whether it be a phone or a book. If they enjoy playing on the computer, remind them to take a break and stretch after every 30 minutes.
What to do About Neck Pain Problems
First thing’s first, we should not ignore common neck pain. It is always best to try taking care of our body as soon as we notice something going wrong. Common neck pain is treatable and can be handled naturally without medication or surgery. To help common neck pain, we should look for the cause rather than treating the symptoms and we can do this with upper cervical.
Can Upper Cervical Adjustments Help Neck Pain?
Upper cervical adjustments are gentle and precise movements made on the upper cervical (neck area) of your spine. This is the most important part of your spine, as the rest of your spine follows the direction of these two top upper cervical vertebrae. As soon as one of these top two bones are out of alignment, the rest of the spine responds by moving and turning to go along with it.
Common neck pain comes from nerve compression, strains, or an issue with the joints. What upper cervical adjustments do is remove this compression and stress put on your nerves and joints so the body may relax and repair what’s been harmed.
Diagnostic for Neck Pain Problems
If you have neck pain, an upper cervical chiropractor can help. They will go over the description of your neck pain, lifestyle, habits, injuries (recent and old), and can see scans that will provide additional information about how severe the misalignment is and what it could be doing to your body.
Upper Cervical Chiropractic Treatment for Neck Pain Problems
Upper cervical chiropractic has been highly successful in treating neck pain due to using the body’s natural ability to heal and repair itself and getting rid of interference. Common neck pain, or any neck pain for that matter, should be handled by focusing on what the underlying cause is.
Upper cervical chiropractic treatments look to find this cause and fix it. Even patients who have had prescribed medications and surgery still had astounding results from upper cervical adjustments – because they work to remove the actual cause of the pain rather than treating only symptoms.
If you have had enough of your neck pain, upper cervical adjustments are a safe and natural way to treat the cause.
We would like to invite you to accept our invitation for a free 15 minute phone consultation to speak with one of our upper cervical chiropractic doctors where you can ask any questions you may have and decide if an exam or care might be right for you.
You can click the Contact Us link on this page, or alternatively give us a ring at the office at
(843) 225-5855.
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