Causes, Symptoms, and Chiropractic Treatment of Neck Pain

Your cervical spine, commonly referred to as your neck, is made up of seven vertebrae. Your "neck" begins at the base of your skull. The cervical spine is responsible for holding your head, which is no small feat considering your head weighs several pounds. But while your cervical spine possesses a great deal of flexibility, allowing movement in many directions, this very same flexibility renders it prone to injury and pain.

The reason for this vulnerability is attributed to the biomechanics of the cervical spine. Repetitive movements, injury, sitting for prolonged periods, or merely the natural process of aging and its attendant side-effects can affect your neck's health. Regardless of the reasons, cervical pain can present considerable discomfort.

Contributing Factors to Neck Pain
Accidents and Injury: Whiplash results from a sudden, abrupt movement of the neck or head that causes a rebound effect that may damage the tissues supporting the neck and head. The so-called "rebound" is a result of muscles reacting to strain by contracting themselves. This contraction results in muscle fatigue, stiffness, and pain. More severe cases of whiplash may be linked to intervertebral joint injury, or to damage to the discs, nerve roots, muscles, or ligaments. Whiplash is commonly associated with car accidents.

Aging: Disorders of a degenerative nature can take the form of spinal stenosis, osteoarthritis, and age-related disc ailments. They all have a direct influence on the spine.

Spinal stenosis narrows the nerve passageways in the vertebrae, making it contract and block nerve roots and thus, impair the nerves. In addition to neck pain, spinal stenosis can also affect the shoulder and arm, bringing numbness and pain to these areas.

Degenerative disc disease affects the height and elasticity of invertebral discs. Ultimately, a hernia or bulge may develop in a disc. This can cause numbness, tingling, and pain along the arm.

Osteoarthritis results in progressive degeneration of cartilage. The body's response is to create bone spurs, which in turn, affects the motion of the joints. Osteoarthritis is a common occurrence.

There are also daily habits that can aggravate the cervical spine. Obesity and poor posture, for example, alters spinal balance and forces the neck to compensate by leaning forward. Emotional strain and stress prompts muscle tightness and compression, causing stiffness and pain. The stress on the spine can result in permanent neck pain, which may also end up affecting the arms and upper back.

How Chiropractic Care Can Help
In order to determine the source of your pain, you must first locate its source. A chiropractic doctor performs exams and investigates your reported symptoms in an effort to locate the exact source of the pain. The chiropractor may ask questions regarding the amount of time you've had the discomfort, what remedies/tactics you've tried, whether other parts of your body are affected, and what, if anything, helps to alleviate the pain. Physical and neurological exams will also be conducted. The physical exam will disclose your range of motion, posture, and general physical shape while noting the kind of movements that bring pain. Your spine will be manually examined to determine its alignment and curvature, as well as establish whether there are muscle spasms. Your shoulder will also be looked at.

In the neurological exam, the emphasis will be on checking your muscle strength, reflexes, extent of pain and how far it has spread. There are cases where other tests might be needed in order to properly diagnose your condition. An X-ray, for example, helps reveal fractures, bone spurs, and a contracted disc space. An axial tomography scan, in the form of CAT or CT scan, or a magnetic resonance imaging test, known as a MRI, shows where a dilated disc may take place. In cases where nerve damage is likely the source of pain, an electromyography (EMG) might be recommended, as it can measure the responsiveness of your nerves.

Cervical Adjustments
Cervical manipulation entails, for the most part, manual adjustment of the neck joints. This type of neck adjustments effectively improves the mobility of the spine, restoring range of motion. In addition, it may also raise the amount of movement of the adjoining muscles. Patients receiving cervical adjustments report an increase in their ability to move their heads, as well as less soreness, stiffness, and overall pain.

Research findings support the use of chiropractic spinal manipulation for the treatment of patients with chronic neck pain. Comprehensive clinical trials reported significant improvement of chronic neck pain as a result of spinal manipulation. All the trial groups responded to treatment, showing improvement for weeks after treatment.

Your Personalized Chiropractic Care
Each patient receives an individualized program care that may include different types of treatment. Other recommended approaches might be the use of massage and rehabilitative exercises, and mobilization of the affected area. Contact your chiropractic doctor; it's an invaluable first step to figuring out how to care for your cervical spine.By Dr Raymond Hall

Natural Remedies for Tonsillitis

Tonsillitis is a common childhood ailment, but you don't have to treat it with antibiotics. Pediatricians are less likely to prescribe antibiotics for minor ailments, as the overuse of antibiotics is creating "superbugs" that are resistant to antibiotics. You can use natural remedies to soothe your child's sore throat and to prevent occurrences of tonsillitis. The following eight remedies or treatments are all drug-free and provide natural relief from the agony of tonsillitis.

Remedy 1 - Chiropractic Care

You might be surprised to see chiropractic care on this list of natural remedies for tonsillitis, but chiropractors do far more than simply "crack backs". Qualified chiropractors can offer solutions for many childhood ailments, including tonsillitis. Chiropractors offer holistic solutions, restoring the entire body to better health by restoring the way the nervous and lymphatic systems communicate with the rest of the body. Tonsils form part of the lymphatic system, which eliminates toxins and helps the immune system. Often, the tonsils will enlarge if the immune system is not working properly, causing recurrent infections, or tonsillitis.

Chiropractors have significantly reduced the number of infections in children by ensuring the lymphatic system, connected via the nervous system, works properly. As the spinal cord is the major communications route for all messages from the brain to the body's muscles and organs, it is essential that the spine is straight and allows all the messages to pass through properly. Unfortunately, many children have minor misalignments in the spine, caused by birth trauma, or falls that could seem minor at the time, but can affect a developing body.

The misalignments or 'subluxations' cause numerous health problems, such as tonsillitis, as pressure on parts of the nervous system can prevent organs working properly. A chiropractor can correct the subluxations by gentle adjustments, which can relieve the pressure and provide the body with clear communications pathway, and therefore restore overall health to the nervous system, the lymphatic system, and the immune system. If your child suffers from recurrent tonsillitis, try consulting a chiropractor.

Remedy 2 - Lime and Honey Water

Warm drinks, such as lime and honey water, can soothe the sore throat and can help to alleviate the symptoms of tonsillitis. Heat one or two cups of water. Add the juice of a fresh lime, 4 teaspoons of honey, and a quarter teaspoon of salt. Drink this mixture three or four times a day to soothe the infected tonsils. The warmth helps to soothe the throat, while the honey provides a sweet smooth coating for the infected parts. The limejuice and the salt combine to reduce infections and help to prevent further infections.

Remedy 3 - Drink Plenty of Fluids

While this may seem like common sense, many people forget to drink plenty of fluids when feeling sick. A child who finds swallowing painful will be likely to develop dehydration, which can complicate the illness and prevent your child from recovering quickly. Encourage your child to sip continuously at a drink using a straw. Avoid carbonated drinks, as the bubbles will irritate the sore tonsils. Liquids include lukewarm broths, such as chicken broth, gelatin (jelly), yoghurt, ice cream, custard, and applesauce. Avoid hard, crunchy, and spicy foods that will irritate the tonsils and sore throat.

Remedy 4 - Tumeric in Milk

Grandmothers love this home remedy. Tumeric is a spice that many people believe has healing properties. It can boost the immune system and reduce the effects of a sore throat when added with some freshly ground pepper to hot milk. If the tonsillitis is particularly severe, you may like to grind some tumeric root and mix with water to make a paste. Rub the paste around your mouth and throat to eliminate germs.

Remedy 5 - Echinacea and Goldenseal

Echinacea and Goldenseal are two herbs that many people believe help to boost the immune system and provide relief from pain. You can buy both from vitamin or health food shops. Some vitamin pills will include these two herbs as key ingredients, although using the fresh herbs will be more beneficial than taking a vitamin pill. If you can procure fresh or even powered Echinacea or Goldenseal, you can brew it like a tea. Gargle some of the mixture first to encourage the herbs to reduce the infection around the throat and the tonsils. Drink the mixture to gain the full benefits of these effective herbs.

Remedy 6 - Use a Humidifier

If your child has congestion, while suffering from tonsillitis, it will be difficult for your child to breathe properly. Placing a vaporizer or humidifier in the room can help to open the nasal passages, encouraging the child to breathe through his or her nose instead of the mouth. Adding moisture to the atmosphere can soothe a dry, sore throat. If you do not have a humidifier, you can achieve a similar effect by having your child breathe over a bowl of steaming warm water for a few minutes. Some people like to add eucalyptus oil to the bowl of warm water or the humidifier to help the nasal passages open further.

Remedy 7 - Gargling Salt Water or Onion Juices

Gargling salt water is a common home remedy for tonsillitis. The idea is that the salt, which has natural preservative properties, will prevent and reduce infections. Onions have similar properties. Roast two onions and squeeze the juice out of the warm onions. Gargle this with some warm water. Alternatively, you can add a small amount of salt to warm water and gargle that around your sore throat.

Remedy 8 - Fenugreek Seeds

Fenugreek is becoming a popular herb in many natural therapies. Simmer two large tablespoons of fresh fenugreek seeds for half an hour in a litre of water. Drain the seeds out and gargle the water when it is cool.

Most of the remedies above treat the symptoms of tonsillitis. However, the first remedy of chiropractic care can help to prevent further bouts of tonsillitis by treating the cause of the problem. Combine several of the remedies to treat both the cause and the effect of the problem of recurrent tonsillitis.

By Maria Ananakis