Chiropractic Care of Neck Pain
During your visit, your doctor of chiropractic will perform exams to locate the source of your pain and will ask you questions about your current symptoms and remedies you may have already tried. For example:

• When did the pain start?
• What have you done for your neck pain?
• Does the pain radiate or travel to other parts of your body?
• Does anything reduce the pain or make it worse?

Your doctor of chiropractic will also do physical and neurological exams. In the physical exam, your doctor will observe your posture, range of motion, and physical condition, noting movement that causes pain. Your doctor will feel your spine, note its curvature and alignment, and feel for muscle spasm. A check of your shoulder area is also in order. During the neurological exam, your doctor will test your reflexes, muscle strength, other nerve changes, and pain spread.

In some instances, your chiropractor might order tests to help diagnose your condition. An x-ray can show narrowed disc space, fractures, bone spurs, or arthritis. A computerized axial tomography scan (a CT or CAT scan) or a magnetic resonance imaging test (an MRI) can show bulging discs and herniations. If nerve damage is suspected, your doctor may order a special test called electromyography (an EMG) to measure how quickly your nerves respond.

Chiropractors are conservative care doctors; their scope of practice does not include the use of drugs or surgery. If your chiropractor diagnoses a condition outside of this conservative scope, such as a neck fracture or an indication of an organic disease, he or she will refer you to the appropriate medical physician or specialist. He or she may also ask for permission to inform your family physician of the care you are receiving to ensure that your chiropractic care and medical care are properly coordinated.

Neck Adjustments
A neck adjustment (also known as a cervical manipulation) is a precise procedure applied to the joints of the neck, usually by hand. A neck adjustment works to improve the mobility of the spine and to restore range of motion; it can also increase movement of the adjoining muscles. Patients typically notice an improved ability to turn and tilt the head, and a reduction of pain, soreness, and stiffness.

Of course, your chiropractor will develop a program of care that may combine more than one type of treatment, depending on your personal needs. In addition to manipulation, the treatment plan may include mobilization, massage or rehabilitative exercises, or something else.

Information taken from www.americanchiro.org

Research Supporting Chiropractic Care
One of the most recent reviews of scientific literature found evidence that patients with chronic neck pain enrolled in clinical trials reported significant improvement following chiropractic spinal manipulation.

As part of the literature review, published in the March/April 2007 issue of the Journal of
Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics, the researchers reviewed nine previously published trials and found “high-quality evidence” that patients with chronic neck pain showed significant pain-level improvements following spinal manipulation. No trial group was reported as having remained unchanged, and all groups showed positive changes up to 12 weeks post-treatment

Pregnancy and Chiropractic Care

Chiropractors that specialize in thetreatment of neck pain attempt to improve the function of the joints and the nervous system by adjusting vertebral subluxations. Manual spinal adjustments are the key to chiropractic treatment, and, in fact, the word “chiropractic” is derived from the two Greek words “cheiros” and “praktikos,” which together mean, “done by hand.” Chiropractic adjustments are very popular in the United States, with as many as 40 million Americans receiving regular treatments. Because there are major philosophical and theoretical differences between the ways in which chiropractors and medical doctors treat neck pain, there has always been a rift between these two groups. Recently, the chasm between chiropractors and medical doctors has started to narrow as they have begun to share information and provide each other with more insight into their respective methodologies, practices, and treatments.

Chiropractors today are more likely to refer a patient to a medical doctor when they suspect that an underlying condition may be responsible for neck pain, and some chiropractors insist that their patients have a primary care physician that they can communicate with in order to ensure that the patient is receiving the best quality care. In this sense, Chiropractors are becoming part of the broader spectrum of providers that treat neck pain.

Chiropractors frequently have different methods of making spinal adjustment, but the basic theory behind the success of chiropractic treatment is that realigning the spine relieves pressure on the spinal nerves, which can help to restore natural nerve function throughout the body. As such, chiropractors believe that a “well-aligned” body is more likely to be in a state of natural balance and the patient will experience less pain and disability. Many chiropractors today have incorporated electrical stimulation, diathermy, ultrasound, and a variety of other therapies, but the mainstay remains manual spinal manipulation or adjustment.

What should you expect when visiting a chiropractor?

When you visit a chiropractor for the first time, you will probably be asked for a general medical history and also asked to complete a questionnaire about the type of neck pain that you are experiencing. A hands-on examination typically will be performed, which involves moving your neck and limbs around to determine your limitations. Sometimes the chiropractor will take x-rays of your back to determine which vertebrae are misaligned. The diagnosis and treatment of vertebral subluxations is one of the sticking points between medical doctors and chiropractors, since there is often some disagreement between these two groups about what constitutes a spine that is out of alignment. The final treatment phase of a visit to a chiropractor typically involves manipulation of the spine in an attempt to correct subluxations and misalignments. Some chiropractors also use vitamins, massage, and electrical therapies as part of their treatment.

Taken from www.necksurgery.com

How Chiropractors Diagnose Neck Pain: Patient History

Chiropractic and Neck Pain: Conservative Care of Cervical Disorders

Arn Strasser, DC
Chiropractor
Strasser Chiropractic Center
Portland, Oregon

History taking is the first step in diagnosing the cervical spine. Because chiropractors so often treat conditions that are “functional” in nature — that is conditions in which there are not a frank medical disease, and in which signs and symptoms are often important clues to diagnosis — chiropractors emphasize in-depth history taking.

Initially the chiropractor will want to know if there has been an accident or injury. A patient who has sustained a neck fracture will present with an abnormally stiff and painful neck. The chiropractor will want to know if there has been trauma to the neck from a fall or other traumatic incident. If there is suspicion of a neck fracture from such an incident, or secondary to an organic disease, the chiropractor will call for a spinal x-ray or imaging study prior to any further examination of the neck.

Chiropractic patient history taking is the same as in a typical medical office with some important differences. The “what, when, and how” of an injury, and the location and nature of the neck pain is supplemented with information on possible episodes of middle and lower back pain, as well as muscle and extremity joint pain. Even when neck pain is the primary presenting complaint, chiropractic always considers the whole spine, of which the neck is one part of an integrated biomechanical system.

 To better understand the chiropractic approach to treating the cervical spine, let’s look at four different patients who have consulted a chiropractor for neck pain. These examples will touch on four conditions treated in chiropractic practice:

(1) Postural and repetitive strain

(2) Traumatic injury

(3)“Slipped”, herniated and ruptured disc

(4) Neck pain associated with normal aging and osteoarthritis

Each Patient is Unique
Even though we are identifying four common conditions, an important principle of chiropractic is always to treat the patient as an individual with a unique clinical picture. “Treat the patient and not the problem” is one way to state this principle. At the same time, as diagnostic tools are used to match a patient’s symptoms and findings with a diagnosis, the chiropractor attempts to see what distinctive combination of factors might be contributing to the patient’s symptoms. Some of these factors are diverse and include mechanical findings, hereditary considerations, and lifestyle.

What will be evident as we discuss the chiropractic approach is that the image of the chiropractor “twisting” the neck is a caricature of what actually occurs in chiropractic practice. Chiropractors have a wide range of therapeutic tools that include gentle manipulation and adjusting, and non-force and soft tissue techniques. These manual approaches are augmented by exercise programs, nutrition and lifestyle suggestions, and a partnership concept of doctor/patient care to provide a unique chiropractic approach to health.

“I thought I was cursed with debilitating headaches for my whole life.”

When I was having headaches as a child, there were days that I could not go to school, there were days that I could not get out of bed, I could not see because I was blacked out. I couldn’t go out and play with my friends.My mom took me to the medical doctor, who thought I was having muscle spasms and muscle tension. I was put on muscle relaxers, but I still had headaches. Nobody knew what could help me. I never thought I would get rid of them.

“I took a job with a chiropractor, and it changed my life.”

When I first started working for this chiropractor I had no idea what chiropractic was. I had never even heard of it, and I had no clue what a chiropractic adjustment consisted of. My chiropractor diagnosed me with migraine headaches and started to help me. I was on a really good treatment plan, about three times a week for awhile, and by the end of it I had no headaches.

“I get adjusted every two to three weeks, and rarely do I get headaches.”

Every once in awhile I do get headaches due to stress and tension, everyday stresses, but I still get chiropractic care. My headaches are nothing like they used to be. Taking that job saved my life, and I couldn’t imagine what the case would be if I never saw a chiropractor. It changed my life.

. “I thought I was cursed with debilitating headaches for my whole life.”

When I was having headaches as a child, there were days that I could not go to school, there were days that I could not get out of bed, I could not see because I was blacked out. I couldn’t go out and play with my friends. My mom took me to the medical doctor, who thought I was having muscle spasms and muscle tension. I was put on muscle relaxers, but I still had headaches. Nobody knew what could help me. I never thought I would get rid of them.

“I took a job with a chiropractor, and it changed my life.”

When I first started working for this chiropractor I had no idea what chiropractic was. I had never even heard of it, and I had no clue what a chiropractic adjustment consisted of. My chiropractor diagnosed me with migraine headaches and started to help me. I was on a really good treatment plan, about three times a week for awhile, and by the end of it I had no headaches.

“I get adjusted every two to three weeks, and rarely do I get headaches.”

Every once in awhile I do get headaches due to stress and tension, everyday stresses, but I still get chiropractic care. My headaches are nothing like they used to be. Taking that job saved my life, and I couldn’t imagine what the case would be if I never saw a chiropractor. It changed my life.

Yahoo Health, All Rights Reserved

Nerve Based-Cause of Migraine Headaches

Chiropractic

Several well-designed trials support the effectiveness of spinal manipulation therapy in the treatment of migraine headaches.

In one study, for example, including 127 people with migraine headaches, 42% of those who received chiropractic manipulation reported more than a 90% reduction of migraines and 49% reported a significant reduction of the intensity of each episode.

In another study, 218 individuals with migraine headaches were randomly assigned to receive spinal manipulation, a daily medication (amitryptiline—a drug used to prevent pain in chronic conditions such as migraine headache), or a combination of both. Spinal manipulation was as effective as the medication and had fewer side effects. There was no added benefit to combining the two therapies.

In addition, a review article evaluating nine studies that tested spinal manipulative therapy for tension or migraine headaches concluded that this chiropractic technique is comparable to medications used to try to prevent either of these two types of headaches.

UMM.EDU all rights reserved

A Drug-free Way to Ease Pain Associated with Chronic Headaches

“I wish I had seen a chiropractor sooner.” The declaration comes unsolicited from Brett Cimino, a plumber who, for 10 years, has suffered from headaches nearly every day and debilitating migraines two to four times a month. “As soon as I began getting adjusted, I noticed a difference. A year later,

I am on a maintenance plan now and to say I have had six headaches (of any kind) in the last year would be an overstatement.”According to Dr. Jeffrey Robitaille of Robitaille Family Chiropractic in Rhode Island, 1 in 6 Americans suffers from chronic headaches. But like Cimino, many people overlook seeing a chiropractor for headache pain. “I waited more than a year before I made an appointment with a chiropractor. I guess I had some misconceptions about what a chiropractor does,” says Cimino. “But after seeing the results, I don’t know why I waited so long.”

Every day, chiropractors hear similar stories from hundreds of people like Cimino who have been suffering for years with pain and are at their wits end because the only thing offered to them by their physicians and specialists are more drugs. As Dr. Robitaille explains, many people think headaches are normal and take over-the-counter or prescription drugs to relieve the pain. “But these drugs only dull the pain,” he says, “they don’t treat the cause, which is why the headache returns.”

In addition to chronic headaches, chiropractic care is also effective in treating tension headaches. A recent study released by the Foundation for Chiropractic Education and Research finds that individuals undergoing chiropractic therapy showed sustained reduction in headache frequency and severity compared with patients who took the drug amitriptyline, a commonly prescribed medication for tension headaches.

“The conclusion of the study shows that chiropractic is not actually a therapy or treatment, but rather gets to the cause of the problem, thus allowing the body to effect a correction that lasts beyond actual care,” says Dr. Robitaille.

People around the world continue to turn to headache chiropractor treatment. It was estimated in 1995 by the National Institutes of Health that already about 48 million people in the USA used chiropractic treatment, and the numbers around the world are growing. A recent trial by Dr. Peter Tuchin, done for a PHD thesis at Macquarie University, showed that 70% of migraine sufferers had a reduction in their symptoms during the course of the treatment.Dr. JS Wight in the ACA Journal of Chiropractic (1978) reviewed headache chiropractor and other chiropractic treatments since 1923, and found a success rate between 72% and 90%. The benefits at times seemed to last for years after the treatments.

Chiropractic adjustments seem to be most successful in the treatment of back problems, headache and migraine. HT Vernon published a study in 1995 that related to tension headache, in the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics. It found that headache chiropractor care did provide some benefits.

What is headache chiropractor treatment?

Dr. Greg C Molis writes:  Chiropractic care deals with subluxations (misalignments of vertebrae causing nerve irritation) anywhere along the spinal column, not just in the lower back. Sometimes the vertebrae of the spine become misaligned or lose their range of motion for one reason or another. This misalignment puts pressure on nerves leading to and from the brain. A chiropractor helps put them back in place by using gentle and highly skilled adjustments.

How and when should I try headache chiropractor treatment?

Chiropractic treatment is not something that is generally used on its own. One of the dangers of chiropractic is simply that someone will rely on the treatment alone and miss out on other issues that need to be treated. It’s best to talk to your doctor and let her know that you’re using an alternate therapy, and for what.That being said, going to a headache chiropractor seems to be a safe and effective way to treat headache or migraine without drugs. The idea behind chiropractic is not that the condition itself is treated, but that the body is able to heal itself. Some people have dramatic results, and become completely headache free. Some migraine sufferers find complete relief. Others find relief simply from some symptoms or after effects of the migraine attack. The best thing to do is find a chiropractor that you’re comfortable with, and track the results of the treatment over time.

For a great overview of how chiropractic care can fit into an overall strategy for banishing headache, read this May 2005 interview with Dr Michael Kricken on migraine and headache chiropractor treatment.