Blair Chiropractic Can Help with Stiff Neck

What is Stiff Neck?

Characterized by difficulty and pain when moving the neck, stiff neck, also known as jarred neck, is a relatively common musculoskeletal disorder. It occurs when the muscles, tendons, and ligaments in the neck are injured, strained, or inflamed due to acute trauma or chronic overuse.

Signs and Symptoms of Stiff Neck 

The most common symptom of stiff neck is a general feeling of stiffness and pain when attempting to move the neck, either side-to-side or up and down. Other symptoms that may accompany a stiff neck include headaches, shoulder and back pain, and changes to posture in response to impaired mobility. 

Stiffness in the neck will often subside with rest and lifestyle changes, but if you’re experiencing a gradual uptick in the severity of your symptoms, it may be an indication of a deeper problem in the upper cervical spine. 

How the Upper Cervical Spine Affects Stiff Neck 

The alignment of the upper cervical spine ultimately dictates whether the surrounding nerves and muscles function correctly. Whether you’ve experienced a recent injury, or you’ve suffered trauma to the region in the past, vertebral misalignment in the upper cervical spine can lead to inflammation in the surrounding muscles, causing tension and ligament strain when the muscles are pulled out of a neutral position. 

A misalignment-induced stiff neck can develop in response to a wide range of trauma events, including whiplash from auto accidents, chronic postural defects, overtraining, and even sleeping in an awkward position. 

How our Stiff Neck Treatment Works 

Upper cervical chiropractic care is a gentle form of chiropractic manipulation that focuses on correcting misalignments in the upper cervical spine. By re-aligning the spinal column, upper cervical chiropractic care can help to reduce inflammation in the muscles around the neck and relieve your stiff neck symptoms. 

During your upper cervical chiropractic appointment, a Blair Chiropractic chiropractor will create a treatment plan to identify, locate, and treat any misalignments in your upper cervical spine. This process may involve the use of cone-beam computed tomography scans and non-invasive X-rays to identify the exact location and angle of any vertebral misalignments. 

Following this, the Blair Chiropractic chiropractor will use gentle, low-impact manipulation techniques to correct the upper cervical spine. Unlike other forms of chiropractic treatment, this process doesn’t involve any popping, cracking, or painful twisting of the spine.