How to deal with neck pain between Chiropractic visits?

Dealing with neck pain between chiropractic visits in Rochester.

If there’s one concern that we hear a lot from our Rochester chiropractic patients, it’s how to effectively deal with pain in and around the neck area. Sadly, neck pain is prevalent for a number of people. One survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that, after back pain and headaches or migraines, neck pain was the third most common type of chronic pain reported. So how can you deal with this issue effectively (between chiropractic visits), if this is a concern for you?

Doctor, it hurts when I do this…

I know it sounds like an old joke, but avoiding or reducing activities and specific motions that irritate your neck pain, making it worse and causing the area to become even more inflamed. This doesn’t mean doing nothing as that can actually hurt more than help. It just means slowing down a bit and doing less of those activities until your neck is feeling better. In Rochester, NY (and much of the Northeast) we see a lot of people during the cooler months. Weather-related injuries from raking leaves to shoveling snow are often the culprit. Several hours of chores around your home, with repetitive motion, can lead to recurring neck pain. We suggest approaching these physical activities as if they were a sport. Depending on the cause and extent of your injury, light stretching to the muscles and soft tissues in and around the neck area can sometimes help reduce the pain as well. Additionally, when you’re able, you might want to apply a cold or hot compress to your neck to help reduce swelling, relax any stiffness, and lessen the pain. Leave it on for 20 minutes and then remove it for a minimum of 40 minutes before reapplying. And never put the hot or cold source directly against your skin; buffer with a towel instead to prevent any type of external injury to the skin that could instigate further pain. Finally, if you have less-than-stellar posture, this could be contributing to your neck pain. Sitting, walking, and standing “straighter” can oftentimes help. This means paying attention to your spine no matter what you’re doing and making any necessary adjustments if you notice that you’re slumping forward or otherwise leaning. Neck pain may be common, but that doesn’t mean that you have to give up and accept it! At Rush-Henrietta Family Chiropractic, our number one goal is to help our Rochester patients become and stay pain-free through the most natural means of treatment, possible.