The 4 Essential Keys to Successfully Resolving Chronic Neck Pain

There are really good reasons why you might be experiencing constant or recurrent neck pain. Despite all the stretching, ice, heat, and massage it simply doesn’t go away for long. 

If you’re looking for neck pain treatment to correct your pain then these 4 essential keys should guide you. 

Make Sure to Bookmark these Resources 

Here is a link to download my guide The Roadmap to Overcoming Chronic Pain and Fatigue.

Here’s a social media post I did: Chronic Pain is Not Normal.

Chronic Neck Pain Offers Keys to the Solution

The National Institute of Health (NIH) says that 30% to 50% of adults suffer from neck pain.

There are a number of reasons why the neck is so vulnerable to pain and why it often develops into a chronic condition.

  • The average head weighs about 11 pounds and the neck is responsible for holding it up anytime you are not lying down.
  • Both trauma like car accidents and falls as well as postural stress like texting and computer work cause imbalances in the neck.
  • Every inch that your head moves in front of your shoulders effectively adds another 11 pounds that your neck muscles must hold up.
  • Stress activates your Sympathetic ‘Fight-or-Flight’ Nervous System (SNS) causing increased tension and pain through the neck and shoulders. 

Neck Pain Drove Me Into Chiropractic

I was 18 yo when I was the driver involved in a head on car accident collision. My head struck and broke the windshield. After getting stitched up and recovering for a few weeks I thought everything was healed. 

Months later I began to experience constant pain and tightness in my neck and shoulders along with headaches, fatigue, and back pain. I went to physical therapy and that didn’t help. It was at this time a friend of the family suggested I see her chiropractor. This was decades ago and I had never heard of chiropractic and had no idea what it was about.

That experience with my first chiropractor made a profound difference immediately and much more over time. The impact was so strong I made the decision to become a chiropractor. 

The 4 Essential Keys to Resolving Neck Pain

If you are searching for neck pain treatment near you then keep these keys in mind. Over the past 35+ years of practice I’ve continually focused on what consistently works to help people out of chronic pain. 

Essential Key #1: Cervical Curve. Your spine has 3 important curves that minimize the stresses of gravity on your joints, ligaments, and muscles. Due to stress and trauma it is common to experience a loss or even reversal of the natural curve of the neck.

When this happens it causes a significant increase in stress to the joints and muscles. Over time the joints experience accelerated wear and tear causing arthritis. The muscles have to work overtime to hold that 11 pound head up. 

Any successful chronic neck pain treatment must put focus on the cervical curve. It is critical to restore motion in all directions to each joint in the neck. Motion is one of the key neck pain treatment factors in resolving chronic pain.  

Essential Key #2: Structural Balance. Imagine if I had you stand and I put a 1 inch block under one of your feet. Your body would immediately adjust and compensate in an attempt to keep you straight. Your brain always wants your head as level as possible and if you are unlevel this makes the muscles of the neck work extra hard to try to keep your head level.

The keys to structural balance start in your pelvis. Restoring balance to the pelvis takes stress off the neck and shoulders and makes further correction much easier. 

Essential Key #3: Upper Cervical Spine. The top of the neck is unique for a couple of reasons. The top 2 vertebrae are shaped differently than the remaining 22 spinal bones. They have more mobility and are more prone to misalignment than other spinal bones.

The upper neck is also home to the brain stem. This is where the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) originates. Stress, trauma, and upper cervical imbalance activates the Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS), commonly referred to as the ‘Fight-or-Flight’ system.

The more the SNS is activated the more active it becomes. Over time people with chronic neck pain begin to live in a state of Sympathetic overactivity. This causes a cascade of reactions:

  • Tension and spasm of the muscles of the neck and shoulders causing pain.
  • Increased inflammation causing chronic pain.
  • Altered breathing which further activates neck and shoulder tension.
  • Impaired quality sleep further drives chronic pain.

Correction and balancing of the upper cervical spine is critical to reducing irritation to the ANS that is a key perpetuator of chronic neck pain.

Essential Key #4: Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) Balance. Trauma, stress, and postural imbalances cause an over activation of the Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS). Over time with repeated activation this becomes the dominant pattern and distorts the nervous system.

I call this Sympathetic Dominance and it results in a number of reactions that further contribute to chronic neck pain. Effective neck pain treatment must focus on restoring balance to the ANS.

The over activation of the SNS results in a corresponding depression of the activity of the Vagus Nerve of the Parasympathetic Nervous System. This is critical as the Vagus Nerve is responsible for most of what you would consider health and vitality. 

A healthy active Vagus Nerve helps with all these:

  • Lowers inflammation throughout the body. Inflammation is associated with pain.
  • Promotes better quality and quantity of sleep. Poor quality and disturbed sleep drives pain and inflammation.
  • Reduces neck and shoulder spasm and tension responsible for chronic neck pain. 
  • Supports healthy digestion, lowered heart rate and blood pressure, better immune response. All of these support greater health and recovery.
  • Promotes relaxation, recovery and healing. If this is disturbed it drives poor sleep, inflammation, and muscle tension.

It’s important to realize that this imbalance in the ANS that has resulted in lowered Vagus Nerve activity has evolved over years, even decades. The key to changing it is understanding it is a process that requires time and repetition. 

Activating your Vagus Nerve will both strengthen the Vagus as well as lower the activity of your Sympathetic System. In my practice the primary methods I use to increase Vagus Nerve tone are:

  • Correction and balance of the Upper Cervical Spine.
  • Correction of improper breathing patterns that activate the Sympathetic Nervous System. 
  • Conscious Breathwork to directly activate the Vagus Nerve.
  • Postural and Movement pattern correction to avoid activation of the SNS.

If you’ve suffered from chronic neck pain for some time. If it is a constant or frequent visitor to your life. If your neck pain is interfering with the quality of your life and your ability to comfortably take care of everything you have to do, want to do, and need to do….then finding neck pain treatment near you is important to help you both recover as well as avoid further damage. 

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