Your Headaches May Be From A Neck Strain Or Injury
You've been having headaches on a regular basis and just write it off as a stressful project at work. But it's been several days and you're still taking pain killers. You may have a neck strain from a sudden jolt or repetitive motion at work. Make an appointment with a chiropractic services group to have it looked at. They can relieve the muscle tension so you can finally get rid of those annoying headaches.
Where the Pain is Coming From
In your upper back and the top of the spine are a number of muscles and nerves. Nerves and blood vessels travel through this area up into the skull. You can injure the soft tissues in this area a number of ways:
- reaching for something while turning your upper back quickly
- a fall or blow that whips your head back and forth or to the side suddenly
- overuse of those muscles through poor posture or working in one position for prolonged periods
When these muscles become irritated, inflammation occurs which puts pressure on the nerves in that area. You can have pain in your shoulder, upper back and neck region from the nerve irritation. The nerves that enter your head also become irritated creating your sensation of a headache.
Multiple Treatment Options to Relieve the Pain
Chiropractors specialize in non-invasive techniques to treat muscle strain. The goal is to reduce the muscle tension and inflammation which irritates the nerves and causes pain. Once your back and neck muscles relax, you'll be rid of your headaches.
Manual manipulation - This consists of a variety of movements that a chiropractor will put your neck through to gently stretch the muscles and relieve tension. If your doctor suspects that you have an issue with one of the vertebrae or cartilage discs in your neck, they may use manipulation techniques to relieve pressure they may be putting on the nerves.
Machine manipulation - Your chiropractor may use a machine to put steady pressure on your neck muscles to stretch and relax them.
Soft tissue massage - The chiropractor can use a massage technique to gently stretch out the muscles, break up any scar tissue caused by the tearing of muscle fibers, and increase blood flow to the muscles. This all reduces muscle tension and irritated nerves.
Nerve and muscle stimulation - Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation, or TENS, is helpful if you have muscle spasms in your upper back or neck. A device sends a small electrical charge into the muscle to disrupt the spasm cycle that it is experiencing. This allows the muscles to finally relax.
An advantage to seeing a chiropractor and being treated with these non-invasive techniques is that you can often go back to work the same or next day. This means the treatment minimizes disruption to your lifestyle while giving you the chance to get rid of those headaches for good. To learn more, contact a company like Newman Chiropractic Center LLC with any questions or concerns you have.