Our neck or cervical spine is formed of vertebrae extending from the skull to the upper torso. The cervical disk – placed between the bones – absorbs shock. As such, the neck through its composition of bones, ligaments and muscles support the head and helps it to move. Lots of people experience neck pain, which may cause due to variety of reasons like
- Abnormalities in the bone or joints
- Trauma
- Poor posture
- Degenerative diseases and
- Muscle strain, etc.
With increased consciousness for health and well-being, an increasing number of people turn to chiropractic as remedy for neck pain.
Unprecedented triumph of medical science in the contemporary times has made it easier to detect neck pain with greater certainty. Medical diagnosis of the problem includes facilities like X-ray, MRI, Electro-diagnostic studies and CT scanning, etc. Simple X-ray plates reveal irregularities like narrowing of space between spinal bones, tumors, slipped disks, fracture, arthritis and instability of spinal column, etc. MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) reveals detailed neural condition inside the body as well as problems with ligaments and tendons. Electro diagnostic studies include EMG and NCV and are helpful diagnosing pain in the neck, shoulder and arm, etc.
Any competent chiropractor in Los Gatos depends on the range of medical tests mentioned above to decide upon the right treatment strategy for patients. Commonly applied chiropractic techniques to resolve neck pain problem are cervical mobilization and cervical manual traction. Both these techniques are gentle measures that prove helpful in innumerable such cases.
In cervical mobilization patient lies relaxed on her back and the chiropractor moves the vertebra in the neck right to left with her hands and opposite. This is a smooth, non-thrust type of stretch and it proves helpful to reduce fixations. Cervical manual traction on the other hand is performed with the patient usually lying face up or sitting, while the chiropractic expert gently pulls on the neck, stretching the cervical spine.