What are the Causes and Treatment of Neck and Shoulder Pain?

Are you experiencing pain in your neck and shoulder? Do you feel sudden shooting and numbing pain on your neck and shoulder that doesn’t go away even if you take pain relievers? This may be a sign for you to consult with a chiropractor and get some special chiropractic treatment for your neck and shoulder pain. When it comes to serving chiropractic patients, Peak Potential Family Chiropractic – Houston Heights has always been the top chiropractic medical institution for quality chiropractic treatments. 

Causes of Neck and Shoulder Pain?

There are various causes of neck and shoulder pain. You might not realize it, but you are actually tearing the soft tissues and ligaments surrounding your shoulders and neck. Some athletes and those workers that are doing strenuous activities are prone to this kind of pain. But not all patients who suffer neck and shoulder pain have been working around all day. Some had felt it after a couple of hours sitting in their office. Here are some cases where we possibly experience neck and shoulder pain.

• • Injuries on Soft tissues, muscles, and ligaments – These often happen to people who exercise more, have bad posture, slouch their neck downwards, and even those who are doing strenuous activities. The muscles, ligaments and soft tissues in our shoulders and necks are being torn or stretched which causes the pain and becomes an injury. The pain that you felt results in stiffness, headache, and muscular spasms. 

• Teared Rotator Cuff and Whiplash – this is a type of injury where the four tendons in our upper arm into our shoulder blade is torned. This can happen when you experience falling or you are doing repetitive movements that put a lot of stress into your arm and shoulder. On the other hand, whiplash injury happens when you tear a muscle or ligaments in your neck. 

• Other causes of neck and shoulder pain may be due to cervical osteoarthritis, pinched nerve, herniated disc, bad posture, heart attack, and many more. Whatever the cause is, when you experience these cases, get medical or chiropractic treatment. 

Possible Treatment for Neck and Shoulder Pain

Pains in the neck and shoulders can be treated using home remedies and chiropractic exercises. But if you are experiencing severe symptoms, the best decision is to get treated with a doctor for surgical cases, and with a chiropractor for therapeutic treatments. 

1. Home Remedies

• If your neck and shoulder pain only get worse when you perform strenuous activities, then you might as well take a break from those activities. By doing this, you will lessen the chances of swollen muscles, severe pain or damage in your tissues and ligaments. 
• Another home remedy that anybody can do is the cold compress method. With an ice pack, put the cold ice onto the part of your muscle where the pain is. Do this five times a day, for about 20 minutes. This method will lessen swelling muscles. 
• The alternative of cold compress, is warm compress. You can do this method using a heating pad. Follow the same procedure of the cold compress method.
• Intake pain relievers to reduce the pain.
• For injuries that require support, try to use pain-relieving shoulder wraps. This will also reduce swelling which causes a lot of pain.
• Perform body massage on your neck and shoulder to ease the stress and tension which causes the pain. 

1. Chiropractic Routine Exercises for the Neck and Shoulder

Aside from home remedies, chiropractors can also help you ease the pain on your neck and shoulders.  Chiropractors know how to perform adjustments in the shoulders and neck which can restore the mobility of these aching parts. Here are some neck and shoulder chiropractic exercises that you can expect when you seek a chiropractor’s help.

Neck Chiropractic Exercises

• Chin to Chest Stretching – Try to lower your chin towards your chest. Put your hands at the back of your head while reaching back. For about 10 to 15 seconds, slowly apply a soft forward pressure until you feel a relaxing stretch of muscles in the rear part of your neck. This has to be done slowly and gently, so you better not exert too much pressure on the stretching routine. 

• Arch Back Stretching – Unlike the chin to chest stretching, this routine does not require pressure. Simply, lean your head backwards where you will feel much comfortable. Gently stretch your front neck muscles in a rear position for about 10 to 15 seconds. This is a free stretching routine so make sure that you are not exerting any pressure. 

• Side to Side Stretching – this is a simple routine to do. You will simply rotate your side of the head to the right side without putting any pressure. Do this for about 10 to 15 seconds, then repeat the routine to the other side. 

• Lean Stretching – This routine is made to stretch the muscles in your neck. So to do this step, you have to stretch your head towards your shoulder. But you have to make sure that your shoulder is steady and in lateral position. Do this routine for about 10 to 15 seconds on both sides of the neck. 

Shoulder Chiropractic Exercises

• Skyward Stretching – This routine is similar to an arm exercise where you raise your arms up high. The stretching will be done by putting your hands over your head with hands on top. Do this for about 10 to 15 seconds, then slowly lower your hands while making a circular movement. Imagine yourself as a ballet dancer and you will get the process. 

• Rolling Exercise – This is commonly done by athletes. You are just rotating your shoulders in forward and backward circular motions. 

Should You Visit a Chiropractor For Shoulder Pain?

When you are experiencing a lot of pain like severe shooting tension in your shoulders, the best decision to make is to consult and seek the help of professionals such as chiropractors. They certainly know what to do with your shoulder pains. Chiropractors know specific treatments for various cases of shoulder pains. They are skilled enough to perform assessments and chiropractic services. 

When should you visit a chiropractor? Here are some signs you need to watch out when you are experience severe shoulder pains that needs immediate treatment from a chiropractor:

• Severe and significant pain is felt all over the shoulder area
• Your range of motion of movement is very limited
• The pain affects your whole body system and you are experiencing emergency situations. 

Don’t just ignore minor neck and shoulder pains. You might just wake up and realize that the minor pain becomes an injury. So to prevent any health risk, consult with the expert chiropractors at Peak Potential Family Chiropractic – Houston Height, the best and the top-of-the-class chiropractic clinic in Houston.

We are equipped with state-of-the-art facilities and modern strategies that will surely treat any types of body pains and injuries. We firmly believe in natural and scientific body treatments to health and wellness. So what are you waiting for? Schedule your appointment!