Chiropractic Advice for Handling Neck Pain
By Brandi Goodman
Lots of people experience neck pain for different reasons.Whether you spend too much time looking down at your phone or you have significant stress that puts tension in your neck shoulders, you may experience stiffness and soreness that is quite bothersome. Chiropractic advice can help you to handle this neck pain and even prevent it in the first place. Always be sure to keep it in mind.
Exercise Often
Maintaining a strong neck is best to prevent pain. Daily exercises that target the neck and shoulders will help significantly. It will help to reduce stress, alleviate tension, and even prevent headaches. Your doctor of chiropractic may have a list of exercises that work best to provide these results and target this area of the body.
Hold Your Posture
Proper posture plays a major role in maintaining the normal feeling in your neck. It will become pained quickly if you're slouching, letting your neck hang toward your chest, or spending significant time looking downward. Sit up straight and keep your head forward, holding your posture in proper position as much as you can.
Change Sleeping Habits
The way you sleep can also play a role in your neck pain. Your sleeping position, an old pillow, and a sunken mattress can all cause a stiff neck upon waking. If you change the way you sleep and what you're sleeping on, you're more likely to wake feeling refreshed and not sore.
Consider purchasing a new mattress if you've had yours for more than five years already and it's causing you to wake with aches. It is also important to sleep on your side or back rather than your stomach so you can maintain your spine's natural curves. A pillow that provides neck support is also beneficial.
Eliminate Stress
Everyone experiences stress to some degree. Do your best to eliminate what is bothering you so it does not lead to tension and pain in your neck, shoulders, or elsewhere. Record the positive things that happen to you each day in a journal rather than focusing on the negative. Get plenty of exercise, and not just stretches that target your neck. Get outdoors and go for a walk. These things will help to clear your mind of the bad and de-stress you after a tiring day.
Visit The Joint Chiropractic and get additional pain relief if needed. Sometimes, no matter what tips you try you'll still experience discomfort. A chiropractor may be able to remove restrictions that are causing a disturbance to your mind-body connection. Removing a subluxation has the potential to reduce pain and have you feeling good as new.
To learn more about your health, wellness, and fitness, see your local chiropractor at The Joint Chiropractic in Salem, N.H.