Is Your Neck Pain Serious?
The answer to this question is not a simple one.
Often I hear this from my patients:
“I was in an auto accident but I don’t think I was hurt.”
“I was in an auto accident but I don’t think I was hurt.”
“But the accident happened so long ago.”
“The pain went away so I am fine.”
“I just slept wrong.”
There are more factors than pain to take into account after an injury or auto accident. Many people feel that if there was not severe pain or broken bones, then they weren’t hurt. In fact the emergency room doctors are happy to release people after injuries or accidents since their specialty is emergency-life-saving care. But there is more going on with the neck than pain.
How the Neck Works
Your head is held up by your neck. It acts as a shock absorber and holds the weight of your head over your body for balance. It allows you to turn your head to see, hear and smell things in your surroundings. Also it carries important nerve messages from your brain to all parts of your body and back up to your brain. Those are important functions!
The neck is held together with seven bones as well as numerous ligaments and muscles. Neck injuries such as whiplash change the alignment of the bones and tear ligaments and muscles. The important functions of the neck mentioned above will continue to the best of the bodies ability despite the whiplash. Therefore, the injury is often disguised and using the degree of pain to determine if there is an injury is unreliable.
Only a doctor of chiropractic is trained in detecting the misalignments of the bones in the neck. By detecting and treating these misalignments, a person can live a long and active life, pain free!
Any potential neck injury should be checked out immediately as the pain may not come for days months or even years later.
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