HEAD NECK PAIN
A CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM - how bad is my pain?
It still astonishes me how often I have a new patient with head neck pain of twenty years duration. Fifty years I can understand - there weren't too many chiropractors around in those days. But to have been suffering with head neck pain, gulping down prodigious quantities of pills that are known to poison the kidneys, or just suffering in misery, makes absolutely no sense when science proves so conclusively what causes headache. A quote from the Kidney Foundation website: "Generally, when used according to directions, over-the-counter analgesics are safe. However, heavy or long-term use of these medicines, especially those that contain a mixture of painkilling ingredients--such as aspirin, acetaminophen and caffeine--in one pill, have been linked to chronic kidney disease." Almost everyone will have head neck pain periodically.
NECK PAIN ...
Why? For many reasons, but not least that there are few of us who have not had a car accident, fallen down the stairs or taken a tumble from a horse or bicycle. Getting out of bed in the morning is dangerous but there's only one thing more dangerous. Not getting out of bed! Most people die in their beds! But seriously, just when is the right time to go to your doctor or chiropractor, (sorry, got that wrong: your chiropractor, or your doctor) with neck pain and headaches? Yes we really do know what causes a headache.
HEADACHE CHIROPRACTIC ...
Preferably before your brain requires this sort of examination! Recognise the Dutch artist? Rembrandt van Rijn who lived about 400 years ago. This is what it might look like when a surgeon has to peel the meninges off the brain! But you won't let the headaches get that bad will you. Look for a good chiro in your neck of the woods.
NECK PAIN TREATMENT
"How bad is my head neck pain?" is a question you may have been asking yourself. "Am I being a baby with a low pain threshhold, or do I actually have a problem?"A few thoughts. Just because you have a pain in the neck, or elsewhere, does not mean you must rush off to the chiropractor or your doctor. But then when should you go? These are my golden tips. If you have After ...how many days? Difficult to say, best to use your own intuition. But recognise that if you arrive at the chiropractor with a pain you have had for three months or more (the definition of 'chronic') then you will certainly need more than a few treatments.For an acute problem that has only begun in the last few days or weeks, as a rule, after a short course of chiropractic neck pain treatment one may expect the pain to go away completely. Better still, if you go through a short course of rehab, there's a good chance that it won't return for a long time.
NECK PAIN TREATMENT ...
But if you've had head neck pain for months or years, it is more difficult for your chiropractor to give you an assurance that your pain will recede completely. Don't wait too long. But don't go too soon either! Unless your head neck pain is really severe or you have a pinched nerve in neck that radiates down your arm. Then you really shouldn't wait; it probably won't go away on its own. And if you have a fever and a very stiff neck when you bend your head forward onto your chest, then to your doctor to rule out meningitis. It's a killer, don't delay.
ARM PAIN ...
MENINGITIS ...
In the interim, a good massage from your spouse may relieve your head neck pain, particularly for back of head headaches, use some alternating ice and heat, do a few simple exercises, and don't go playing silly buggers! This is not the time for a game of rugby, or lifting pianos. Avoid carrying heavy groceries on the affected side.
A strong recommendation ...
Research indicates that if you have neck pain for six months, then YOU WILL PROBABLY HAVE IT FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE. Once you know it's not going to get better of its own accord, then do something -- or spend the rest of your life suffering from head neck pain. Why is that? Frankly, we're not totally certain but what we do know is that the hyaline cartilage in the little bones in your neck is very sensitive to subluxations - it's now proven that the cartilage begins to degenerate within 13 hours (in white mice anyway).
HYALINE CARTILAGE ...
A simple classification system:
: No signs or symptoms suggestive of major structural pathology (ie no severe pain, no radiation, no recent trauma) and no interference with activities of daily living. This will likely respond to those simple things suggested above; it does not usually require intensive investigations or ongoing treatment.Grade II cervical neck pain: No severe pain or radiation, but now begins to interference with activities of daily living. You wake in the night with pain. You can't turn your head, and driving the car is thus dangerous. After a week or ten days, you have to acknowledge that it's not really improving. Then we suggest it's time to make an appointment with your chiropractor (or even your doctor first, if that is your first choice). A good examination is in order, and perhaps some early intervention aimed at preventing long-term disability. Grade III cervical neck pain with the onset of neurological symptoms. Headache, radiation pain or tingling down the arm, or into the midback. Now it's definitely time to get help, particularly if it has lasted for more than a few days. Grade IV cervical neck pain: Still no signs or symptoms of major structural pathology, but presence of neurologic signs such as decreased deep tendon reflexes, weakness, and/or sensory deficits. In my opinion it is now definitely time for x-rays, perhaps even a scan. The pain of a pinched nerve in neck is often severe, the ache in your arm something you cannot escape, no matter how you change your position. It's often worst at night. This head neck pain should no longer be ignored. Grade V neck pain: Signs or symptoms of major structural pathology, such as fracture, myelopathy, neoplasm, or systemic disease; requires prompt investigation and treatment, and probably a consultation with a specialist. Certainly if the condition is not responding within a few weeks to conservative treatment.
ARM PAIN OR TINGLING? THORACIC OUTLET SYNDROME
Another cause of pain running down the arm is a subluxated first rib deep in the neck. It may cause what is known as a Thoracic Outlet syndrome.
THORACIC OUTLET SYNDROME ...
If it's the rib on the left side, then it may mimic a heart condition, with pain in the neck which radiates down the left arm.
What I always remind my patients is that before you get pneumonia, it all starts with a cold. Neglected and you will get bronchitis, then pleurisy and finally a good dose of pneumonia. Life threatening. An ounce of prevention when you are at the cold and flu stage makes good sense. It's frightening how quickly a grade I head neck pain can progress to grade II and III when neglected. A sure sign that it is getting worse is increasing tingling, numbness or pain in the arm, and particularly if placing your hand on your head relieves the pain in your arm. An aside. You are a chiropractic patient. Is there anything important that you would like your chiropractor to know?
SHOULDER ABDUCTION RELIEF sign ...
SIX GOLDEN RULES FOR CHIROPRACTORS.
ADSONS TEST
A Mr S. consulted me about six weeks ago with head neck pain that turned out to be a Thoracic Outlet Syndrome. It started a year earlier whilst on holiday in Italy, perhaps after playing tennis which he hadn't done for some years. In the left arm, possibly from throwing the ball up to serve. This action requires use of the neck muscles, raising the arm, collar bone and first rib.Severe pain in the chest, neck and left arm began in the middle of the night and, assuming the worst, they rushed off to the nearest hospital. A nightmare - they were on holiday in Florence. Extensive heart tests, both that night, and after he returned to Holland revealed nothing amiss with his heart. Unfortunately, nobody considered a musculo-skeletal cause of the pain, or whether Adsons Test, the classic orthopaedic test for TOS could be positive.
ADSONS TEST ... video.
The pinched nerve in neck pain continued to plague him on and off, particularly with tingling in the arm at night, which would waken him. Twice more his wife rushed him off to the hospital in the middle of the night. A stent was mooted even though nothing specifically wrong with his heart could be found. Why chest pain? The ribs attach posteriorally to the spine, but in the front they articulate with the breast bone. A dysfunctional rib may also cause pain in the front of the chest. Nevertheless obviously it is important to rule out at heart attack first. Do you know the classic signs of a
HEART ATTACK.
CHIROPRACTIC COALFACE
For more interesting cases from the Chiropractic Coalface, follow the link below. Yesterday, for example, after only five treatments a patient was bemoaning the fact that he had suffered from this condition for over a year, yet chiropractic had fixed it so quickly. In fact, after the first treatment it was already 80% better. Miracles we do at once, the impossible takes a little longer! "Don't tell me. Tell you doctor! And your neighbour too!"Some understanding of the anatomy of the cervical spine - the atlanto axial joint anatomy, at the top of your neck - may be of interest to you. If not, skip the link:
CHIROPRACTIC COALFACE ...
ATLANTO AXIAL JOINT ANATOMY ...
CERVICAL FACET SYNDROME and STIFF NECK EXERCISES
Astonishingly, TEN YEARS AFTER a whiplash injury, only 12% of the victims have absolutely no symptoms. For the remaining 88% ... research by a group of orthopaedic surgeons states that a majority are suffering from a cervical facet syndrome. That would confirm my experience as a chiropractor ... worse, unless carefully managed, leads inexorably to arthritis of the neck.
CERVICAL FACET SYNDROME. Read more …
STIFF NECK EXERCISES FOR NECK PAIN.
HEADACHE and the ATLANTO OCCIPITAL JOINT
Some 80% of headaches are reckoned to be 'tension headache'. This is not from stress / tension, but tension of the meninges surrounding the neck and brain.- The most usual cause is the Cervical Facet Syndrome in the upper neck. (link above) You may be interested in some of the anatomy of this area. This is a page that describes it succinctly, and simply. It's interesting, and if you are a headache sufferer, you will be especially intrigued. Read more about the Atlanto Occipital Joint ...
ATLANTO OCCIPITAL JOINT …
- Tension in the neck muscles, for example after long periods of studying with the neck flexed is another common cause of headaches and neck pain.
- Another rare cause is meningitis. High temperature, stiff neck and a headache. Straight to hospital. Fortunately, brain tumours are a very rare cause of headache.
MENINGITIS …
REBOUND HEADACHE
If you are taking more than half a dozen analgesics per week then it is definitely time to consider chiropractic treatment. Remember that 'Rebound headache' is CAUSED by over-dosing with painkillers. It's also what causes headache. The pills you are taking may actually be CAUSING your headaches! Probably 10-20% of my day is taken up with patients suffering from headaches. Getting them off the anti inflammatory drugs, or at least greatly reducing them is usually not a problem. What is particularly destructive is dual antiinflammatory drugs.
REBOUND HEADACHE.
HEADACHE CHIROPRACTIC.
ANTI INFLAMMATORY DRUGS ...
DUAL ANTIINFLAMMATORY DRUGS ..
MIGRAINE HEADACHE
In the practice one often finds that migraine has been misdiagnosed: Any severe headache is called a migraine. Not so. What makes true migraine headache difficult is that there are a number of causes. Food allergies, a problematic tooth or jaw joint, an eye problem, a neck condition. Read more ...
MIGRAINE HEADACHE.
FRIDAY FUN HEADACHE. In lighter vein ...
WHIPLASH
Whiplash is pooh-poohed in many medical and insurance circles, but after nearly thirty years in practice, I have come to the conclusion that not many people escape completely unscathed from a car accident. I am personally one of the lucky ones. I was hit from the side (the worst) some twenty years ago, and I have absolutely no problems. Perhaps because I was treated promptly by a colleague, and so didn't develop Immobilisation Arthritis.I treat many, many people with neck pain and headaches. On questioning, we realise that most can trace the condition back to a whiplash that apparently, mysteriously, caused no injury. But down the road ... It remains pure mystery how a whiplash that caused no obvious injury could years later prove to be the source of stiff neck and headache. That was until research proved that Immobilisation Arthritis was the spoke in the wheel. When a joint isn't moving normally, the hyaline cartilage is starved or normal nutrition and slowly, slowly, undetected ... It's now been proved beyond all doubt: FIXATIONS CAUSE ARTHRITIS.
IMMOBILISATION ARTHRITIS.
WHIPLASH CHIROPRACTIC.
STROKE
Chiropractic periodically gets bad press when a patient has a stroke after treatment. A case 3-4 years ago occured 17 days after the treatment! Another that gained wide negative publicity, on investigation, proved that the chiropractor treated only the patient's foot!People have strokes, and just because they consulted a chiropractor in the last month, that does not mean that was the cause. In fact, research proves that people who had strokes were equally likely to have consulted their medical doctor in the last weeks as their chiropractor. The stroke was developing and had nothing to do with what the medical doctor, or chiropractor, were doing. The chiropractic adjustment is probably the safest medical procedure in the treatment of head neck pain. There are one in two million manipulations serious mishaps after neck adjustments. We as a profession are not in denial; and we do our best to identify those at higher risk. Statistically you are more likely to be struck by lightning on the golfcourse than have a stroke after a chiropractic adjustment. Read what the latest research on stroke proves.
STROKE CHIROPRACTIC.
Popular story teller, chiropractor
Bernard Preston, tells of his brush with STROKE.
HEAD NECK PAIN: TEMPERO-MANDIBULAR-JOINT pain. (TMJ anatomy)
The TMJ is a major cause of head neck pain and facial pain. It's a very complex joint, so this next very interesting, but perhaps difficult page will certainly give you some insights, if you think you may have this problem. Clicking sounds in the jaw and pain just in front of the ear and the muscles around the jaw are the cardinal signs. For more info about the TMJ, follow the link.Meantime you might be interested in these little exercises if you suspect your head neck pain is coming from your jaw, or if you are experiencing jaw joint pain. The TMJ is a common cause of head neck pain and especially one sided headache just ABOVE the ear. Where you'll find the Temporalis muscle, a great big jaw muscle. And much more about what causes headache.
TMJ anatomy ...
TMJ exercises ...
What causes headache? ...
SHOULDER PAIN
HEAD NECK PAIN and shoulder pain are intimately connected, not only because they share muscles and bones, but because the nerves that innervate the shoulder come from the neck. For more about shoulder pain,
click here. ROTATOR CUFF
WHY DO WE HICCUP?
WHY DO WE HICCUP
LINKS
Go from HEAD NECK PAIN to CHIROPRACTIC NECK PAIN TREATMENT.
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Olives and Olive Oil contain an anti-arthritic substance. Olive Pate, so easy to make.
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