Jammed neck. Neck circles?

by Anne
(Australia)

Hi! Just wondering if you could help me please? I have been going to chiropractors since I was 17 and I am now 57. (Neck and back problems as a result of accidents). Last week my chiropractor got me to do an exercise which involved circling my head in circles whilst gazing at a fixed point. 10 x clockwise, 10 x anti-clockwise, twice a day and after a couple of days, my neck felt jammed up and now for the past 3 mornings I have woken up with a numb right hand and now feel nauseous, get sharp pains turning my neck and have pain in the nerves of my right bottom back teeth, and tightness and pain over right eye-brow, temple and achy jaw. My neck feels stiff. I got my husband to pull my head off my shoulders 3 times (whilst I sat on the floor) and this did bring some relief.


The chiropractor has given me this exercise with a couple of others, to stimulate a certain area of my brain that he believes might not be functioning normally. He is into the "Brain", in quite a big way. Through moving around over the years, one thing I have been told by chiropractors, is that you shouldn't do neck rolls; that the best way is to turn to one side, then the next; head down to chin, head slightly up and back and then ear to shoulder, ie the old "Yes, No, Maybe" exercises.

When I rang my chiropractor this morning saying that I believe the neck circles have caused this problem, I am in pain and feel awful, he was excited and said that this was a good sign and it was stimulating the area of the occipital area of the brain. To me, it feels like my neck has jammed purely from doing the neck rolls. I have atlas axis prob, TMJ at times and my neck has occasionally jammed up. What do you think? Thank you.

Hello Anne,
That's an exercise for the vestibular system, and is probably the reason why you've become nauseous. Any dizzyness or vertigo?

Neck rolls in my book are not a good idea if you have low cervical degeneration, which you may well do if you have any whiplashes. During the roll it closes down the foramen where the nerve roots escape.

It's awkward for my commenting on a colleague's protocol. I think you should follow your gut feeling, and discuss this with him.

I'm intrigued you're still able to type after your husband has pulled your head off!

The sensory nucleus of the trigeminal nerve lies in the upper neck; it supplies the teeth, face and TMJ, hence these barrage of symptoms that may not be related to the neck circles.

I guess I'm being evasive! You've got to work this out with your chiropractor.

I hope this contributes.

Dr B

Click here to post comments

Join in and write your own page! It's easy to do. How? Simply click here to return to Chiropractic help Questions (Neck pain).





Did you find this page useful? Then perhaps forward it to a suffering friend. Better still, Tweet or Face Book it.

Share this page:
Enjoy this page? Then forward it to a friend. Here's how...

Would you prefer to share this page with others by linking to it?

  1. Click on the HTML link code below.
  2. Copy and paste it, adding a note of your own, into your blog, a Web page, forums, a blog comment, your Facebook account, or anywhere that someone would find this page valuable.