“I Started Having Neck Pain…. But Then An Eden Prairie, MN Chiropractor Helped Me Understand!”

The neck is a very versatile joint, but it is also vulnerable at the same time. The neck takes on so much pressure and is the most moveable part of your body. This makes it vulnerable to sudden movements. Even a slight jerk on kid’s ride can cause whiplash.

There are many people who have stated that one day they had just turned their neck, or they had woken up from a long sleep, but then they couldn’t turn their neck. There can be many probable causes for some people because of their lifestyle, but for others, it is not so obvious.Here are a few reasons why you could encounter neck pain.

Unlikely Whiplash

Had fun sledding down a hill with the kids? Had a minor slip and fall? Many people will dismiss this as any trauma to our neck. However, if these occurrences start to mount, they could cause serious whiplash and neck tension. People will often dismiss a minor fender-bender of less than 20 miles per hour, but even that could still cause whiplash and damage to your neck and head. Even a slight push from a friend that you did not suspect could cause damage.

Any sudden movement that your muscles are not prepared to contract in time for the collision can cause sprains and strain musculoskeletal structures. Our necks are meant for flexibility, but they can also be vulnerable due to the weight of our heads and unsuspected weakness in the neck.

Our necks can still sustain injury, even from an incident that may not have been very traumatic.

Overused Muscle

The slouched position of the neck adds 2-3 times more weight to the head. The weight of a head can be 10-15 pounds. Because of that, when we are slouching, we end up doing a major workout for our neck; mostly the muscles called the neck flexors that are supporting the weight of the head. The amount of time that most people maintain this posture will range from 30 minutes to 2 hours. We do this when we are driving, working on the computer, looking at our phones, looking down to talk to our children, and many other instances.

Our neck muscles need a break too. Myofascial release and stretches may help the neck during these breaks.

Healing Muscles

When you damage or work out your neck so much during the day, you may start to have neck tensions. Most people don’t realize how much of their neck is being used, because they forget about their neck when they are focused on what they are doing.

The brain starts regenerating at a rapid pace, especially after waking up from a long sleep. The small muscles in your neck start to heal from the long day, and they can get sore, expanded, and/or tight to strengthen and/or heal from the wear and tear of the previous days. Our neck may feel sore, tight, or painful, but this means that the body is doing what it is supposed to do.

There many more causes, but these are some of the most common. There could also be head injuries, dehydration, and/or other neurological conditions such as subluxations. As an Eden Prairie, MN Chiropractor, we take it seriously whenever we encounter these conditions and have them evaluated them at Zen Chiropractic.