How to Relieve Neck Pain

Neck pain can be caused by anything from sleeping in the wrong position to major medical issues dealing with the nervous system. Chiropractors offer relief by adjusting the bones in the neck to alleviate pain caused by muscles spasms or other injuries.

Instructions

1. Check the lower and mid-back to see if there's pain there as well and to help diagnose the cause of the pain.

2. Sit the patient in an upright chair that is slightly reclined to make the patient comfortable while allowing access to the neck.

3. Feel the skin at the back of the neck for any irregularities such as heat, dryness or stickiness. Changes in the nervous system often result in changes of the skin. Feel for muscles spasms which are a result of nerve interference.

4. Move the neck back and forth to feel how the bones are moving. Notice if the neck doesn't want to turn or which way it doesn't want to turn.

5. Place a finger on the bone that doesn't want to move and adjust by quickly pulling the patients head and the bone in the direction that is showing resistance.

Tips & Warnings

• You should hear noise with the bone adjustment, however that doesn't necessarily mean that the adjustment took place. If the doctor and the patient both feel the bone move, this is a good indicator that the adjustment was made.

• Don't try this unless you're a trained chiropractor. Training usually takes three years.

• Damage to the spine can be deadly.