Relieve Your Neck Pain Without Surgery or Drugs

The unique anatomy of the neck, coupled with its elevated position at the top of the spine, make it vulnerable to chronic pain, from both injury, and from postural forces that occur through life.

Postural Conditions Affecting the Neck

From the time we sit at our first school desk, our seated posture begins a lifelong interplay with the structures on the back of the neck, and into the base of the skull. Ergonomically, most of us are forced into positions that cause micro trauma to the neck from an early age. The repeated stresses on our neck continue through high school and into college or our work professions for most people.

As designed, the human body should be able to maintain a vertical posture in space. Thus, a vertical line drawn through the ear should go through the center of the shoulder joint and the center of the hip joint. In this position, the muscles of the neck have the best opportunity to remain relaxed and pain-free – because the weight of the head is totally supported by the bones of the spine.

Neck problems often in school, when we first sit at our desk and the weight of our head (about 10 pounds) pitches forward to see we are writing or drawing on our paper. In this forward head posture, the muscles at the back of the neck must tighten, to keep the head from falling down onto the chest. As we continue to study, these small muscles must fire constantly. While neck muscles are strong, they are designed to tilt or turn the head. They are not designed to fire hour upon hour, week after week, year after year as we progress through a dozen years in school.

Called on to fire constantly, the muscles of the back our neck become inflamed. Sensing inflammation, the body sends in tiny collagen cross-links (the building blocks of adhesions) to assist the muscles at the back of our neck. Thus a stiff neck begins.

Called on to fire constantly, the muscles of the back our neck become inflamed. Sensing inflammation, the body sends in tiny collagen cross-links (the building blocks of adhesions) to assist the muscles at the back of our neck.

This condition may be exacerbated at the base of the skull when we tilt our head to see the teacher or the blackboard in school, the computer monitor or road in front of us as we progress into adulthood. Thus additional cross-links can form at the top of the neck and base of the skull, further adhering tissues in this vital area – a keystone area for unlocking most of the headache pain we treat.

For some people, the forward head posture that began in school becomes exacerbated through life. As a girl reaches puberty, she may curl her shoulders and head forward, embarrassed by her new anatomy. Certain professionals such as gynecologists, dentists, and hair dressers require not only the head but the arms and shoulders to be forward, increasing the laying down of collagen cross-links in the neck and shoulders – and often increasing pain symptoms.

In the beginning, we may notice pain at the back of the neck; when we put our hands there, we feel a “stiff neck.” The stiffness is the straight-jacket that has formed between the muscle cells, bones and connective tissues of our cervical spine. As we continue through life, with head inching forward year after year, we may notice the pain descend into the area between the shoulder blades – the next major anchor point for muscles stiffened by forward head posture. If this posture is not corrected by the time we reach middle age and beyond, people find themselves bent forward, with tight muscles, tightness or spasm from the base of the skull to the low back. We have all seen older people who are bent forward considerably – their backs adhered by the stiffness. The muscles of their backs must fire constantly to keep them upright, and to keep them from falling forward. This is a very uncomfortable position – one that creates chronic pain, and one that can be avoided.

Effects of Trauma

The neck is situated at the top of the spine, unprotected by the large structure of our rib cage. Supporting an 8 to 10 pound head, the small bones, muscles, and connective tissues of the neck are truly in a vulnerable position. From all of our falls as children, to athletic injuries we sustain in school, and traumas such as car accidents as adults, the soft tissues of the neck undergo a whiplash trauma, every time we have a fall or healing event. The body’s first reaction to trauma and inflammation is to lay down collagen cross-links – the powerful building blocks of adhesions. As these form on the side, front or back of the neck, they begin to pull the neck out of its perfect vertical alignment. To adjust to this asymmetrical pattern, the neck must now enroll various muscles, to keep the head balanced at the top of the spine.  

Falls and traumas to the lower body (back, hip, tailbone or legs) can pull the bones of the pelvis out of symmetry and alignment. As the foundation for the spine and upper body, the pelvis must be level in order to support a stable back and neck. When pelvic structures become unbalanced due to a trauma, surgery or inflammatory process, the spine can no longer sustain its symmetrical vertical alignment. Situated at the very top of the spine, the neck suffers the worst of this S-like curve. 

We know from experience that providers who treat chronic neck pain by treating the neck alone often miss an important element – the support structures under the neck. We have treated countless patients whose neck symptoms have never completely resolved, from treatment of the neck. This is because the provider never took a step back to see the support structures of the neck – all the way down to the feet. In order to have lasting results with chronic neck pain, the structures below must be evaluated, and often must be treated. Once the spine is balanced on the stable foundation of a horizontal pelvis, treatment at the neck can be effective, and the benefits can be long lasting.

Clear Passage physical therapists are trained to evaluate and treat the neck in relation to its situation within and the entire body. We may address the myofascial (muscles and fascia) tissues of the neck and its bony structures as a starting point. From there, we will evaluate and treat any tight areas on the front of the neck and chest – areas that often become tightened from years of forward head posture. Certainly, we always evaluate the structure of the pelvis and back, to create a stable foundation for a vertical spine. We decrease or eliminate the adhesive pulls that have formed over years in the low back, front, back and sides of the chest, shoulders and neck. Our goal is to return each patient with a body structure is mobile, functional and pain-free.