Neck Pain is a Health Problem in Mount Pleasant, TX

Hey, this is Dr. Courtney from Durrum Chiropractic and family wellness. And today we’re talking about neck pain. So what I know is that in my 23 years up here, it’s one of the most common issues that we see patients and folks coming in with. In fact, the stats show that more than 70% of Americans will experience neck pain this year, of those 30% of them, it becomes a chronic, ongoing problem. So now it’s not just neck pain, but that neck pain is impacting their ability to function and really enjoy life to the fullest. So today, we’re gonna talk a little bit about the spine, and that neck and how that can happen. And why it is so important to get this corrected as soon as possible and not let it develop into one of those chronic conditions.

How Your Neck Integrates with Your Spine

So this is just a model of the spine showing you what it looks like. And so this is the base and the school, the spine is facing the same direction that I am right here. All right, so what we want to see when we look at the cervical spine from the side is this nice, round curve. Now your brain sends right up here and your brain communicates with the body through your spinal cord. So it’s going to send electrical impulses down through that spinal cord. And then they branch out through all of these nerve roots and go to all of the different organs and systems in your body. In fact, every organ system cell tissue in your body, in order for those to perform properly and correctly, we have to have this clear, smooth connection down through that spine. Now, if something happens, and this could be, it could be obviously it could be an auto accident, it could be a sporting accident, whether that’s football, baseball, basketball, soccer, we know there’s a tremendous number of head injuries and soccer and sports. This is why we often see so many kids in our practice in our office, getting help with issues such as that that began in their sporting the reality as though most of our neck and spine injuries happen as a result of our bad habits. These are what we would refer to as micro traumas.

The Negative Effects of Bad Habits and Poor Posture on Your Spine

So things such as looking at our cell phones, looking down at that cell phone, and this posture right here. Most of us have our head and our neck craned forward about at a 45 degree angle, looking at that cell phone, or that device, what that does with the spine, when that night cranes forward right here, your head weighs about 12 pounds. And so long as that head is balanced, right up here over the shoulder. So the way God designed it, we can hold it right there and everything’s very at ease. It’s very comfortable. Now when we have a neck injury, or like I was describing just the that hours, guys, some of us are spending eight, nine hours a day looking down at these devices. All right, that head at 12 pounds, when it’s craned out forward here, that translates into 60 pounds of torque and weight on this upper thoracic spine. All right, so these habits, some another one that I see that’s very common, is stomach sleeping. And folks don’t understand why that can be so bad. But if you’re sleeping on your stomach and the spines like this, now with your face down, you’re not going to be able to breathe. So that means you’re going to twist that head to the side. So what that does in effect is you’re twisting that spinal cord, most of us are in the habit of even either twist in that head to the left, or maybe even to the right, but you’ve definitely found one direction or the other and it’s more comfortable. This can create micro traumas and that cervical spine, and eventually leads to some big issues. Those are some of the worst spines and necks that I’ve seen are not your spine is definitely connected to and tied into the health of your overall body. In fact, I would refer to this as the arc of life. Okay, this is essentially a bridge that is connecting your brain to the rest of your body.

Your Neck Connects Your Brain to the Rest of Your Body

All right, so if we look at it on the chart right over here, you can see that so when we’re talking about the brain, the brain is here. And they asked to send signals down the spinal cord to the body. So this is essentially a bridge connecting your brain to the body. Now in its bandwidth, say the 10 to 12 pounds school and head up on top of that, if that bridge starts to crumble and deteriorate, then we can see problems throughout the body. All right, but if we’re talking specifically in the neck, which we are focusing on that today, this upper cervical region right here, they These nerves both branch out to the body, but also up into the head in the skull region. So this could cause problems with eyes, ears, nose, throat, your sense of taste, yes, even the post COVID syndrome with the inability to smell and taste your foods that can definitely be linked back to the cervical spine. And we have found our patients have responded really quickly and recuperating those sensory functions which is really great. I know what that’s like. I lost my sense of smell with COVID and that really detracts from quality of life and enjoy your food and your meals.

Neck Problems Can Affect Overall Health and Well-Being

So I’m also leading into the brain this can present oftentimes with cognitive issues, memory problems, brain fog, anxiety, depression, headaches, migraines, sensory issues where light when you walk outside, the sun is just so bright, you must have sunglasses, that is oftentimes indicative of a subluxation, or pinched nerves up here in that upper cervical spine. In the mid cervical region. In the middle of the neck, those nerves go to the glands of the head, face and neck, including the adenoids and tonsils. All right, these are important glands for detoxing and draining and helping us fight infections in the head that years, and throughout the body, and upper cervical, upper thoracic region right here, these nerves actually branch off to the heart, lungs. Now oftentimes, when we have a lower cervical, upper thoracic subluxation, our patients will come in experiencing problems with pain radiating out to the shoulders, even numbness and tingling in the hands in the fingers. And of course, we all know that numbness and tingling in the arms, hands and fingers is one of the cardinal signs of a heart attack. Okay, so what I’m going to tell you is when you have a neck problem, better watch out because oftentimes, it’s not just a neck problem, it’s actually a health problem. Okay? The same nerves on this chart that are branching out to the arms, hands and fingers are the very same nerves over here that are innervating your heart and your lungs, keeping them functioning and firing off at 100%. So if this is something that you’ve ever experienced, and like I said most of us had, it’s something that I want you to take seriously.