One question that I hear all the time from my patients is "how does my wife or husband know if they should be seeing a chiropractor?" There are multiple ways to know if you should be seeing a chiropractor and not all of them have to do with pain and discomfort. I have developed a test for the neck to determine if you are a candidate for chiropractic care called the "head turn test".
Try turning your head as far as you can to the left and to the right. The first thing that you want to look for is if either of these motions are painful at all. The second thing that you will want to look for in this test is if on one side or the other (either right or left) you can turn further than the other side. Normal range of motion (or being able to turn your head to the right and the left) is being able to turn your nose parallel with your shoulder. Is there pain on these movements or are any of them reduced?
If there is any pain or if one side or the other is unable to turn as far as the other side this can be a possible sign that there is something wrong in the bones of the neck. From the time that we are born our necks go through a lot of abuse. From the actual birthing process, falling while learning how to walk, to the many injuries that we get through life, the neck is vulnerable to being injured.
A Bellevue chiropractor will be able to diagnose what the cause of this restriction or pain in your neck. All too often the major causation of this type of dysfunction is what we call "joint fixation" or the bones and joints getting stuck out of their proper position. I see this type of neck most often in those whiplash cases, or in cases of prolonged, poor posture, such as sitting at a desk.
A person with a neck like this may already have neck pain, headaches, pain in their shoulders, arm and hand pain, but they also may not have any pain at all. Even if you are one with out any current pain, if you are presenting with a positive head turn test, it is my experience that the reason for this is probably that you have vertebral subluxation, or bones and joints in your neck being out of place.
Try turning your head as far as you can to the left and to the right. The first thing that you want to look for is if either of these motions are painful at all. The second thing that you will want to look for in this test is if on one side or the other (either right or left) you can turn further than the other side. Normal range of motion (or being able to turn your head to the right and the left) is being able to turn your nose parallel with your shoulder. Is there pain on these movements or are any of them reduced?
If there is any pain or if one side or the other is unable to turn as far as the other side this can be a possible sign that there is something wrong in the bones of the neck. From the time that we are born our necks go through a lot of abuse. From the actual birthing process, falling while learning how to walk, to the many injuries that we get through life, the neck is vulnerable to being injured.
A Bellevue chiropractor will be able to diagnose what the cause of this restriction or pain in your neck. All too often the major causation of this type of dysfunction is what we call "joint fixation" or the bones and joints getting stuck out of their proper position. I see this type of neck most often in those whiplash cases, or in cases of prolonged, poor posture, such as sitting at a desk.
A person with a neck like this may already have neck pain, headaches, pain in their shoulders, arm and hand pain, but they also may not have any pain at all. Even if you are one with out any current pain, if you are presenting with a positive head turn test, it is my experience that the reason for this is probably that you have vertebral subluxation, or bones and joints in your neck being out of place.
About the Author:
Michael Weir, D.C.is a practiceing Bellevue chiropractor and is clinic director at Back in Action Chiropractic. You can find his chiropractic clinicat 1940 116th Ave NE #101, Bellevue WA 98004 and the phone number is (425) 635-0495.
No comments:
Post a Comment