Neck Pain and Stiffness

Chronic neck pain and stiffness has become common now that smartphones and computing devices are the new normal.

Maybe you have had gradually developing tightness of your neck from long hours of typing on your laptop or texting on your phone, or maybe you just turned your head too quickly and felt something pull.  These are common problems that Barlas Chiropractic near South Lake Union helps people with daily.

From general stiffness you’ve been living with to acute pain that feels like a muscle strain, chiropractic and Active Release Technique® soft tissue therapy are the most direct ways to fix your pain.  Tight or strained muscles of the upper back, neck, or shoulders can cause pain when shortened or lengthened excessively.  Underlying the tight or strained muscles are often restricted vertebrae in the upper back or neck.

All of these problems should be addressed in order to alleviate your symptoms.

It is important to note that even when you feel that “just” a muscle is tight, there is nearly always a very restricted, immobile section of the spine that needs to be addressed as well.  Active Release Technique® is the most specific soft tissue treatment method to address your muscles and in combination with light chiropractic adjusting, your problem will be solved.  In fact, a great study published in 2015 showed that recurrence of neck pain a year following chiropractic care is very low (just 11% in this study) (Langenfeld A, 2015).

Whether your neck pain and stiffness is the result of trauma, such as an auto accident, or from a combination of improper posture, movement, and stress Barlas Chiropractic will be able to help you.  In addition to pain relief and greater ease of movement, patients who receive treatment for these symptoms often report a reduced feeling of stress and an easier time concentrating.

As an added note, if you are too uncomfortable with the idea of a light manual neck adjustment, we can use a small instrument called an activator in order to move immobilized joints, and either way most of the time in a given treatment will be spent doing ART® therapy.

Works Cited

Langenfeld A, H. B. (2015). Prognostic Factors for recurrence of neck pain up to 1 year after chiropractic care. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics , 458-464.