6 Reasons You Should Never Adjust Your Neck Without a Chiropractor
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If you’re suffering from neck pain, you might be tempted to adjust it by yourself. However, there’s a couple of different reasons why this may not be such a good idea.
Chiropractic Care Health Benefits:
- Improved Immune System
- Increased Flexibility
- Improved Moods
- Better Posture
- More Energy
- Better Sleep
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Seeking assistance from a licensed chiropractor is always a much better choice, but in case you’re still tempted to try doing it yourself, we’re going to list several reasons against it.
So, without any further ado, let’s get to the bottom of it!
Cracking your neck too forcefully can possibly hurt sensitive nerve endings positioned in the neck area. This would, in turn, cause you a lot of pain and discomfort. Chances are you’d be unable to move your neck for a long period of time.
Neck pain isn’t just some small inconvenience: it can keep you from sleeping and engaging in other activities important for your daily life. Additionally, pinching your nerves puts you at risk of developing serious medical conditions. You could damage your nerves permanently, which would cause the development of chronic pain. It doesn’t happen often, but it’s a possibility that’s better avoided.
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Your chiropractor is a trained and experienced professional, so they’ll know the right amount of force and pressure that needs to be put on your neck.
Many important vessels are positioned around your neck. If you’re trying to adjust your neck by yourself and you end up using too much force, you could potentially puncture those vessels.
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Health first chiropractic
As you can probably conclude, this could lead to clots and other dangerous consequences. It’s a risk not worth taking. Instead, you should seek advice from a chiropractor who’ll help you safely deal with your neck issues.
Of course, make sure you choose only well-reviewed chiropractors who have years of experience behind them. Your health should be your primary concern, so make sure you only leave it in the hands of professionals.
You may have injured your neck without even knowing it! Many neck injuries happen during the night while we’re asleep, and they’re usually not that serious. Still, if you try adjusting your neck when it’s already injured, you may make things much worse!
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Prevention is always better than cure, so if you suspect you might have injured yourself, it’s time to visit a chiropractor. Signs of a severe injury include headaches, nausea, and swelling. If you notice any of these symptoms, never waste time waiting around! Even if there are no indications of a severe injury, if you awake with unusual pain in your neck, it’s better to have it checked before it gets worse.
Your chiropractor won’t only treat your pain, but they’ll know where it comes from and why it occurred. They can also provide you with some great advice on how to avoid and prevent these issues from reoccurring ever again.
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If you’re not sure what the cause of your neck pain may be, you’re at risk of repeating the behaviour that leads to your injury. So, even if you manage to get some relief by adjusting your neck yourself, it will only be for a short while.
Without professional assistance, you’ll never know what caused your pain in the first place. What this means is that you’ll be unable to prevent it from happening again. If you continuously injure your neck, you might even develop some painful medical conditions.
As we mentioned before, a chiropractor’s role isn’t only to help you ease the pain, it’s also to help you make some lifestyle changes that could prevent it from happening in the future.
Your vertebra could be misaligned in 16 different directions! You have no way of knowing where it should be moved, so you’re risking moving it away from its natural position. This is why chiropractors don’t try adjusting their own necks either. Even when you’re a trained professional, it’s difficult to examine the neck when you can’t reach certain angles properly.
So, once you go to your chiropractic appointment, they’re not going to be adjusting your neck right away. They’ll do detailed examinations first so they can learn which joint needs to be adjusted. It took them years of extensive training and studying to be able to do this properly, so you can’t possibly expect to do as good of a job yourself.
You might have cracked your neck before and felt immediate relief…Why shouldn’t you do it again? It helped you before, it will help you now, right? Wrong! This doesn’t mean you’ve actually fixed anything!
Functional Health
First of all, research shows that the “popping” sound that occurs when you crack your neck makes your body release endorphins (happy chemicals). These will be present in your bloodstream for 10-20 minutes and then the pain will return. So, it’s all placebo! Your body is tricking you into thinking you’re feeling better!
A chiropractor won’t provide you with temporary relief, they’ll align your vertebra and fix the root of the issue. You’ll also learn how to improve the health of your joints, so you don’t have to deal with similar issues anytime soon.
The bottom line
Trying to adjust your own neck can lead to serious injury. It’s not a good idea, especially if the issue persists for longer than 6 weeks and you’re noticing signs of swelling. Your neck is a vital spot of your body and it’s closely connected to important joints, vessels, nerves, and muscles. Neck pain is a serious matter that should only be dealt with by a professional. So, if you’re experiencing anything similar, make sure to schedule an appointment with an experienced chiropractor, and keep your joints as healthy as possible!
Job opportunity: How to become a chiropractor
About the job:
Chiropractors are healthcare professionals focused on the diagnosis and treatment of neuromuscular disorders – with, as noted by the website spine-health.com, “an emphasis on treatment through manual adjustment and/or manipulation of the spine.” But there’s more to it, said Larry Peshkin, (CQ) a chiropractor and owner of Irondequoit Chiropractic Center.
“Chiropractic is not just about the back,” Peshkin said. “We’ve been pigeonholed to that. We specialize on nerves, muscles and bones. Alignment is really huge.”
The practice involves looking at function, range of motion, muscle strength, reflexes, nutrition and more, Peshkin said. “We try to get to the root cause of the problem,” he said. “We are like the car mechanics of the body.”
In some states – but not New York – chiropractors can perform additional tasks, including delivering babies, Peshkin said.
Qualities needed:
A background in biology and/or anatomy is important, as well as being able to determine the best course of action for treating patients. Chiropractors have to be coordinated with their hands because the work involves manual adjustments of patients. Also important, Peshkin said, are interpersonal skills, communication skills, empathy, attention to detail and being comfortable with yourself and patients (since the practice involves touching them).
Education/training needed:
Before attending a chiropractic college, candidates must complete 90 hours of undergraduate study at an accredited college or university, with at least 24 credit hours in Life and Physical Science courses, as well as a high grade-point average.
Next up is attending a chiropractic college for 10 trimesters. (One noteworthy school, New York Chiropractic College, is in Seneca Falls.) Upon completion, graduates receive a Doctorate of Chiropractic degree. After that comes one year of clinical experience and then passing a national board exam and applying for licensing.
What the job pays:
The median salary for chiropractors in the Finger Lakes region is $82,410, (CQ) according to the New York State Department of Labor website. Peshkin said the starting base salary is about $45,000 (CQ) and said those with more experience can earn $100,000 (CQ) or more. A lot depends on where the chiropractor practices, he said, and what insurance companies will pay. The rates vary greatly by state, Peshkin added.
The job picture:
The federal Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates job growth in the field at 4 percent for the next decade, or average. Peshkin said, “The market (for chiropractors) is not completely flooded, but close to it in Rochester. There are a lot of (opportunities) you can get into if you stay away from the big cities.”
The practice has grown as patients have embraced more preventative approaches to healthcare. Because of the proximity to New York Chiropractic College, Peshkin said “Rochester is almost the capital of brand-new chiropractors coming right out of college.”
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The benefits of chiropractic care might be more necessary nowadays because many people have become more sedentary due to Coronavirus lockdowns and the like, Peshkin said. Technology has also made life easier in ways that our grandparents would never have imagined. “Our bodies are meant to do so much more than what we’re doing now,” he said.