Healing Neck Pain with Acupuncture

Treating neck pain is always very satisfying for me as a practitioner. I can’t tell you how many times a patient has come in to my acupuncture practice in Sebastopol with stiffness, rigidity, pain and loss of range of motion and walked out with a smile, surprised at how easily their head can now flow on their shoulders from side to side and front to back. Now, not everyone walks out healed on the first treatment. But I can’t remember the last time someone didn’t feel a great amount of relief from the neck pain they were experiencing when they walked in the door.
 
All this said, there can be many causes of neck pain:

• Sleeping funny with the window cracked
• Chronic stress and tension with your shoulders up to your ears
• Spending too much time staring down at your phone or at a computer
• Sports injuries
• Car accidents and whiplash/cervical strain
• Cervical spondylosis/ osteoarthritis (neck arthritis – degeneration of the neck bones and discs between them)
• Cervical stenosis (narrowing of the spinal canal in neck)
• Cervical disc degeneration (discs in your neck wearing down)
• Cervical vertebral subluxation (a joint is misaligned in your neck)
• And many more

 
All of these are treatable with acupuncture. In addition, CranioSacral therapy, TuiNa massage and stretching, cupping and gua sha are all therapies that can improve range of motion and decrease pain. Studies have shown that acupuncture is effective in relieving certain types of neck pain, particularly those caused by whiplash. In many cases, acupuncture has worked for my patients whose conditions couldn’t be treated using conventional approaches.
 
If you have a minor acute neck pain, or even some chronic pain that’s due to muscle tension, you can try these simple yet powerful techniques:
 

• If you have an acute trauma with swelling and stiffness, you can use ice for the first 48 to 72 hours if the tissue is hot and inflamed. After the initial injury calms down, apply heat to the local area. You can use a heat pad, hot compresses or take hot showers. Heat will promote healing by warming the tissues and increasing blood flow. Increased blood flow will bring in nutrients that will help heal traumatized tissues and help flush out metabolic wastes.
• If your neck is bothering you, you should pay some attention to your sleeping positions. Sleeping on your stomach will increase pain, because you will end up twisting your head one way or another for hours at a time, so please only sleep on your side or on your back.
• You want to keep your neck moving, with gentle and slow movements. “Guarding”, where you hold your neck rigid and move the rest of your upper body, can increase stiffness and pain.
• Gentle stretching can improve most neck conditions. If you have any acute neck trauma, or it has been recommended by your doctor NOT to stretch, or if you experience any pain during stretching, please stop immediately. I generally DO NOT recommend stretching in the case of herniated or bulging disc, without a thorough assessment.

1. Look up toward ceiling, then down toward ground slowly without pushing the movements farther than feels comfortable. Hyperextension is a caution, don’t bring your head to far back when looking up towards the ceiling. Pay attention to how your neck and body are feeling, and stop before…
2. Bring your left ear towards your shoulder while keeping your nose pointed forward, then your right ear toward your shoulder. You can stretch the arm out away from your body on the opposite side that you are bringing your ear to shoulder, and it will accentuate the stretch.

 
If you live in Sebastopol, or any other surrounding areas like Bodega, Forestville, Graton, Occidental, or Guerneville, the clinic is not too far away and is accepting new patients. Visit True Nature Wellness for your local neck pain expert! You won’t regret it. If you’re not sure acupuncture is right for you, call today for a free 15 minute consult.