When it comes to upper back and neck pain, you need to seek out the right type of treatment to begin to feel better. Managing this type of pain is the only way of being able to keep your quality of life up where you want it. However, not all types of upper back and neck pain can be managed with the same treatments. Here are some things you need to know about this type of pain, and how to best keep it from impacting your quality of life.
Where Does Upper Back and Neck Pain Come From?
There are a lot of things that can cause upper back and neck pain. It can stem from an injury you sustained, or even from some type of external trauma. Things like falling or automobile accidents often cause pain in the upper back and neck region. Some ailments, like diabetes and arthritis, can also cause pain all around your body. Then there are things like nerve disorders that can also leave you reeling in pain. Some people struggle with upper back and neck pain from poor posture or positioning problems for extended periods of time, like when they are at work.
You also can struggle with pain due to things like a misalignment of your spine. This is when the different components of your spine, like your fragile discs and individual vertebrae, get out of alignment. This can happen for any number of reasons. Something as simple as moving the wrong way can cause this type of pain. The longer the components stay out of their proper alignment, the more pain you get. Plus, when you are trying to care for yourself following back pain, you can also increase it accidentally. When you first notice your back hurting, you may feel inclined to rest. This is the right thing to do. However, if you rest too long, you may face worse pain than when you first noticed the pain.
Why Can’t Medications or Surgery Always Fix Upper Back and Neck Pain?
The one problem with upper back and neck pain is that it can come from nearly anything. You can literally move the wrong way and wind up in misery. That makes treating it permanently almost impossible. While medications, such as prescription pain relievers, can help, they can also cause other side effects. They can also cause you to struggle with things like a higher tolerance to the medication and dependence. The last thing you want is to struggle with both pain and an addiction.
Plus, if you opt to try surgery to help manage your upper back and neck pain, it could leave you with other problems to deal with. For most people, surgery’s success is limited. Some people get relief out of the surgery, but most end up back in pain after a short time. Some people never get relief following the surgery at all. Others get some relief, but struggle to feel better because of their long recovery periods. Plus, surgery also leaves many people limited with how they can move or live the rest of their life. If you do not have a guarantee you will at least feel better, does it make surgery worth the risk?
What Options Can You Use to Treat Upper Back and Neck Pain?
There are quite a few options to help manage and treat upper back and neck pain. First, you have physical therapy. This is great following the trauma or injury type of pain. You get to build up the strength of the muscles that surround your spine, stabilizing it. This can reduce your pain, and in some cases, even eliminate it.
Another great option for managing upper back and neck pain is a chiropractic manipulation. This is when you make appointments to go in and see your chiropractor on a regular basis. Over time, he or she is able to manipulate the components within your back so that they return to where they belong. This is a great way of reducing pain. Just make sure you keep going for a while since it takes some time to retrain your body to know where those components belong.
Massages can also go a long way towards helping one recover from upper back and neck pain. It depends on what originally caused your pain when it comes to how much relief it will bring you. However, it is often successful when done along with other types of back pain treatment.
How a Blended Approach Can Help Relieve More of Your Upper Back and Neck Pain
When you combine multiple types of upper back and neck pain treatment, you tend to get the best results. Some therapies are limited in terms of how much better you will feel when all is said and done. However, when you use a few different therapies, the limitations no longer apply. For example, you may only feel slightly better following a massage, and that’s still an improvement. But, when you go and add in some chiropractic manipulation, you also get the relief of the pieces of your back being in their rightful locations. This helps to provide more relief, and the relief tends to last longer. The more often you get these blended therapies together, the more they have the potential to help.
Putting together a few different types of treatment options gives you the most realistic chance of finding relief. Back pain can take away the best parts of life by leaving you in a constant struggle. You do have options, but you need to make sure you do what is best for your specific type of pain. Consulting with a professional is the best way to get your back pain diagnosed and properly treated.
