Back and neck pain is most common among people between the ages of 18 and 64. Research indicates both conditions are common complaints at doctors’ offices. Although often soft-tissue related, they temporarily diminish mobility which inhibits the sufferer’s daily activities. Fortunately, patients can receive natural and full body wellness care from chiropractors. Chiropractic specialists offer spinal manipulation, adjustments and other noninvasive treatments that don’t involve addictive drugs or invasive procedure for pain. But before any treatment, there must be a diagnosis.

Below are five major causes of neck and back pain. If your condition is related to one of the following causes, inform your physician or chiropractor so that they can determine the best path of care.

Trauma

Medical professionals, especially chiropractors, see many patients following neck and back trauma. Trauma involves an impact or jolt that shifts the spine or surrounding musculoskeletal structures. The source is typically a car accident or physical sport. Most injuries are soft tissue related. They typically resolve over a few weeks with rest and spinal manipulation (adjustments).

Poor Posture

Men and women who work in an office or retail facility often develop neck and back pain. Why? Sitting and standing for long hours hunched over tightens back and neck muscles. The best practice is to adopt better postural habits. Regardless of a person’s height, weight and stature, a person’s posture should follow the natural curve of the spine and maintain upright and squared shoulders. If you find yourself sitting for longer periods during the day, it’s important to ensure that laptop and computer screens are at eye-level, chairs are positioned at the right height and you are sitting up straight and not hunched over a desk.

Musculoskeletal Abnormalities

Abnormalities in bones and muscles can also cause neck and back pain. The usual culprits are bone spurs, herniated discs or scoliosis. Bone spurs are skeletal projections stemming from bones that irritate joints or other bones, herniated discs occur when soft centers in spinal discs extend out of their exterior cases, and scoliosis is a lateral curvature of the spine. Medical care for all three vary, but almost always involves a form of physical therapy or chiropractic care.

Degenerative Diseases

Diabetes mellitus, osteoarthritis and other debilitating diseases distort human tissue and can erode this substance. The repercussion: bones in the neck and back rub against each other. For most people, it’s very painful. Consequently, age plays a factor in degenerative diseases. Middle-agers and seniors develop these ailments more so than younger individuals. Since no cure exists for degenerative diseases, sufferers must adapt their lifestyles. They may need to lose weight, exercise, and avoid specific foods.

Muscle Strain

A strain occurs after neck and back muscles stretch or tear. Strenuous exercise or heavy lifting cause muscle strains. Affected regions throb and ache. Application of a cold or warm cloth helps. If inflammation or spasm occurs, more medical care is necessary. Services from a chiropractor or massage therapist can alleviate these symptoms.

In conclusion, the five major causes of neck and back pain – trauma, poor posture, musculoskeletal abnormalities, degenerative disease and muscle strain – effect millions. Yet in most cases, there is a solution. Seeking medical care early is a key way to reducing the chances of complication and pain.

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If you are feeling pain in your hip, a doctor’s visit is likely a good idea. But while it’s always encouraged to seek a professional medical help for serious pain, there are still things you can do at home to identify and relieve pain without visiting a clinic. Here are some of the things to try before seeing a doctor.

IS IT YOUR HIP?

The first thing to do is identify whether the pain is actually in your hip, or somewhere else. Your hip is made up of bones, muscles, and nerves, but the area we often think of as our hip when we touch our sides is actually the pelvis. The actual hip region is closer to the groin and not has easy to observe or feel with your hands. It’s important to isolate the pain precisely in order to provide the best information to your doctor. If it is or isn’t your hip, this information can make all the difference in helping you decide what your prognosis will be – for example, if your hip truly is in pain, ice won’t be able to relieve it because your hip joint is deep within your body rather than near your skin.

RELIEVE THE PAIN AT HOME

Just because you plan on seeing a doctor for your pain doesn’t mean there’s nothing you can do at home. There are some exercises you can try from the comfort of your own home that can help improve your relief outcome. It’s a misconception that the best thing to do when you’re in pain is to stay still and rest; actually, staying active (within certain limits) is the best way to maintain your range of movement. Simple, light workouts that can help include stretches, balancing exercises, and bending exercises.

To help relieve the pain before seeing your doctor, you might want to try over-the-counter pain medications, but don’t be too dependent on them – side effects even for medicines available without a prescription can do more harm than good. Nothing beats a doctor’s visit.

If your hip pain is going away on its own, you might not need to see a doctor about it, but this doesn’t mean you should be waiting for extended periods of time in the hopes that it will fade. Untreated pain can progress and complicate into something far more serious, or it may be a sign of a condition such as arthritis.

Contact your doctor immediately or find one in your area with Honest Doctor today to help you beat the pain once and for all.

If you’re in pain, one of your immediate reactions may be to visit a doctor to get a prescription for painkillers, or perhaps even to self-medicate with over-the-counter pain medication. These drugs may be effective in dulling or relieving the pain, but it can potentially come with side effects, many of which have been well documented by scientists, doctors, and the media.

If you decide to take over-the-counter medication, one of the most common types is known as NSAIDs, or nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. They are available without a prescription in many places, reduce pain, inflammation, and relieve headaches. However, this comes at a cost: regular and constant use is known to increase the risk of stroke and heart disease up to tenfold. It can also cause stomach ulcers and bleeding in the stomach lining with regular use.

Prescription painkillers also have their problems. We have all heard about the risk of addiction to prescription pain medications, especially with those that fall under a category known as opioids. Opioids are highly effective in relieving pain of all types of severity, but it comes at the cost of a high risk of addiction. You may have heard of drugs such as fentanyl, oxycodone, or hydrocodone, which are all opioids that are prescribed by doctors to relieve extreme pain but have also been known to cause deaths in the case of misuse. It goes without saying that abuse can be very likely, and its use must never be taken lightly.

While pain medication has its place in medicine and it has helped many people in relieving their pain, it’s always a good idea to try less risky solutions with far fewer side effects first. At Pain Stop, we try to relieve pain of all types with our talented chiropractors, who use their training to help patients relieve pain in their muscles and joints without resorting to painkillers. We believe in finding non-invasive solutions to treat upper and lower back pain, neck pain, knee pain, herniated discs, shoulder pain, and much more besides. We also offer trigger point injections, which helps to put an end to pain by treating the exact origin of the pain in the body directly with an injection. Our clinic also provides other medical treatments for pain such as epidurals and steroids that aim to relieve pain as quickly as possible, as long as possible, without the need to prescribe drugs that could cause all manner of serious side effects that you never intended.

Search for the best clinic in your area with Honest Doctor to find a team of talented medical professionals who can help you manage or relieve your pain without the need for pain medication.