Neck pain can arise from injuries, poor posture and more……
Let me start by saying that your neck is the most crucial part of your spine. Reason being is that it is closest to the brain and the most vulnerable. Vulnerable because it doesn’t have as many structures to hold it in place and has greater potential for injury due to laws of motion. Your neck should have a great range of motion to the right, left, up and down. It should be right above your shoulders and you should be able to drop a plumb line from your ear through your ankle. This is rarely the case for most people these days because we have abused our spines and we don’t have daily spinal hygiene habits.
Neck pain can have a variety of sources from the joint capsules of the vertebrae, discs between the vertebra, or even excessive muscle pull. But the essential piece to understand is that there is a natural alignment that is required for not only a normal functioning neck but one that isn’t interfering with function of the nerve system that those bones are there to protect. When the vertebra or soft tissues are damaged or move out of alignment the spinal cord and nerve roots come under distress. From the time you start holding your head up as a baby, you start creating a nice swooping 43 degree curve. This is where the neck and spinal structures can function at their greatest potential. Through injury or a lifestyle of poor posture, we lose that integrity, traction is put on the cord/nerve roots and our spine will even start to break down. That is right, your bones and joints can break down and cause more pain. Thank God for the pain, because without it you may never have known that you were putting pressure on your nerve system causing ill health and disease. After all the nerves coming out of your neck go to a multitude of systems and structure in your body: eyes, thyroid, arms, immune system, shoulders and many others. Your current pain is an indication that there is damage. You should be checked to ensure the integrity of your neck is there.
