Neck Pain and Cervical Spine Trauma
One of the major causes of neck pain is a condition called degenerative disc disease of the spine. Think of it like tooth decay, but on your spine. Many people mistakenly believe that neck pain and degenerative disc disease are caused by old age. In fact, the most common cause of degenerative disc disease is cervical spine trauma.
Diagnosing Cervical Spine Trauma
When we look at an x-ray that has degenerative disc disease, the damage is typically localized to just a few discs. Discs are the water filled pads that separate and protect your vertebrae and the nerves that exit out of your spine.
If degenerative disc disease were due to old age, then the degeneration would be equal in all the discs. The patient may or may not have had neck pain after the cervical spine trauma, for example in a motor vehicle accident. From that point on the disc begins to degenerate or break down. this can happen without you ever feeling it. It takes time for the degeneration to set in.
One of the most important things to remember is the importance of proper rehabilitation of cervical spine trauma. Any time you experience cervical spine trauma, no matter how trivial it may be, you should have it evaluated by a Chiropractor. In our office, we can do an exam to look for a possible herniated disc, and take x-rays to see if there is a spinal compression fracture. Once a diagnosis is made, a proper treatment plan can be recommended.
Cervical Spine Trauma Treatment
One of the most important things that a spine physician can do to rehab neck pain due to cervical spine trauma properly is to restore proper motion to the involved spinal areas. Discs are avascular, which means they don’t have a blood pipe line taking care of them. The only way your discs receive their nutrients, refill with water and dispose of their waste is when your vertebrae are aligned and move normally.
Unfortunately one of our body’s defense mechanisms against cervical spine trauma is spinal muscle contraction. This muscle contraction stops the movement of your disc which in turn blocks nutrients from making it to the disc and blocks waste from leaving the disc. When the spinal segments have been locked for enough time than scar tissue begins to build up around the disc. This further restricts spinal motion, nutrient and waste movement, and speeds up degenerative disc disease.
Chiropractors and Cervical Spine Treatment
There are a variety of neck pain and spinal doctors, such as physical therapists, orthopedists, and chiropractors. Chiropractors are the experts when it comes to cervical spine trauma. They are the only Doctors who specialize and are trained in locating the area of the neck that is not moving properly and can restore proper movement to it.
If neck pain or cervical spine trauma is left untreated it will eventually turn into degenerative disc disease with possible chronic neck pain. Once this process has taken place there is no way to restore the disc to its original state. They key is catching it early and proper rehabilitation.