Neck pain is very common. 1 out of 3 adults experiences it, affecting 10-20% of the population at any time. Statistics show that 60-80% of people will experience neck pain at some point in their lives. Neck pain is one of the main symptoms we see in our office.
Many lifestyle factors contribute to neck pain being so common.
- Poor posture causes muscular strain: Prolonged sitting and leaning over a computer or smartphone can trigger it. Even minor activities, such as reading in bed or playing video games for long periods, increase strain on the musculature.
- A sedentary lifestyle or lack of physical activity can lead to weaker muscles, making the neck more prone to pain.
- Aging, as with other joints in the body, neck joints tend to wear with age. In response to this wear and tear, the body breaks down, often forming bone spurs that can affect joint motion and cause pain.
- Nerve compression from herniated disks or bone spurs in the vertebrae can press on the nerves branching from the spinal cord.
- Injuries from an auto accident or from contact sports often result in whiplash injury. This occurs when the head jerks backward and then forward, straining the neck’s soft tissues.
- Diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, meningitis, or cancer can cause neck pain.
The neck or cervical spine is one of the most important parts of the body when assessing neck pain or other health concerns. Understand, your brain communicates with every single organ tissue and cell in your body. To do that, it has to travel down your neck through the spinal cord and all the spinal nerves to communicate. Our organs, tissues, and cells are 100% dependent on that communication to function and heal.
Your neck is a complex structure made of seven vertebrae and 16 nerve roots- eight on each side-that branch into hundreds of additional nerves throughout the body. Strong ligaments hold the bones together, while 30 muscles from the front, sides, and back work together to create movement, stability, and posture.
Your neck also contains vital blood vessels and visceral organs. The neck is very critical because it supports the weight of your head and allows the range of motion needed for visual and sensory input. It also houses the nervous system, which functions like a neurological freeway transmitting motor and sensory signals between the brain and body.
Neck pain can originate from muscles, joints, ligaments, or nerves, but most often from a combination of the four. This type of problem would be called a subluxation- a dysfunction within the joint complex leading to decreased range of motion, increased inflammation and irritation, or compression of the surrounding nerves.
Most people start treating it on their own with self-care, using ice or heat, taking over-the-counter pain relievers like ibuprofen, and performing basic stretches. If the pain persists, treatment may progress to prescription medication, injections, physical therapy, or even surgery. While these approaches can be helpful, the pain relief they provide is often temporary.
When seeking professional help, start with chiropractic first. Chiropractic focuses on the root cause, the subluxation, the whole joint complex, not just the individual components that make up the joint complex. Studies show patients are more than twice as likely to experience complete relief of pain compared to those using medication.
Here at Meridian Health Center, we focus on the root cause: your nervous system. As you can see, the nervous system plays a critical role. It coordinates every function in the body, from muscle tension to blood flow and inflammation control. When spinal stress interferes with nerve communication, the body’s ability to regulate itself becomes compromised. This interference is a major factor in many chronic cases and helps explain why neck pain may return even after temporary relief.
Reducing stress on the nervous system allows the body to function more efficiently. Corrective chiropractic care is designed to support this process. Rather than focusing on short-term symptom relief, it emphasizes restoring proper alignment and movement to the spine, reducing nerve irritation, and addresses one of the most common sources of neck pain.
Our goal for your care is lasting improvement and not temporary relief. No one should feel resigned to living with ongoing discomfort. When the body is in alignment and stressors are removed, it becomes better equipped to heal and adapt on its own. This is why addressing the root cause of neck pain is better than just masking it with a medication.
$99 New Patient Special
– Day 1: History review, consultation, nerve scan, exam, and x-rays –
– Day 2: Review exam and x-rays, and adjustment –
– Day 3: Dr’s report of findings, review recommended treatment plan –
How Our Care Plan Works
1. Finally Be Heard
We dedicate time to listen, ensuring we understand the complete picture of your health struggles, lifestyle history, specific goals, and the challenges that have left you feeling limited. We move past the limitations of rushed appointments and generic solutions to build a genuine connection, making sure your unique needs and experiences are the central focus of your entire care plan.
2. Get To The Root Cause Of The Problem
Our team moves beyond temporary symptom management to systematically identify and correct the underlying interferences affecting your body’s ability to heal. We use our three-pillar system—Specific Spinal Correction, Customized Nutrition and Neuro-Feedback Principles—to target the physical, chemical, and neurological issues that are preventing you from thriving and limiting your life.
3. Take Back Control Of Your Health
This step is about implementing the personalized plan and teaching you the principles of lifelong wellness. Through corrective care and educational guidance, we give you the knowledge, tools, and lasting body changes needed to maintain optimal function. This comprehensive approach ensures you feel great now and have the foundation for sustained health and vitality, allowing you to live a full life without limits.
How We Treat Neck Pain In Southwest Denver, CO
Comprehensive Consultation and Exam
Our new patient process spans three visits, so we can fully understand your neck pain and create the right plan for you.
Visit 1 (Day 1): Getting to Know You
During your first visit, we take the time to learn about you, your health history, and your neck pain.
This visit includes:
- A complete consultation and health history
- A physical examination
- Surface EMG (sEMG) scan to assess muscle and nerve activity
- Orthopedic testing
- X-rays, if needed
Once we have gathered all the necessary information, we will schedule your second visit.
Visit 2 (Day 2): Understanding the Cause
At your second visit, we review all your results with you, including exam findings, sEMG results, orthopedic tests, and X-rays. We explain what is causing your neck pain and any related symptoms in a clear, easy-to-understand way.
Once we identify the source of your neck pain, we begin care with:
- Specific spinal warm-up exercises
- Your first chiropractic adjustment to start the healing process
- Any additional imaging, if needed
We will then schedule your third visit.
Visit 3 (Day 3): Your Care Plan
At your third visit, we review any additional X-rays and go over your personalized care plan. This plan is designed to help correct spinal issues, stabilize your head and neck, and maintain long-term spinal health so you can move and feel your best.
Digital X-rays
X-rays are an important tool for evaluating neck pain because they allow us to see structures of the spine that we cannot see on physical exam. Pain signals tell us that something is wrong; X-rays show spinal alignment, posture, joint positioning, and areas of abnormal stress that may be contributing to the pain.
They can reveal changes in spinal curves, joint spacing, degeneration, or structural shifts that influence how the neck and upper spine move and function. The information from X-rays helps us create a personalized treatment plan by allowing us to tailor adjustments, exercises, and corrective strategies to your specific spinal care needs. Having the most accurate information allows us to provide you with the best treatment for your headaches.
Specific Chiropractic Care in Southwest Denver, CO
Here at Meridian Health Center, we focus on the subluxation(s) that are creating your neck pain, headaches, or even lower back pain. Let’s define what a subluxation is: A subluxation is a misalignment or restriction in the movement of a vertebra that can interfere with normal nerve function and overall spinal mechanics. In the cervical spine, subluxations are especially significant because they can disrupt communication between the brain and the rest of the body, contributing to muscle tension, altered movement patterns, and recurring neck pain. When left uncorrected, these lead to poor posture, nerve irritation, and discomfort that radiates into the head, face, and neck.
Specific spinal correction adjustments can benefit patients with headaches by removing upper neck subluxations and restoring healthy alignment and movement. Specific corrective adjustments help joint mobility, muscular strain, and decrease nerve interference. As we restore posture and spinal mechanics, patients experience less neck pain. Creating a more stable foundation for long-term relief.
Custom Therapeutic Exercise Plan
In addition to your spinal correction, we provide you with specific corrective spinal exercises. These are designed to maintain proper spinal alignment and improve posture by retraining the body to move and bear weight correctly. Your specific spinal exercise helps maintain the spine’s natural curves, reducing stress on discs, joints, and ligaments. Unlike generic exercises, specific spinal correction exercises are tailored to the individual’s spinal structure, making them a powerful tool for long-term correction, injury prevention, and ongoing spinal health.
Cervical Spinal Decompression
In some cases, we will see patients with herniated or bulging discs in their neck, causing neck pain and some associated symptoms such as tingling or numbness down their arms and hands. In addition to our specific corrective spinal adjustment and exercises, decompression can help reduce neck pain. During decompression, a specialized table gently stretches the spine, creating negative pressure within the discs. This negative pressure encourages disc retraction, promotes fluid and nutrient exchange, and reduces nerve compression. By alleviating pressure on affected discs, spinal decompression can decrease neck pain and improve spinal function.
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Common Causes of Neck Pain in Southwest Denver, CO
There are many reasons why you may be having neck pain. When identifying the root cause of a problem, we need to determine what’s actually causing it and address it. We look at all the factors that may be involved and work to address them so you can get the best results. Here are some common causes.
Bulged Cervical Discs
A cervical disc is made up of two parts, a nucleus and an annulus fibrosis. The nucleus is the center of the disc, and it’s a gelatin-like substance. Think of it like the jelly inside a jelly donut. The annulus fibrosus is the outer ring that is rigid and holds the nucleus in place. A disc bulge occurs when the annulus fibrosus starts to weaken, and the nucleus pushes backwards. This can put pressure on the tissue behind the disc, the spinal cord, and the spinal nerves. This causes localized neck pain, stiffness, and sometimes radiating pain or numbness in the shoulders and arms. It can also increase discomfort with certain movements or prolonged sitting. By reducing the pressure with decompression, realigning your spine with corrective spinal adjustments, and strengthening it with specific spinal exercises, the spine’s natural curve can be restored.
Herniated Disc
A herniated disc is very similar to a bulged disc, but one step further. This is where the nucleus pulposus (jelly-like center of the disc) pushes through and breaks the annulus fibrosus (the toughest outer layer), pushing on nearby nerves. This is why people feel sharp pain, pain that radiates down the leg, numbness, tingling, or weakness in the upper shoulders, arms, and hands. It usually happens from wear‑and‑tear, lifting something the wrong way, or a sudden movement.
Spinal Stenosis
Spinal stenosis happens when the space around your spinal cord or nerves becomes too narrow. This irritates your spinal cord or nerves, which may cause neck pain, arm and hand pain, numbness, tingling, or weakness. Spinal stenosis often feels worse when standing or walking for a long time and better with heat or ice, chiropractic care, and proper postural exercises.
Muscle Strain
A neck muscle strain is an injury to the neck muscles or tendons that become overstretched or torn, causing pain, stiffness, and reduced range of motion.
Trauma, repetitive motion, and poor posture are often the cause. Symptoms are localized to the neck and shoulder area and described as achy. Pain increases with movement. Having proper posture and alignment gives your body the best mechanical advantage to reduce strain on the muscles and tendons that cause your neck pain.
Facet Joint Dysfunction
The facet joints are the connections between the bones of the spine. The nerve roots pass through these joints to go from the spinal cord to the arms, legs, and other parts of the body. These joints also allow the spine to bend and twist, and they keep the back from slipping too far forward or twisting without limits. When these joints become swollen due to injury or arthritis, it causes pain. If in the neck, it may cause headaches and difficulty moving the head. Keeping proper alignment and movement helps keep these joints from breaking down.
Tech Neck
Tech neck, aka “text neck,” is the most common cause of neck pain we see in patients. Because of technological advances, we spend hours every day on screens at work, school, and home without thinking about our posture. This causes rounded shoulders, a severe forward head posture, and an increased slouched upper back. This “C” shaped posture puts intense pressure on the cervical spine, causing the muscles to fatigue. Symptoms such as neck, shoulder, and upper back soreness. A decrease in range of motion associated with a tension headache, as well as some tingling or radiating pain down the arms. Specific corrective chiropractic adjustments and exercises help counteract that forward position and restore proper posture.
Subluxation
A subluxation occurs when a vertebra shifts out of position due to poor posture, stress, or trauma, altering its dynamic movement and potentially interfering with the nervous system’s function. This misalignment causes stress on the ligaments, muscles, and surrounding nerves, leading to pain, stiffness, and reduced range of motion. We, as chiropractors, find these subluxations through a detailed exam, postural analysis, motion testing, and x-rays to determine where the subluxation is, how long it has been present, whether it is fixable, and how long it will take to resolve. Chiropractors are trained and best qualified to locate and correct subluxations.
Osteoarthritis
Osteoarthritis is an inflammatory process that happens over time, as we age. The word can simply be broken into “osteo,” meaning bone, “arth,” meaning joint, and “itis,” meaning inflammation. Therefore, it directly indicates joint inflammation. This is caused by joint wear and tear throughout our lives.
Osteoarthritis affects the cartilage, which is the joint’s cushioning and gliding material. The degeneration of this cartilage affects the joint’s mobility and increases inflammation of the joint, leading to pain and discomfort. It is tough to reverse the effects of this; however, seeing a chiropractor regularly for adjustments can slow the progression of your osteoarthritis, as we help keep those joints moving the way they should!
Whiplash
Whiplash is when the neck and head are suddenly forced back and forth like a whip. It most commonly occurs during a car accident, sports, or falls. This movement strains and injures the neck’s muscles, ligaments, joints, and discs. Symptoms include neck pain, stiffness, headaches, decreased range of motion, and sometimes dizziness. Getting examined and treated by a chiropractor is one of the fastest and safest ways to recover from a whiplash injury.
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2750 S Wadsworth Blvd suite c 109, Denver, CO 80227
Frequently Asked Questions
Is a chiropractor in the Southwest Denver, CO area good for neck pain?
Yes, a chiropractor is an excellent choice for treating neck pain. Chiropractors specialize in addressing the root causes of neck pain, whether it’s due to spinal misalignments, muscle tension, disc issues, or poor posture. Through precise adjustments, they can restore proper alignment to the cervical spine, relieve pressure on nerves, and reduce muscle tension. Unlike medications, which only mask symptoms, chiropractic care focuses on correcting the underlying problem to provide long-term relief. Additionally, specific spinal correction adjustments, posture correction, and therapeutic exercises help improve neck stability and prevent future pain. If you’re dealing with neck pain, chiropractic care offers a safe, effective, and drug-free solution.
When should I see a chiropractor for my neck pain?
Sooner, the better. Chiropractors can address both big and small issues that can cause neck pain. Earlier treatment significantly decreases the likelihood that the pain will progress and drastically increases the treatment success rate. The quicker you can get it examined and treated by a chiropractor, the better.
Is it okay to pop my own neck?
No!!!!! While it may provide temporary relief, you are often moving joints that don’t need adjustment, which can lead to hypermobility. This means that the joints become too loose and unstable, potentially causing additional strain on surrounding muscles, ligaments, and other joints. Without addressing the underlying issue, self-adjustment can create long-term problems and even make your neck pain worse. Chiropractic care ensures that adjustments are performed safely and precisely, targeting the areas that truly need attention to restore proper alignment and function.
Is massage or chiropractic better for neck pain?
Both chiropractic and massage are beneficial for neck pain. They both complement one another and both help substantially.
Does insurance cover chiropractors for neck pain?
Chiropractic is one of the best ways to treat neck pain, and insurance companies recognize this. Every insurance plan is different, and depending on the coverage, it may be more cost-effective not to use it. Having or not having insurance should not hold you back from getting care. Most offices like ours have affordable care if insurance doesn’t cover.
How can I relieve my neck pain?
There are many ways you can help relieve your neck pain, but most are just temporary. Heat, ice, stretching, and exercise can help provide relief. But investigating the cause is the best way to treat it. Always remember, symptoms are the body’s warning signs that something is not right.
How should I sleep with neck pain?
Sleeping can be difficult when struggling with neck pain. The simplest answer is to sleep with your neck supported. The ideal position is to sleep on your back with a small pillow under your neck, supporting the lordotic curve of your cervical spine without pushing you into excessive flexion. If you are a side sleeper, use a pillow that is about the same width as your shoulders. Once again, not too small or too large that it pushes you into excessive lateral flexion one way or the other. Avoid sleeping on your stomach. Sleeping on your stomach forces your neck into prolonged extension and rotation, which can exacerbate issues.
How can you tell if your neck is out of alignment?
Pain and posture are our body’s way of alerting us to a significant health issue. Pain, numbness, weakness, decreased range of motion or mobility, functional problems, or postural distortions may indicate that your cervical spine is misaligned and interfering with proper nerve function.
$99 New Patient Special
– Day 1: History review, consultation, nerve scan, exam, and x-rays –
– Day 2: Review exam and x-rays, and adjustment –
– Day 3: Dr’s report of findings, review recommended treatment plan –
