A pain in the neck can be really unpleasant and be associated with shoulder, elbow, hand ache (or other character of pain), headaches, ear ache, feeling of eye strain and even nausea. As with any pain we need to identify what the disability is e.g. how your body has gone wrong, what movements you cannot perform and where your strength is lacking. The neck can affect movement anywhere-else in the body and we do not just focus on the neck / head movements during an assessment. When we do not move fully and correctly the neurological impression of our body in our brain will alter and quickly become something we no longer recognise (a new normal). Detecting and diagnosing a reduction in range of motion of the spine is an involved process that needs to be recorded carefully because the body usually has more than one way to perform a particular movement. Incomplete motion will lead onto adaptive motion and compensatory patterns. The compensatory pattern can be a source of pain e.g. back pain that clears up when only the neck is treated.

The cervical section of the spine is the only section that has the ability to slide forward vertebrae upon vertebrae facilitating our own ability to move our head forward. Forward head carriage is a common fault and one that means the musculature inbetween the shoulder blades has to work so much harder to hold the head against gravity over time creating imbalance. When you are next in your car and you pass another car or one passes you look at the head position of the driver; or glance at a colleague in the office who is getting stressed; some people have their head a long way forward!

The neck has a lot of neurological reflexes that enable normal functioning within our body that most of us will take for granted, but it does mean that the neck can have some very interesting and varied symptoms associated. The proof of an associated area being causally linked is reproduction of the symptoms or resolution of the symptom when only the neck has been treated.

The neck is a strong structure and can easily manage the forces of adjusments in very skilled hands. We have over a decade of experience and full registration to show we have undergone the many years of study required to be able to feel individual vertebral motion and safely and effectively help with neck pain syndromes.