Neck Pain

We aim to help patients find out what is causing the neck pain so pain so that we can help them correct this issue, using a safe and nonsurgical alternative to treat neck pain. The good news is that neck pain is manageable and more often than not it can be dealt with quickly and easily.

If you are in Bay City, Michigan do not let neck pain keep you down!

Chiropractic care helps many kinds of neck pain.  Pain can be generated from joints, muscles, or nerves. With a thorough history and exam, we identify which structures are the primary pain generators and which structures are affected due to poor structural function.

Fixing the source of the pain is what we do.  By restoring function to each of the named structures above, we help your body take time for it to HEAL and function at 100%. The body is a unique mechanical system and all structures need to be treated to return to 100%. 

We don’t just treat the joints here at Lake Effect Chiropractic, as mentioned above, neck pain can, and most likely will, involve multiple structures which we will identify and correct during your healing journey.

Degenerative disc disease (DDD):

• Most often there are problems in the low back due to degenerative changes involving the C4, C5, C6 or C7 intervertebral discs.  When the disc degenerates, it loses flexibility, leaving your more susceptible to injuring the structure.

• Disc injuries are typically worse first thing in the morning, cause difficulty moving from seated to standing, make it hard to bend over, and pain typically increases when seated.  These are just a few examples of how disc injuries present.

Stenosis

• Narrowing of the spinal canal puts pressure on your spinal cord or nerve roots, you may have numbness, weakness, cramping, and pain in your arms.
• Usually, the narrowing is caused by osteoarthritis, or “wear and tear” arthritis, of the spinal column and/ or by bulging of the discs between the vertebrae (the bones of the back). It may also be caused by a thickening of the ligaments that hold the spine together.
• Management of this condition is best accomplished with a proactive and preventative approach utilizing chiropractic and strengthening rehabilitative care.

Arthritis

• For the first time in history, the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) has recommended that manual therapy (what we do as chiropractors), if added to exercise or rehabilitation, may further benefit osteoarthritis.
• Arthritis typically presents with stiffness in the AM when you first get moving. However, when you get moving, maybe take a hot shower, much of the symptoms improve.
• Arthritis responds very well to chiropractic care because we are aiming to improve movement in the body. We firmly believe movement is medicine!

Sports Injuries

• We at Lake Effect Chiropractic are all about staying in the game, or at the very least, getting back to it as quickly as possible. We want to work with you through an injury, learn how to stay active during recovery, and help you recover to be stronger than before! 

Disc Herniation

• When a disc herniates or “slips”, the nearby nerve can become extremely sensitive and irritated.  This is a severe example; however, you may experience severe symptoms when in reality your condition may only be a minor injury.  This is why a conservative evaluation and treatment to begin is highly beneficial.
• This can be a true “pinched nerve”.

Chronic Neck Pain

• One of the most common conditions we see on a daily basis is chronic neck pain.
• Approaching the whole system: joints and muscles is what makes us different from other offices.
• Don’t let chronic neck pain stop you from being active with your children/grandchildren, or stopping you from going on that stress-relieving run or walk.