Treatment of Neck Pain for the Serious Athlete

Today’s Post Comes from A Yahoo Answer—Question: I am starting to compete in sports a lot more and have suffered from a stiff and stressed out back/neck. I am looking into massage therapy or acupuncture. Can anyone suggest the best treatment to loosen my back and neck?

Answer: Being an athlete means that you are going to have more wear and tear on your body- you will also have be in best shape possible so that your performance is the best that it can be.

I think the best thing for you is to see a chiropractor. Since you are an athlete, you want to make sure your body is fully tuned, in the best possible shape that can be. A chiropractor will also be able to help you out when you are injured.

A chiropractor can help you with aligning your spine, working on muscle spasms, and helping to increase your range of motion. They use techniques like chiropractic manipulative therapy, modalities such as ice/heat/electrotherapy, traction (neck and lower back), and trigger point therapy (for muscle spasms, trigger points and sore muscles). They can prescribe exercises (stretches and strengthening excercises) and nutrition for optimal function as well. They may even prescribe you orthotics after analzying your gait, posture and foot arches.

To help loosen your muscles at home, you can also purchase a Tens Unit for Home use
“TENS” stands for Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation. The TENS unit is a pocket size, portable, battery-operated device that sends electrical impulses to certain parts of the body to block pain signals. With using electrotherapy at home, the electrical currents produced are mild, but can prevent pain messages from being transmitted to the brain and may raise the level of endorphins (natural pain killers produced by the brain).

You can the tens unit in conjuction with ice at home as well a natural pain relief gel like biofreeze. Here is a great article about How to use ice and biofreeze to treat muscle spasm at home on Wellsphere

Additional Resource(s):
Look for a chiropractor in your area by doing a Google Search, or by asking around for a referral. If you need help finding a Dr in your area, please email me at the Neck Pain Support Blog. Here are some listings of Chiropractors in various locations in the USA: