Freehold Chiropractor Explains Shoulder Pain can be Associated to Neck Pain or Whiplash

Auto injuries are shown to cause more than just neck pain.  In a  new study researchers find that patients with whiplash or other causes of neck pain were more likely to have problems with shoulder function than healthy patients.  Misalignments of the shoulder can create or irritate neck pain.  The shoulder imbalances can also cause other problems including headaches or migraines.

Patients in the research had neck pain of different causes.  It was found they had more difficulty performing routine shoulder movements, and their head and neck postures were altered. The research also showed that depending on the cause of the neck problem influenced the type of shoulder problems the patient had: those patient that couldn’t elevate their shoulders as much as normal patients had insidious onset neck disorders while those patients that had shoulders that were rotated forward slightly had neck problems resulting from whiplash.

Like many other studies, it is found that whiplash patients have a higher risk of developing shoulder pain and experiencing a number of other conditions including pain, headaches, numbness and tingling just to name a few. This shows that neck injuries alter the function of other areas of the body and that it’s so important that a patient finds a practitioner that addresses the entire spine and other surrounding regions, not just the location of the pain itself.

Our chiropractic office, Hometown Family Wellness Center located in Freehold, NJ, addresses the cause of the problems that you are experiencing.  We have been helping patients for over 14 years in the Freehold area and surrounding towns of Marlboro, Manalapan, Howell, Colts Neck, Jackson, Morganville, and other communities of Monmouth and Ocean Counties in New Jersey.  Relying on medications might just cover up your pain at best, but increases the chances of disability because you are not addressing the cause of the pain and you become overconfident that just because the pain is decreased that you can perform normal activities without causing further harm.  Many studies show that chiropractic not only reduces your pain naturally without drugs or surgery, but improves your quality of life so you can enjoy your normal daily activities once again.  Seeking early treatment may help you avoid developing shoulder and back pain, arthritis, degeneration and other problems later on. If you are ready to correct the cause of your neck pain and whiplash, contact our office at 732-780-0044 and also check out our website at www.chiropractorfreehold.com
Helgadottir, Harpa, and Eythor Kristjansson, Sarah Mottram, Andrew Karduna, and Halldor Jonsson, Jr. Altered Alignment of the Shoulder Girdle and Cervical Spine in Patients With Insidious Onset Neck Pain and Whiplash-Associated Disorder. Journal of Applied Biomechanics. 2011; 27:181-191.

Berglund A, Nygren A, Jensen I, et al. The association between exposure to a rear-end collision and future neck or shoulder pain: a cohort study. World Congress on Whiplash-Associated Disorders. 1999;p. 99.

Kosek E, Januszewska A. Mechanisms of pain referral in patients with whiplash associated disorder. European Journal of Pain 2008;12:650-660.

Miller J, Gross A, D’Sylva J, Burnie SJ, Goldsmith CH, Graham N, Haines T, Bronfort G, Hoving JL. Manual therapy and exercise for neck pain: A systematic review. Manual Therapy 15(2010) 334-354.