Cervical Neck Pain

Several weeks ago, I was speaking at a seminar on chronic pain and a lady asked if I could help her with a persistent and chronic neck pain. I asked if she had any trauma, such as being in an auto accident and she said "no". I asked her to demonstrate the range of motion that she had and it was severely limited, especially as she turned her head to the right. I estimated that on right rotation she had 15 degrees of motion. Left rotation was not as limited, being some where around 25 to 30 degrees. Forward head flexion was very tight and extension was limited to 10 degrees and done with caution. She had a great deal of muscle tightness and a very obvious fascia strain at the level of C-1 and C-2.

I asked her to lie on the table so that I could more appropriately palpate the muscle tightness as well as the connective tissue tightness. She was extremely tight and limited in tissue flexibility and mobility. I then looked into her mouth, noticing the large amount of dental work. As she put her teeth together, which is the bite plane, a large gap of 1 or 2 millimeters developed on the right side . She also had a very noticeable click on the right side as she opened her jaw.

My overall impression is that she had a shift in the cranial bones during her dental work. In order to help her to understand, I balanced the cranial bones with cranial-sacral mobilization technique and then had her rotate her head. She was astounded, because she had gained at least another 15 to 20 degrees on the right side and the left side also gained 5 degrees. The muscles in her neck were more relaxed and she had no pain. I suggested that she see her dentist for any possible splint therapy for the clicking in the left jaw.

I bring this case up for several reasons: first, the dentist is not to be blamed for this problem. He is a dentist and not a physical therapist trained in the bio-mechanics of how the body works. Second, not all cervical neck pain is due to arthritis or an accident or disease. The problem she was experiencing could not be treated effectively with traditional thinking. In other words, treating the muscles in the neck would not have helped her. It was not a medical problem requiring medication. THE BIO-MECHANICS NEEDED TO BE CHANGED.

If you are experiencing neck pain and it just doesn't respond to traditional treatment, have the function of the cervical bones evaluated and then balance, if needed. It could make a lot of difference in how you are feeling.

Have a great September and God bless each of you.

Bud Golden
Physical therapist
Certified nutritionist and fitness consultant