Most of the patients don’t know whom to consult when they have pain in their neck. At times it’s difficult to find out whom to consult for your problem.  With the freedom of having medical information on the internet, it is difficult to choose whom to see for neck pain like condition. You keep on ignoring your aches and pain till the time you find out what’s good for you; A chiropractor or orthopaedic. Most of you are sceptical about whether to see an orthopaedic and take medications or go for more natural treatment and see a chiropractor. This blog will help you in choosing between both. Let’s firstly understand what is chiropractor; a chiropractor is someone who helps you in the diagnosis and treatment of misaligned joints and treats conditions like

  • Low Back pain and neck pain
  • Nerve compression
  • Joint misalignment
  • Scoliosis (postural)
  • Spinal disc prolapse
  • Cervicogenic headaches

Most of the neck pain is caused by poor posture, muscular imbalance, age-related changes or degenerative changes. Your chiropractor will assess your spine as a whole considering your mid-back (thoracic spine), lower back (lumbar spine) which may be affected as well. Chiropractic spinal adjustments/manipulations will help loosen up the joints; this adjustment can help you in pain relief, better posture when combined with the stability exercises. The chiropractor works on three major components of the body: physical, nutritional and emotional, and can educate you for lifestyle changes required after the treatment.  You might have to see your chiropractor for multiple sessions depending upon the severity of your neck pain.

A chiropractor will rarely advise you for medicines because their treatment approach will mostly be spinal adjustments for your rotated spine along with stretching or strengthening exercises.  If you are someone who has difficulty in any of the above condition/s and is looking for a long term solution should be confident to choose a chiropractor.

Now, let’s understand the role of an orthopaedic in your neck pains;

An orthopaedic doctor is someone who helps the patient in relieving pain by recommending medicines such as analgesics (pain killers) anti-inflammatory drugs, or can advise for surgery. Conditions such as:

  • Disc prolapse
  • Whiplash injuries
  • Spinal canal stenosis
  • Torn ligaments/tendons/muscles
  • Spinal fractures
  • Cervical radiculopathy (numbness and tingling in hands and fingers)

The approach of an orthopaedic to treat chronic neck pain could be medicine, surgery (if your pain is not subsiding with medicines) or physical therapy and spinal correction (chiropractic corrections) depending upon the condition of the patient.  For your chronic neck pains, your chiropractor or orthopaedic can also recommend physical therapy to help you in pain relief. Some of the approaches that a physical therapist can use are spinal decompression for your neck pain, pinched nerves, or even your cervicogenic headaches and help you do exercises to strengthen your core neck muscles.

When you experience pain, you want to make sure the doctor you’re seeing follows a plan of action that is not only effective but that you feel contented with. For fractured bones and sprained muscles, your choice should be an orthopaedist who can help you to repair the immediate damage surgically or with medications. And if you want a non-invasive and more natural treatment approach, contact a chiropractor to find which methods would have optimum results for you.