Almost everyone knows someone with hernia symptoms. In most cases, this is a herniated disc of the back. However, hernias can also occur in the higher part of the spine, the cervical vertebrae. In this case, there is a neck hernia.
The symptoms arise in the same way and are at least as annoying. Because because there are several important nerves running through our neck, the likelihood of serious symptoms is relatively high.
We regularly see people in our practice with symptoms due to a neck hernia, many of these people we can help with our chiropractic care.
We would like to tell you more about our way of working with (pain) symptoms caused by a neck hernia.
How do you know if you are suffering from a neck hernia or something else?
Real certainty is only possible when you have the complaint diagnosed by a specialist. However, there are some things that are a good indication that your symptoms are caused by a cervical hernia.
First and foremost, pain is paramount. This pain is often sharp, but can also be nagging. The pain often gets worse with certain movements. You usually feel the pain not only in your neck; the shoulder and arms can also be painful.
In addition to pain symptoms, you may also suffer from a numb or tingling sensation and you may suffer from symptoms of failure.
What is the cause of a neck hernia?
We already described how a (neck) herniated disc involves a bulging inside of an intervertebral disc. However, this is an explanation of what happens, but this does not tell you why this event occurs.
In order to help you permanently, we need to determine the reason for the bulge. Therefore, we always start with a thorough physical examination that sometimes includes a chiropractic scan. This gives us important information about your load, muscle tension, cramps, subluxations and other data of interest to us.
This information allows us to determine if the herniated disc is caused by weakness (imbalance) of your muscles or if there is a problem due to too much strain. Perhaps there are issues such as subluxations or intoxications that cause weakening of the spine.
All of these things are important to know because these findings form the basis of the care plan. This is entirely focused on eliminating the causes and encouraging the body to recover on its own.