Why people come in
The situations we hear most often
- A stiff neck in the morning that takes time to loosen.
- Tension between the shoulder blades that builds through a day at the screen.
- Trouble turning your head, for example to back up the car.
- Pain that travels into the shoulder or down the arm.
- Shoulders that creep up on their own when the week is heavy.
The exam
What gets looked at on the first visit
- An interview about your health and about what brings you in.
- A posture analysis.
- An orthopaedic and physical exam.
- A first chiropractic adjustment.
Eight hours at a screen eventually shows up in the neck.
What comes next
The care plan, and what you do on your side
Posture analysis is part of the exam: where your head sits over your shoulders changes what the neck carries all day. The care plan combines adjustments, soft tissue work when needed, and things to do at home between visits.
Worth knowing
- Say so at the first visit if the pain travels down the arm, or if there is numbness: it changes the exam.
- The technique adapts to your age and your state of health: nothing happens before the exam.
Questions
Two questions that keep coming up
I work at a computer all day, can this help?
It's one of the most common situations at the clinic. The exam looks at posture as well as the neck itself, and part of the plan is about what you do between visits.
Does a neck adjustment hurt?
The adjustment is done by hand, quickly and gently. The most common effect is mild soreness, usually gone within 24 hours.