What does it mean when I have a "KINK" in my neck?

A lot of my Monday morning patients will walk into my Highlands Ranch Chiropractic office stating that they slept wrong over the weekend and have a "kink" in their neck. What the heck does that mean and why did it happen to me?

A "kink" in your neck can usually mean 1 of 2 things. It can be that the muscles in your neck became tight from the way you were sleeping, now they are mad and inflamed, and when you try to turn your head in the morning you feel that pinching sensation. You do not have full range of motion of your neck and it does not feel good. Usually, after your morning shower the tight muscles start to loosen up and by mid-morning it is gone and you have full flexibility and range of motion back in your neck.

In a more severe case you may have actually misaligned or subluxated one or more of your neck vertebrae. This means a bone in your neck is not in the right position and it can be putting pressure or even pinching the nerves that come out of your neck. In this case, after your morning shower or morning walk, the pinch sticks around. Sometimes for much longer than a day and it may even cause headaches as the day goes on. When this happens you should see your Highlands Ranch chiropractor as soon as you can. A chiropractic adjustment will realign your vertebrae, calm down the muscles, and take the pinching off the nerve. You may feel better immediately, or it may still take a day or 2 to get you relief.

If you ever wake up with a kink in your neck, know that we are here to help. Regular chiropractic care will also help these morning kinks greatly diminish. With regular chiropractic adjustments, the vertebrae will be more likely to stay in alignment no matter what your activity level. Ice and stretching will always help calm down the muscle and reduce inflammation as well. So get rid of those morning kinks and start seeing your chiropractor on a more regular basis. Our Highlands Ranch Chiropractic clinic will always get you in on the same day and we regularly accept walk-ins. So don't wait, get out of pain today! You can get more information on neck pain on our website at www.DetoxifyYourLifestyle.com and many more health articles on our blog at www.DetoxifyYourLifestyle.com/blog.