How a Cervical Spine Injury Impacts The Rest Of The Body
When is a pain in the neck more than just a pain in the neck? A cervical spine injury can wreak havoc with more of the body than you might realize, which is why it’s so important to promote good spinal health. Learn more about the ripple effects neck injuries can have throughout the body.
What is a Cervical Spine Injury?
The very top of your spine at the base of your skull, comprised of C1 through C7 vertebrae, is the area known as the cervical spine. Injury to this area can, depending upon severity, have extremely serious repercussions throughout the body. The most common type of injury to the cervical section is whiplash, which can be the result of a contact sports or traumatic injury, but is often caused by sudden impact and jolting related to traffic accidents.
There are a variety of ways in which a neck can be injured, and not all can be easily attributed to a single event or accident. Compression, subluxations and misalignments in the cervical area can all interfere with nerve signals.
How is the Whole Body Affected by a Cervical Spine Injury?
Your spine is essentially the information superhighway for your entire body. Messages from the brain to various systems and internal organs are relayed through the spinal cord, which is housed within the spinal vertebrae. Learn about cervial spinal injury sings and symptoms in this section.
Injury to the C1 vertebrae can cause dizziness, fatigue, headaches and migraines. C2 injuries can result in ringing ears, blurred vision and even sinus trouble. Moving into the lower cervical region, injuries to C6 and C7 can lead to sore throat, persistent cough, shoulder and neck pain, along with other surprising symptoms.
Damage and misalignment due to cervical spine injury can have far-reaching effects, sometimes causing patients to believe they’re suffering from conditions seemingly unrelated to the neck. This is where the right treatment plan can lead to significant improvements in not just neck pain and diminished range of motion, but improvement in quality of life and overall health.
Recovering from a Cervical Spine Injury
Traumatic injuries aren’t the only ones that occur in the cervical region. While it’s easy to pinpoint how a condition like whiplash occurred, it isn’t always so easy to track down and identify the source of chronic, seemingly unexplained pain or a sense of unwellness, so getting a consultation from a whiplash injury doctor is a better idea. Diagnosing and treating an undetected cervical spine injury can help to clear the path for better communication between the brain and your internal systems as it also helps to reduce pain.
Working with a chiropractor allows you to explore non-surgical treatment that doesn’t include prescriptions or invasive procedures. Together, you and your chiropractor can set attainable goals, charting a path to a better life with less pain, more flexibility and maybe even improvement in conditions you thought were unrelated to your neck. After a diagnostic exam and the development of a plan customized to your needs as a patient, a chiropractor can uncover the source of your body’s distress.
