Straight neck: little curve in vertebrae - truth or myth?

[sheryl]

DH and I have been going to see this chiropractor since our dd was a newborn. Now she is receiving chiropractic therapy and adjustments along with me. Why you ask? Our chiropractor took x-rays of my dd and told us she has only a slight curve to her neck; it's really nearly straight. To top that - he took x-rays of my neck and mine is worse! He said mine is almost straight. Can this be? We talked to a woman the other day (one I respect); she has over 30 years as a nurse and she said in all her nursing career she never heard of such a thing. So, is the nurse wrong or is the chiropractor just wanting us to dig deep in our pockets? Sorry, if that sounds terrible.

[mermo]

There are natural physiological curves that should be present in the spine (forward and back, not sideways).

[gardenmom5]

for starters - the nurse is commenting on a subject she knows far less about than she thinks. (I spent two years with many allopathic specialists for my son, including tests and multiple ER visits to our local children's hospital. I took him to a chiropractor - and he had immediate and positive results. he had a fractured vertebra pinching a nerve.)

 

your neck should be curved. it is supporting your skull. one more reason why. posture. is. important!

 

I do yoga minimum 4x per week. It has done wonders for my posture, almost more than frequent chiro adjustments did. I had frequent headaches because my neck posture was very poor. I now use the chiro as only a support for the yoga. dudeling was a forceps delivery, and had a pretty messed up neck. just a few adjustments was all he needed to help correct it, and we saw the improvements. (and I'm not talking the improvements on an x-ray)

 

if you feel you are being taken advantage of, try a different chiro. there is definitely a difference, just as there are differences with allopathic providers. Mine gave me a specialized foam block I use for doing neck exercises to help strengthen it and keep it in better alignment.

 

do pilates, do yoga, do ballet. they are things that will help your posture/spine and you don't have to pay someone for it. make sure you have good posture when on the computer.

[Tiramisu]

I don't think this is something to get worried about. I doubt a chiropractor can help it very much either.

 

The straight neck, or reversal of normal cervical lordosis, can come from poor posture possibly caused by low muscle tone or lax ligaments. Low muscle tone and lax ligaments can contribute to poor posture because it makes it much more difficult for the body to hold itself straight. I would be curious if either you or your dd have lax ligaments which might be apparent if any of your joints are hypermobile.

 

Strengthening can be helpful.

[Saraswati]

for starters - the nurse is commenting on a subject she knows far less about than she thinks.

 

:iagree:

 

 

I am a nurse with 15 years under my belt, and I also have (had) straight neck syndrome. I saw a chiropractor about it - he sent me for X-rays to confirm. I always had excessive pain in the middle of my back and horrible headaches. There wasn't much the chiropractor could actually do, and he was honest with me about that; however, he recommended this:

 

http://www.posturepump.com/1000.aspx

 

I've been using it for about 2 years now - about 3 minutes every day (I took the straps off of mine) - and I never have pain in my mid-back anymore. Rarely, I'll start to get a headache. They usually come on when I do activities that I have to look down with my head at an angle (sewing, cleaning dishes, etc.) I use the pump for a few minutes and they subside. My chiropractor suggested I not buy from the company, and search Amazon and Ebay instead. I found one brand new for much less that way.

[jentancalann]

I had that as a child and saw a chiro who wasn't getting money from us- he was our cousin. I used to get headaches a lot. He had me lay on the floor with a rolled up towel under my neck for 20 or so minutes at a time every day. Seemed to work.