Can Acupuncture Help My Neck Pain?

Virtually everyone suffers from neck pain at some point in time, though it’s usually a short-term concern. When your issue becomes chronic, it can interfere with work, sleep, and many other aspects of daily life. 

As neck pain specialists,our team at Atlas Neurosurgery and Spine Center can diagnose and treat your condition. Though capable of the latest in minimally invasive surgical techniques, Dr. Abhishiek Sharma and Dr. Erik Curtis treat your neck issues conservatively at first, since many cases can improve with simple therapies and modest lifestyle changes.

When this isn’t the case, they turn to alternative treatments including acupuncture, which often proves effective at relieving the pain while supporting natural healing. Since acupuncture is drug-free and low-risk, it’s a worthwhile addition to existing pain management plans. 

Origins of neck pain

Your neck supports your head while permitting a wide range of movement. Pain is often the cost of these dual roles, since all parts of the musculoskeletal system work near capacity to provide these capabilities. Neck pain can result from: 

• Joint wear: each pair of vertebrae for a joint and degenerative conditions like arthritis can cause joint pain
• Nerve irritation: bone spurs from arthritis and herniated discs can compress nerves branching off the spinal cord
• Soft tissue strain: muscles and ligaments crucial to head and neck support are susceptible to strain from minor motions, including injuries like whiplash

Acupuncture for neck pain

Traditional Chinese medicine uses acupuncture to balance your body’s life force by stimulating strategic locations on the body with fine needles. In Western medicine, it’s thought that acupuncture treatment acts on nerves, muscles and connective tissue to boost the activity of natural painkillers in your body. 

Though the precise pain relief mechanism isn’t fully understood, research indicates that acupuncture provides results similar to other treatments, such as therapeutic massage. These results vary between patients, and there often seems to be some level of placebo effect occurring with either modality. 

Patient comfort with the treatment method also seems to influence effectiveness, but at the end of the day, there’s a statistically significant account of reduced pain. 

Since acupuncture is a conservative treatment with a very low risk of complications, it’s a viable option for neck pain that can reduce your dependence on medications. Acupuncture is easily added to most pain management plans without complications or interactions. 

While not everyone responds to acupuncture therapy, relief can be significant when it works for you. Chances are that your neck pain may be the result of a unique combination of factors, so your ideal treatment may be similarly multifaceted. 

Call Atlas Neurosurgery and Spine Center or use the New Patient link to schedule a consultation to discuss your neck pain and treatment options.