3 Ways to Treat Chronic Neck Pain Without Medication

Chronic neck pain can significantly affect your well-being. Whether it stems from long hours at a desk or a fender bender, the persistent discomfort can make everyday activities like reading and watching TV unbearable.

Though medications may provide temporary relief, non-drug treatments may be a long-term solution for neck pain. 

At Legacy Pain and Regenerative Medicine, our chiropractic physician and family nurse practitioner, Dr. Trace Alexander, takes a holistic and comprehensive approach to chronic neck pain. He provides pain management treatments that help now and later.

Read on to learn some of the ways we treat chronic neck pain without medication.

1. Chiropractic care

When you think of chiropractic care, you may automatically think of spinal adjustments. Though we consider the spine and its alignment central to health and well-being, we do more than pop the spinal bones back into place.

Chiropractic care is a whole-body approach to care. For chronic neck pain, we do spinal adjustments to improve alignment, alleviate pressure on pinched nerves, and improve blood flow to damaged tissue.

Our chiropractic care also includes an at-home exercise and stretching program to improve flexibility and strength in the muscles that support the head and neck. We also provide posture therapy to reduce stress and strain on the cervical spine. 

All of our treatments aim to provide long-term pain relief. 

2. Massage therapy

Stress and muscle tension may exacerbate your chronic neck pain. Massage therapy is the perfect treatment for these types of pain flare-ups. 

The hands-on treatment lowers stress hormones and boosts  your body’s production of feel-good chemicals, reducing pain and improving your general sense of well-being. Massage therapy also loosens tight muscles in the neck, shoulders, and scalp, reducing muscle pain. 

Trigger points, which are muscle knots, may contribute to your chronic neck pain. With massage therapy, we use various techniques to unwind the knot and reduce pain.

3. Acupuncture

Dr. Alexander is a certified acupuncturist and uses the ancient healing therapy to ease pain conditions. Acupuncture uses thin needles to stimulate points in the body called acupoints. 

Like massage therapy, acupuncture activates your body’s natural pain killers and feel-good chemicals, reducing pain and boosting well-being. 

We also offer trigger point injections, in which we insert a needle into a trigger point to loosen the knot. The injection may also contain medication that reduces pain and inflammation. You may also find CBD oil helpful for your chronic neck pain.

Medication is just a “bandage” that covers up the cause of chronic neck pain. If you’re searching for real, long-term relief from your discomfort that doesn’t include surgery or more drugs, we have the treatment you need.

Call the office that’s most convenient to you — either in Plano or Addison, Texas — to schedule a consultation with our pain management expert.