I took a pretty good fall last week… trainer said I twisted and crunched like an accordion… anyway, I dont have any major injuries but my neck has been super tight ever since, plus it kind of pops sometimes. Should I go to a doctor, a chiropractor, or massage therapist? Im just unsure of what to do at this point…
Good question, and always a hard one to answer. Not sure where you live, but consider looking for someone who does myofascial release body work. I’ve never had it done in the acute phase of an injury, but it is awesome for repairing chronic stiffness. KMI is the main “school” – just Google it if interested.
I’d do massage first and listen to what the massage therapist tells you. They know a lot after working on your body. I’d ask for a full body massage with extra time on neck and shoulders
I’ll definitely take that into consideration… I made sure I got back on but my neck is tight…
You might also look for a chiropractor with a massage therapist in house and schedule with both. For me, I need both my osteopath and massage therapist
Unfortunately my regular chiropractor doesnt have a massage therapist in house…
Its your neck, sorry this sounds very strange as you have risking serious permenent injury ,possibly life threatening so I don’t get it. Are you just uniformed if so get to a physician quickly and don’t let ANYONE else touch you till you know nothing is wrong.
Is this a troll?
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Not a troll. No need to be rude. So far no signs of permanent damage so thats why I ASKED.
I would say no to the Chiro. There is a real danger that an injury could be made worse by an adjustment.
If your chiro offers other services like TENS, or Physical Therapy, that should be ok.
A good massage therapist won’t touch your injured neck until you have seen a doctor, too much liability if there is an injury.
If there is no stinging pain, no numbness, or tingling, I would advise you to use NSAIDS (no aspirin) and ice. If you feel you need to see someone see your primary doctor.
This may help, www.webmd.com/back-pain/neck-strain-whiplash#1
Jingles you heal up soon!
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A chiro won’t touch a new injury without a workup that covers at least an xray and possibly an MRI so a doctor would be the place I would start.
Agreed, first step would likely be doctor to get next neck x-rays, then Chiro & massage together.
Depending on your experiences with local professionals, I like a good Physiotherapist who can do manipulations over a chiropractor, but that’s just based on the pros I have available to me!
In my opinion, I think you should made an appointment with your regular doctor and then go from their based on what your DOCTOR recommends.
It’s impossible for us to know what might be wrong with your neck, on an internet forum, and it is pure guessing on recommendations on where you should go first. So start with your doctor who can examine you in person and do proper diagnostic testing.
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Over here the chiropractor sends you for xrays before they work on you and the xrays are free.
I would say doctor first. If it’s primarily muscle, get something like flexeril. That’s the only way I got in and out of bed the last fall I had. Then I did massage and acupuncture. And very last when it still wasn’t right, chiro (because I HATE having my neck manipulated by the chiro, but I’d really jammed up c7-t1. And then I had to do massage all over again because my neck muscles wigged out once my neck was in the right place again. It had been about a month before I went to the chiro.
Walkers actually raises a good point, albeit a bit bluntly. Neck injuries really should be diagnosed specifically before you move on to any complementary treatments. As a massage therapist myself, I would refuse to work on you with a fairly fresh injury, no diagnosis and no OK from your doc.
A fairly serious neck injury can seem “fine,” with “no signs of permanent damage” … until later. The best course of action would be to get to an MD, probably get some imaging done and see exactly what is out of whack. If you’ve just pulled some muscles, great! But if there is multifidus tearing or strain (highly likely) or any bone damage, the approach will be quite different, so it’s better to know. This is the voice of sad experience speaking here!
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Visit your doctor and see if he thinks you are appropriate for PT. A good PT can do things similar to a chiropractor and massage therapist with some other added treatments. It’s also usually covered by your insurance. In what area are you located? I am a PT and may be able to recommend a good practice in your area.
