Introduction
Yes, neck pain can be caused by problems with neck muscles. However, it is also very important to realize that everything you feel happens through a nerve. Therefore, you may not only have a neck muscle problem you may also have a C5 nerve irritation problem. This would cause you to continue to have neck pain in spite of all your efforts to increase neck flexibility and strength.
Most importantly, it’s not about addressing just one thing, it’s about having a balanced approach and addressing everything. Everything includes how you look at your phone, how you set up your computer workstation, how you work out, run, bike, the position of your head and neck in your favorite chair or couch reading or watching TV, the pillows you use to sleep at night, and the list goes on.
As a Linwood chiropractor, for over 20 years, I’ve been trained to see how people do everything and the impact it has on their spine, disc, nerves, and muscles. I have taken that knowledge and have worked hard to teach people how to do things in a better way that promotes health instead of injury. What stretches and exercises will restore to the muscles. And which spinal joints need to be adjusted so that the spine can last longer and protect the nerves that go through them better.
Muscles the C5 Nerve Innervates
The muscles that the C5, nerves move, heal and repair, and receive information from are the neck, traps, deltoid for shoulder abduction and the biceps brachii for elbow flexion, to name a few.
Organs and Glands the C5 Nerve Innervates
C5 nerves have individual connections to different organs and glands. They also come together with other nerves to form plexuses that together innervate many vital organs and glands of the body.
Spine irritation to the C5 nerves impact Vocal cords, neck glands, pharynx, which can lead to problems like laryngitis,hoarseness, and sore throat.
The C5 nerve is also part of the phrenic nerve (C3-C5) which Innervates the diaphragm and is very important for breathing.
C5 Sensory Nerve Irritation can feel Like Shoulder and Arm Pain
The sensory nerves of C5 transmit feeling from the arm to the brain. This feeling can include dull or sharp pain, numbness and tingling. This can happen when there’s an injury to the arm and shoulder, or if the nerve is irritated without an injury to the arm or shoulder.
It can feel like an injury to the arm or shoulder, because the brain can’t decipher if it’s an arm problem or nerve irritation, it only knows that the nerve is sending a message of pain or irritation to the brain.
As a Linwood chiropractor, my approach is to address everything, the neck, nerve, muscles, and shoulder so that the person can experience a full recovery.
Adjustment of the C5 Bone
A C5 adjustment can restore movement to an unhealthy or stuck joint. This movement restores health to the joint, allowing the joint to last longer and the nerve to be better protected as it exits the spine to the body and enters the spine to the brain.
Conclusion
The C5 nerve impacts many areas of the neck, upper back, shoulder and arm. It also plays a vital role in the organs and glands it innervates, as well as, the nerve plexuses it contributes to affecting vital processes like breathing.
Keeping your spine young and healthy is vitally important, because the health of your spine determines how your body works and how old you feel as you age. The younger your spine, the younger you feel.
Having an exam by a Linwood chiropractor at Fresh Start Chiropractic 609-926-8900 we can help you determine if your neck or up or back pain, shoulder and arm pain, breathing problems are caused by irritation to the C-5 nerve. By addressing your spine, you are positively impacting all the nerves that enter and exit that aspect of the spine.
As a result, everywhere those nerves go will experience improved health and less nerve irritation. In addition, any therapies you would need for muscles will work better with proper nerve protection and communication.