Have you ever stopped being active because of pain? Check out Lauren's story. Being in constant pain is draining. Regardless of if you have had specific head or neck trauma or if you are in the category of years of pore posture, neck pain runs the gamete from annoying to debilitating. Pain in the neck can arise from many of the various structures in this complex part of the body. One of the most common is due to degeneration of the vertebra and joints causing bone spurs or bony growths. Here we're going to break that process down. When a trauma occurs and a joint in the neck is locked out of place (most commonly the 1st cervical vertebra) it then changes how that joint and the rest of the joints in the neck move. When there is altered movement at a joint it creates inflammation and instability. The body's response to instability is quite brilliant in fact, it's going to lay down more bone to try to stabilize that area. This response is a natural process in the body, and like we said it's pretty brilliant because it takes DECADES for bone to degenerate to the point where it is drastically affecting function. When the human body was evolving and our life expectancy was 40 this process was not a problem. However if we want to stay pain free and active into our 70's-80's or even 90's we need to restore that joint motion as best we can! This is where gentle specific upper cervical chiropractic can help your body feel better and function better. Just ask Lauren.