The neck carries a heavy head on a mobile column, and most of what goes wrong with it is mechanical. A segment loses rotation, the muscles around it start guarding to protect it, the guarding limits rotation further, and within a fortnight a patient is turning their whole body to reverse the car. That loop responds well to restoring the movement and settling the tissue around it.
Chiropractic is a reasonable first step when the pain changes with position and movement, when there is a clearly restricted direction, when the neurological screen is clean, and when the story is one of accumulated load rather than a single violent event. A desk, a phone and a pillow account for a large share of the neck pain people live with.
It is also reasonable for the headaches that come out of the neck. A cervicogenic headache is referred from the upper cervical joints and the muscles around them, and treating the neck is what addresses it.
Some necks should not be adjusted. Arm symptoms with weakness rather than only pins and needles, numbness that is spreading, clumsiness in the hands, unsteadiness on the feet, or a neck injury from real force rather than from a slow build are all reasons to be assessed before any manual treatment.
So is a neck that has not moved at all since a collision, a fever with neck stiffness, or pain that does not change with position. These are uncommon, and they are exactly what an examination is for.
If you would rather not have your neck twisted, say so at the first visit. Drop-table and Activator adjustments are low-force and do not involve that motion, and both are used routinely. And if manual care is not the answer, Physical Therapy, Acupuncture and Pain Management are in the same building. Our neck pain page covers the whole picture, and whiplash covers the crash-related version.
The neck is the region where technique choice matters most to patients, because the thing people fear is specific: a forceful rotation. It is avoidable. Activator delivers a single light impulse through a handheld instrument and involves no twisting at all. Drop-table adjusting uses a section of the table that drops a short distance, so the force required is much smaller. Diversified, the hands-on adjustment with the audible release, is one option among three rather than the default, and nothing is done that has not been explained first.
Dry needling is often the deciding tool in a neck, because the muscles at the base of the skull and along the upper trapezius are frequently what limits rotation once the joint itself is moving again. Spinal decompression is used where a cervical disc is involved with arm symptoms. What you do with your desk, your screen height and your pillow generally decides whether the change holds.
The escalation runs on one chart. If the picture changes, Physical Therapy, Acupuncture and Pain Management are in the same building, so a change of direction is a conversation rather than a new referral and another wait.
Under Medicare, chiropractic coverage is spinal manipulation only. The examination, imaging and any therapies performed alongside the adjustment are billed separately and are not covered under that benefit. What Medicare covers for chiropractic care goes through it in full, and our Medicare Advantage page covers the plans that add to it.
On commercial plans, Chiropractic is commonly covered with an annual visit cap counted across every provider you have seen this year. Our team verifies your benefits before your first visit, so the number is known in advance. The insurance page has the full payer list for both states.
Colorado (16 clinics) — Academy in Colorado Springs, Arapahoe, Central Park, Downtown Denver, Greeley, Harmony in Fort Collins, Highlands Ranch, Interquest in north Colorado Springs, Lafayette, Lakewood, Lone Tree, Lowry, Northglenn, Southlands, Tenderfoot in south Colorado Springs, Wadsworth.
Arizona (6 clinics) — Chandler, Deer Valley, Dunlap in north Phoenix, Mesa, Peoria, Westgate in Glendale.
Each clinic page lists the address, the hours and what a first visit involves. No referral is needed for Chiropractic, and our goal is to get you in within the same week.
Most neck pain is mechanical and responds well to restoring the movement that was lost and settling the muscle guarding around it. The examination comes first and decides whether adjusting is appropriate.
Say so at the first visit. Drop-table and Activator adjustments are low-force and do not involve the twisting motion people are picturing, and both are used routinely here. Nothing is done that has not been explained first.
It is routine care, and the examination beforehand is what makes it appropriate or not. Arm weakness, spreading numbness, hand clumsiness, unsteadiness or a forceful injury are reasons to be assessed before any manual treatment rather than after.
Often. Headaches referred from the upper cervical joints are common and respond to care aimed at the neck. Our chiropractic for headaches page covers how to tell whether yours is one of them.
Usually not. Imaging changes the plan when there are neurological signs, a forceful injury, or no progress after a fair trial of conservative care. Otherwise it tends to find age-related changes that were not causing your pain.
It depends on what the examination finds, and you should be wary of a number quoted before it. What you do between visits, particularly with a desk and a phone, usually decides whether the change holds.
Medicare covers spinal manipulation only. The examination, imaging and any therapies performed alongside it are billed separately and are not covered under that benefit.
No. Chiropractic at Mountain View Pain Center does not require one, and neither do Physical Therapy, Pain Management or Acupuncture. If your own plan requires one, our team will tell you when they verify your benefits.
Day or night, seven days a week — and we’ll text you back to get you scheduled. No referral is needed, and our goal is to see you within the same week. Colorado scheduling runs through one number for every Colorado clinic: (720) 749-5599.
