Neck Pain Treatment: Dr. Travis Arrington’s Perspective

Specific Chiropractic Care In Sandy, UT

What is a subluxation and why is it important?

A subluxation is a brain-to-body communication problem. When a vertebra gets stuck or shifted, it interferes with the signals traveling along the spinal cord and nerves—like static on the phone line between your brain and the rest of you. Bad communication = poor function, compensation patterns, pain, stiffness, headaches, numbness… basically every symptom people blame on ‘getting old’ or ‘stress.’ Fix the communication, and the body goes back to running itself the way it was designed.

What problems can arise from a subluxation in the cervical spine?

In the neck it can trigger tension headaches, pinched-nerve arm pain, dizziness, jaw issues, and even that foggy-brain feeling because the top two vertebrae talk directly to your brainstem. Left alone, it turns simple stiffness into chronic pain or disc problems fast

How can adjustments benefit a patient with neck pain?

A precise adjustment frees the stuck joint, calms the angry nerve, and tells your brain “threat over,” so most people stand up taller, turn their head farther, and feel the headache pressure drop in minutes. Add ShockWave to melt the guarding muscles and the relief sticks around instead of sneaking back by dinner.

What makes chiropractic care superior to the conventional treatment model?

Conventional care usually hands you pills or shots to quiet the symptom and hopes it stays quiet; we hunt the exact stuck joint or nerve pattern causing the noise and fix it so your body stops screaming in the first place. The result is real freedom instead of a lifetime subscription to the pharmacy.

Which is better, a massage or an adjustment?

Massage feels incredible and loosens the tight muscles; an adjustment fixes the joint that made those muscles tight to begin with—do both together and you get relief that actually lasts instead of just a two-day vacation from pain.

Custom Therapeutic Exercise Plan

Why are exercises important for neck pain relief?

Adjustments fix the brain-to-body communication problem, but exercises retrain the deep neck stabilizers so your brain trusts the fix and stops guarding every second. Without them the subluxation creeps right back and you’re stiff again by next week—ten minutes a day keeps the correction permanent.

How could our muscles cause neck pain?

Tight traps, levators, and scalenes from tech-neck posture yank on your skull and irritate the nerves that feed straight into your head, turning “just tight shoulders” into headaches and that constant ache behind your eyes.

How are our muscles affected by subluxation?

When a vertebra is subluxated, your brain instantly tightens some muscles to protect the area and weakens others, creating a tug-of-war that leaves one side rock-hard and the other floppy—hello one-sided neck pain and headaches.

What are some good neck pain exercises?

Chin tucks, scapular wall slides, doorway pec stretches, yes/no nods with light resistance, and upper-trap stretches—do 10–15 reps of each daily and you’ll feel your start to head sit back where it belongs.

What are the exercises designed to do?

They wake up the deep flexors that hold your head balanced, loosen the overworked traps and levators, and teach your brain the new “safe” posture so you’re ready to hit the mountain.

ShockWave

What is ShockWave treatment?

It’s a handheld tool that fires rapid acoustic pulses deep into tight muscles and trigger points—like a therapeutic jackhammer that breaks scar tissue and wakes up healing without needles or drugs.

How does it work for neck pain?

We run it over the upper traps, levators, and suboccipitals where most neck pain hides—the pulses dissolve knots, flush inflammation, and calm the irritated nerves so your brain stops the pain alarm.

What are its effects?

Most people feel looser after one session; by 3–6 visits pain drops 70–90 %, headaches fade, and adjustments hold way longer because the muscles finally chill out.

What is a ShockWave session like?  What does it feel like?

You sit or lie relaxed while we glide the applicator over the tight spots for 5–10 minutes—it feels like intense, rapid tapping (some spots make you go “whoa!”) but afterward you feel more relaxed and move freer than you have in years.

Nutritional Supplementation

How does diet play a role in our body’s ability to heal?

Your body rebuilds nerves, muscles, and discs with whatever you feed it—junk food keeps inflammation raging and healing on pause; clean food flips the switch so repairs actually happen.

What kind of diet is most effective for relieving neck pain?

Anti-inflammatory all the way: high healthy fats, quality protein every meal, and piles of colorful veggies while keeping sugar and processed carbs almost zero.

What foods should patients eat and which should they avoid?

Eat wild salmon, grass-fed meat, eggs, avocados, olive oil, berries, dark greens, and nuts. Avoid sugar, soda, seed oils (canola/soy/corn), excessive coffee, alcohol, and anything that comes in a shiny package.

Do you recommend any supplements?  If so, which ones and why?

Yes, generally speaking magnesium glycinate (400–600 mg at night) to calm muscles and nerves, omega-3 fish oil (2–3 g EPA/DHA) to kill inflammation, turmeric with black pepper for extra anti-inflammatory power, and vitamin D3 if your levels are low—patients who take these notice their neck pain and stiffness drop fast. Individual recommendations may vary based on health history and personal needs. 

Common Causes of Neck Pain in Sandy, UT

Bulged Cervical Discs

What is the anatomy of a disc? 

The disc is essentially a tough jelly donut between each vertebra—a soft gel center (nucleus) wrapped in a thick fibrous ring (annulus) that cushions and lets you turn your head.

What is a disc bulge?

The ring weakens and the jelly pushes out evenly like a hamburger that’s too big for the bun, irritating nerves without actually breaking through.

What are the causes of a bulged disc?  

Years of forward-head phone posture, old whiplash, repetitive looking down, and uncorrected subluxations that overload the disc.

What are the symptoms of a bulged disc?  

Neck pain that shoots into the shoulder or arm, numbness/tingling in fingers, headaches, and stiffness that makes driving a nightmare.

What is the best treatment for a disc bulge? 

Gentle adjustments to unload the disc, ShockWave to calm inflammation, and posture rehab—most people dodge surgery and feel normal again in weeks.

Herniated Cervical Discs

How is a herniated disc different from a disc bulge?

Herniation is when the ring actually tears and jelly squirts out one side, crushing the nerve harder than a simple bulge. These take longer to heal as well. 

How are the symptoms different?  

Way sharper—burning arm pain, weakness in the arm/hand, and sometimes electric shocks down the arm when you sneeze or turn wrong.

What is the best treatment for disc herniation?  

Precision cervical traction + adjustments to pull the herniation off the nerve, ShockWave to speed healing, and specific rehab—most of our “you need surgery” patients never go under the knife.

Degenerative Disc Disease  

What is degenerative disc disease?  

Normal wear-and-tear where discs dry out, shrink, and lose their cushion over time—like the spine’s version of wrinkles.

How does it affect the discs? 

They get thinner, stiffer, and less shock-absorbing, so joints and nerves take more beating.

What are the risk factors?  

Smoking, bad posture, old injuries, being overweight, and letting subluxations grind away for years.

How does it affect the body?  

Morning stiffness, pain after sitting, headaches, and eventually bone spurs that pinch nerves.

How do you help care for Degenerative Disc Disease in your practice?  

We slow it down with gentle motion-restoring adjustments, ShockWave to keep inflammation low, and posture/core work so the discs aren’t crushed all day.

Spinal Stenosis  

What is spinal stenosis in the neck? 

The spinal canal in the neck gets too narrow from arthritis or disc collapse, squeezing the spinal cord or nerves.

What are the symptoms of stenosis in the neck?

Arm pain or numbness, weak hands, balance issues, and sometimes electric shocks down both arms or legs.

What makes it better and what makes it worse? 

Better: looking down or bringing arms overhead

Worse: looking up or extending the neck.

What is the best treatment for stenosis of the neck?

Gentle flexion-based adjustments, ShockWave to calm nerve irritation, and posture rehab—many patients avoid the fusion talk.

Muscle Strain  

What is a muscle strain?  

Tiny tears in the muscle from a sudden twist, sleeping weird, or just being way too tight.

What causes muscle strain?  

Quick awkward moves, cold muscles, or guarding a deeper joint problem that’s been there forever.

How do muscle strains heal?

Rest, gentle movement, ShockWave to speed blood flow, and fixing the joint so the muscle isn’t stuck on guard duty.

Could they be symptoms of something else?

All the time—most “strains” that never heal are actually muscles protecting a subluxation or disc issue.

Tech Neck

What is “Tech Neck”? What does it look like?  

Forward-head posture from phones and laptops—your head juts forward and the normal neck curve flattens or reverses, looking like a turtle poking out.

Why is it so prevalent?

We stare down at screens 4–6 hours a day now; every inch forward adds 10+ pounds of stress on the neck and shoulder. Say hello to neck and shoulder pain. 

Why is an altered cervical curve so bad for our body? 

It crushes discs, pinches nerves, and tells your brain “danger” 24/7, leading to headaches, fatigue, and early arthritis.

What other problems could arise from tech neck?  

Tension headaches, jaw pain, shoulder issues, numbness in arms, hormone regulation, even breathing and mood problems because the nervous system stays stressed.

Facet Joint Dysfunction

What are facet joints? 

They’re the small gliding joints on the back of every vertebra—like little hinges that let you turn your head and bend without grinding bone on bone.

How can they lead to neck pain? 

When a facet joint gets jammed from a subluxation or tech-neck posture, the joint swells and the nerves scream sharp pain every time you look up, turn, or even sit at your desk.

How do you care for this cause of neck pain? 

We free the stuck facet with a precise adjustment, blast inflammation and boost regenerative healing with ShockWave, and give you simple moves so it stops locking up—patients usually feel the difference in 2–4 weeks.

Osteoarthritis

What is arthritis? 

It’s wear-and-tear where cartilage in joints thins out and bones start rubbing, usually from years of uncorrected subluxations and inflammation.

What does it feel like? 

Morning stiffness, grinding or clicking, and deep ache that gets worse with weather changes or after sitting too long.

How do you prevent arthritis? 

Keep joints moving with adjustments, kill inflammation with diet and omega-3s, and fix posture before the wear adds up.

How do you get rid of arthritis? 

You can’t erase it, but you can stop it from getting worse and quiet the pain so it doesn’t run your life.

How does chiropractic care help someone manage their arthritis? 

We keep the joints moving so they don’t fuse, accelerate healing with ShockWave, drop inflammation with nutrition, and slow the breakdown—patients say they feel 10–20 years younger in their neck and back.

Whiplash

What is whiplash? 

Your head gets whipped forward and backward faster than the neck can handle, jamming joints and stretching ligaments—think classic car accidents, a bad landing on your skis or going over the handlebars on your mountain bike.

How does whiplash occur? 

Rear-end collision, fall, or any sudden stop that snaps the head like a rag doll—most people feel “fine” at first because adrenaline hides it.

What are the effects of whiplash? 

Neck pain, headaches, dizziness, brain fog, arm numbness, and sometimes symptoms that show up weeks later and last years if ignored. These events we think nothing about in the moment are a huge contributor to neck pain later in life.

What are some important things to be aware of after an injury that could cause whiplash? 

Get checked even if you feel okay—adrenaline masks damage, and starting care in the first 2 weeks cuts chronic pain risk by 80+%.

What is the chiropractic approach to treating whiplash and how is it superior to other approaches? 

We calm the brain-body storm with gentle adjustments, ShockWave to heal torn ligaments fast, and specific rehab—patients recover weeks to months faster than the “wait-and-see + pills” route other options push.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is a chiropractor in Sandy, UT good for neck pain?

Yes—Dr. Travis at White Bison Well-Being turns “can’t turn my head” into “forgot I even had a neck” with brain-based adjustments and ShockWave that actually fix the problem instead of just rubbing it.

When should you see a chiropractor for neck pain?

If it’s stiff every morning, hurts to check your blind spot, or keeps coming back no matter how many pillows you try, come in now—waiting just lets the compensation dig deeper.

Is it okay to “pop” my own neck?

Quick answer: no—self-cracking usually twists the wrong joints, irritates nerves, and trains your neck to get looser in all the wrong places (we see hypermobile messes from it daily).

Is a massage or chiropractic better for neck pain?

Massage melts the tight muscles and feels amazing; chiropractic frees the brain signal causing those muscles to tighten in the first place—get both and the relief actually lasts.

Do medical doctors recommend chiropractors for neck pain?

A lot do—major guidelines say chiropractic is a safe, effective first choice for mechanical neck pain before drugs or surgery, and local MDs send patients to us all the time.

Are chiropractors covered by insurance for neck pain?

It depends. In lieu of working with insurance, we have decided to work directly with our patients and aim to make care affordable and accessible to all. 

How can I relieve my neck pain?

Start with chin tucks and gentle yes/no nods, but the fastest fix is a precise upper-neck adjustment that takes the pressure off the nerves firing the pain.

How should I sleep with neck pain?

Back or side only—use a contour pillow that keeps your head level with your spine, no stomach sleeping ever (it’s basically wringing your neck all night).

Why does my neck hurt on one side?

Usually a stuck joint on that side (C2-C3 are the usual suspects) making muscles guard and nerves fire—old whiplash, head tilt, monitors to the side, or sleeping weird are the common culprits.

How can you tell if your neck is out of alignment?

One shoulder higher, head tilted in photos, tight trap on one side, or you can only turn farther one direction—most people feel crooked before they see it.