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Old 06-30-2020, 12:08 AM
Mark in Idaho Mark in Idaho is offline
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Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Somewhere near here
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Mark in Idaho Mark in Idaho is offline
Legendary
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Somewhere near here
Posts: 11,416
15 yr Member
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Digamma,

I experienced a similar vertical impact injury. It sounds like an upper neck injury.

As Jo*mar asked about soft tissue work by your chiro, I agree.

A few issues to consider.

Do you have images of your lower neck? Some of us have cervical or false ribs associated with the lower cervical vertebra. These can get inflamed and cause the numbness you mention when there is a vertical spine compression injury. The high T vertebra can be traumatized and cause TOS, Thoracic Outlet Syndrome cluster of symptoms.

If your chiro is doing the classic 'twist the head and pop the neck' adjustments, he may be too aggressive for your neck. C-1 and C-2 do not respond to this technique because they are not faceted like the lower vertebra. They require very gentle care. Activator, NUCCA, Atlas Orthogonal Chiro, and similar can be helpful.

My physical therapist had me lie on my back and used gentle traction and mobilization to help C-1 and C-2 settle into good alignment.

Regular icing of your neck in all areas may be helpful.

It is important to understand that these neck injuries are what I call Subtle Neck Injuries. They rarely show on imaging. They do not present painful symptoms one would related to an injured neck.

BUT, taking care of the neck as if it is injured with gentle treatment, good posture discipline, icing and such can slowly show improvements.

Range of motion exercises and tracking are usually premature. The upper neck must stabilize before returning to range of motion.

There are two clinic in Canada that specialize in neck issues related to concussion. Myoworx is physiotherapist oriented and the other is chiro oriented. They have demonstrated the value of careful cervical care in these situation.

The US providers are starting to recognize gentle cervical care as important.

I hope your chiro has gentle techniques.

btw, These upper cervical traumas can cause inflammation in the brain stem that can mess with the autonomic nervous system. That is why icing to reduce inflammation can help.
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Mark in Idaho

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