Question
Thank you for answering so quickly.  The sensation disappeared completely last night but returned this morning but neck also feels tight.  Anyway, can you explain or tell me why when I swallow I can feel what I think is my neck muscle on the right back side - kinda feels like my muscle is being stretched when I swallow. It's not a constant feeling and it doesn't hurt.  Lastly, when I do have that feeling, I can put pressure on my neck with my finger tips in that area and swallow and everything feels normal again (other words it doesn't feel like a muscle is being pulled), does that mean that this feeling is muscle related?  This is really starting to annoy me, I guess because I have never really had this feeling before.

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Followup To
Question -
Hey, I would like to thank you in advance for your time.  I am a 27 yr. old female.  Medication currently taking Zrytec D, Nasonex, Wellburtin XL, Xanax (on occassion), multi-vitamin along w/ numerous supplements, birth control pills and sometimes Advil.  I drink once a week and ex-smoker.  Diagnosed with TMJ, suppose to wear a splint every night but after tonsillectomy, it doesn't seem to fit right anymore.  Recently getting over anxiety/panic/OCD attacks -disorders.  Huge fear of cancer - grandmother died of Ovarian cancer 2 yrs. ago.  Had a tonsillectomy one month ago due to chronic tonsillitis.  I do frequently pop my neck, back, fingers and wrists but lately it seems like its more harder to pop my neck and back.  My problem and I am not sure if I should go to my chiropractor or Ear, Nose and Throat doctor or give it a few days or weeks....

Yesterday while at work, which is a computer/desk job -I realized as I was leaving to go home that when I swallowed some water, I had this weird sensation (seemed to appeared out of no where) on the right back side of my neck more toward where my back and right shoulder meet (I don't remember straining or pulling any muscles).  It doesn't really hurt or cause any pain and I have no problems at all swallowing and no pain when swallowing, just a weird sensation type of feeling on the right back side of my neck, almost like a muscle is cramped up or stuck (hard to describe). I don't feel sick or anything. NO weight loss, no sore throat, no nausea and no dizzyness.  When I bend my head down, I can feel it (my neck) stretching down my back and right shoulder.  Does this sound like a common thing and if so what can I do to help my neck?  Or could there be something seriously wrong with me? I just didn't know if this was considered a "common" problem within your line of work or if I should go to my ENT doctor since I do have a fear of cancer.  I did have a barium swallow last December - had a lump in throat sensation - results were normal, nothing wrong - sensation was from anxiety.  Plus I think that my ENT doctor would have noticed if something where wrong while he and the anthesialogist were in my mouth and putting tubes down my throat during my tonsillectomy.  Please advise - I am trying not to freak out.  THank you
Answer -
Dear Tara,

Thank you for your question.  Unfortunately, it is based on some misconceptions.  In order to answer it properly, I'll first need to give you some background on anatomy and physiology and how they relate to the chiropractic profession.  I'll then offer my thoughts on how this may relate to the situation you describe.  

There are two branches or schools of thought in chiropractic.  Briefly, they are differentiated by whether they deal with the limited therapeutic approach for aches and pains (commonly termed "mixed" chiropractic because it represents a mixture of a chiropractor with a non-chiropractic matter) or a non-therapeutic approach to optimum body performance (termed "straight" chiropractic because there is no mixing of chiropractic with anything else).  My expertise is in non-therapeutic straight chiropractic.

Therapeutic "mixed" chiropractic is the older approach based on a split from the founding principles of chiropractic about a century ago.  It shares a therapeutic objective with physical therapy and quite often a therapeutic mixed chiropractor will use physical therapy procedures.  

Non-therapeutic "straight" chiropractic is the more modern of the two.  It deals with a particular, common situation called a vertebral subluxation.  This is not at all the same as the findings referenced in your question but they may exist together.  The spine is made of many bone segments which house and protect the spinal cord and the smaller spinal nerve branches that come off the spinal cord and exit between the bones.  These nerve pathways carry information or messages between the brain and the cells of the body.  These messages are essential for the life of the cells.  Without brain messages, the cells immediately begin the process of dying; i.e., they can no longer function the way they should to maintain life.

Because the bones are moveable, they can misalign in such a way as to interfere with the messages and, ultimately, the ability of the person to function at their best or express their optimum potential, whatever that may be.  People with vertebral subluxations are not able to get all they can out of life.

Vertebral subluxations can be caused by a wide variety of factors, what we'll generally call stresses.  These stresses can be physical (such as exercise routines, sleeping posture and mattress condition, the birth process, sneezing, falling down, etc.), mental / emotional (in its many forms, probably the most familiar use of the word stress), or chemical (such as pollution, drugs, perhaps even alcohol, etc.), which are, unfortunately, uncontrollable and regular parts of daily living for all age groups.  In short, a vertebral subluxation can occur for a multitude of reasons.

Tragically, vertebral subluxations are rarely obvious to the individual they affect.  They usually have no symptoms.  The reason is that most of what goes on inside you happens without your awareness.  For example, try specifically to "feel" your liver.  Try to be aware of exactly what it's doing right now.  You can't, so you can't know if it's functioning at its best or something less.  To complicate things, nerve pathways that carry messages of control (termed "motor" nerves) have no way of transmitting ache or pain messages, so your body function may be far from perfect and you'd not have any alerting signal whatsoever.  The branching of the nerve pathways is complex and extensive, making it exceedingly difficult to predict or determine exactly how the person will be affected.  For this reason alone, it is impossible for anyone to give you reliable answers as to a connection between the spine and specific symptoms of any kind, including the things you mention.  Certainly, every part of the body must have connections to the nerve system so that vital information may be transmitted between the brain and the cells.  There are some who would attempt to review the possible nerve connections between a nerve root and specific organs or tissues, but this ignores the multitude of variables that determine the expression of function.  The question of how your individual body carries out the myriad of activities just to maintain life is enormous and would require your Creator's (or creator's, for the agnostic) knowledge, or at least far more than our educated knowledge of the complexities of life.

Now that you have more information about the body and vertebral subluxation, how do you make use of it?  Well, first understand that this is not an explanation of why you have the various symptoms you described or whether they are related to vertebral subluxation.  Are there reasons for what you're experiencing?  Even though they may be beyond our ability to identify with certainty, yes, there are; but pinning them down is not relevant to the matter of whether you will benefit from being free of vertebral subluxations.  Vertebral subluxation is, in and of itself, detrimental to your life.  It is not valid or reliable to try to connect it to unusual neck sensations or complaints, from the things you mentioned, or any other pain or organ or tissue conditions.  In order to know if someone has a vertebral subluxation, it is necessary to have that person's spine checked by a non-therapeutic straight chiropractor using a method of "analysis."  When a vertebral subluxation is detected this way, it is obviously important to correct it as soon as possible.  The term for this procedure is 揳djustment.?br>
Since vertebral subluxations are caused by so many different things, people choose to go to a non-therapeutic straight chiropractor on a regular basis to enjoy the most time free of the life-robbing effects of vertebral subluxation. There's a saying that straight chiropractic is not about your back, it's not about pain, it's about your life.  Each person has a unique potential in life.  With vertebral subluxation, it's impossible to realize that potential.

You ask if I think your situation is a 揷ommon thing?or if there is 搒omething seriously wrong?with you.  The reality is that nobody could responsibly answer such things in this type of format, having never even met you, and, more importantly, there is a different purpose to what I am telling you.  A key question to ask for your purposes, then, would be, Is someone with the symptoms you list better off with vertebral subluxation / nerve interference or free of subluxation / with the nerve channels open?  It is easy to see that having all the available nerve messages getting through is better than only some of them getting through, regardless of the person's situation otherwise.  It's not that you should see a non-therapeutic straight chiropractor FOR your symptoms ?you should visit one in an effort to be free of vertebral subluxations, even WITH those symptoms.  Non-therapeutic straight chiropractic is not about diagnosing and/or treating these complaints or any therapeutic-model or medical condition.  It is entirely separate in its goal.  

So, too, is it completely different and separate from the perspective, expertise or methods of an ENT medical doctor.  It is quite acceptable for someone to visit both an ENT and a non-therapeutic straight chiropractor.  Each professional will serve a different, non-duplicating purpose and service for the individual.  That is typically not true, however, for therapeutic mixed chiropractic which shares the therapeutic objective.  

In order to determine if you have a vertebral subluxation, though, it would be wise to have your spine checked by a non-therapeutic straight chiropractor - even if you still elect to have therapeutic attention or advice for your various reported symptoms from an ENT medical doctor.  It's the only way to know, and for someone who reports being ready to 揻reak out,?I would think being properly informed might be important to you in making choices about your options.  Remember, the two objectives are not the same.  

As I mentioned earlier, not all chiropractors adhere to this and it is important that you be able to distinguish which ones do if you're going to seek the non-therapeutic straight type of service.  You need to understand very clearly that the practice objectives of therapeutic mixed chiropractic and non-therapeutic straight chiropractic are quite different, as described above.  What I can tell you must not be interpreted from the mixed viewpoint.  

If you are interested in finding out how to locate a non-therapeutic straight chiropractor in your area, please contact me at this site again or at [email protected].  You may also visit www.gschiro.com, a site that represents non-therapeutic straight chiropractic organizations on a state level.

Tara, I wish you the best in understanding what non-therapeutic straight chiropractic has to offer.  It has been my pleasure to provide you with some information.

Sincerely,
James W. Healey, D.C.  

Answer
Dear Tara,

Thank you for your follow-up question.

Originally, you had asked me to comment on unusual neck sensations.  Your follow-up is essentially the same question, though a few days later and with some more detail perhaps.  

I will invite you to re-read my original response and give particular attention to the matter of vertebral subluxation - what it is, why it is important to you and what you should do about it - and the differences between non-therapeutic straight chiropractic and therapeutic disciplines.  I believe you may benfit significantly from this information and from non-therapeutic straight chiropractic for all the reasons that I mentioned.  I may not have emphasized that enough.  

In short, non-therapeutic straight chiropractic can benefit you, not as a treatment or evaluative procedure for your complaints, but in ways that you may not have considered.  As I said earlier, non-therapeutic straight chiropractic is not about symptoms, aches, pains, unusual sensations, your neck, your back, etc., it's about your life.  Tara, I don't want you to miss out on understanding this important distinction.  

I hope this helps clarify things.  

Sincerely,
James W. Healey, DC