What’s actually causing your neck pain?
Neck pain has a handful of common origins. Here’s what we see most often at our practice, in rough order of frequency:
Training injuries
The overhead press that went sideways. The bad lift form nobody corrected. The contact-sport hit you shook off but didn’t. Training injuries top our list because we work with a lot of athletes — runners, CrossFitters, lifters, weekend warriors. The neck often bears the brunt of imbalances developed elsewhere: tight lats pulling the shoulders forward, an anterior pelvic tilt cascading up the chain, a shoulder mobility issue that forces the neck to compensate every rep.
Tech neck and desk posture
Working from home, laptop on the couch, phone tilted down four hours a day — modern work is designed to load your cervical spine in exactly the wrong position. Tech neck isn’t one injury; it’s cumulative micro-trauma from a posture your body was never meant to hold for eight hours straight. Very treatable once you address both the joints and the movement pattern reinforcing it.
Sleep position and stress tension
Waking up stiff. Chronic tightness across the top of the shoulders. That “I can’t turn my head all the way” feeling that just lives with you now. Sleep position, unresolved stress, and the body’s tendency to hold tension in the neck all contribute. This category responds well to a combination of adjustments and nervous-system-focused work.
Whiplash and car accidents
Whether the accident was last week or ten years ago, whiplash can leave lasting effects — reduced range of motion, chronic tension, headaches, flare-ups that seem to come out of nowhere. Post-accident neck pain doesn’t always resolve on its own, even after the initial pain fades. We work with a lot of members whose old whiplash injuries never fully settled.
Cervical disc issues
Herniations, bulges, degeneration. Radiating pain or numbness into the arm or hand. These cases require a lighter adjustment approach and often a longer timeline. Our goal isn’t to “fix the disc” — most disc issues heal on their own with time — but to reduce stress on the system and restore motion so the healing has space to happen.
Post-surgical recovery
Fusion members needing to rebuild motion in the segments above and below the fusion. General post-operative rehab. We work carefully with these cases, often with lighter techniques (Activator, Upper Cervical Toggle) and heavy emphasis on movement work.
Don’t see your situation on this list? Contact us and we’ll tell you honestly whether we can help.
How we treat neck pain at Deeply Rooted
Every session starts with an assessment. Dr. Alejandra looks at how you move, where you’re stuck, and what’s compensating for what. The pain in your neck is often driven by something happening at your shoulder, your mid-back, or your hip.
The adjustment that follows fits what we found. For neck work, Dr. Alejandra uses three primary techniques:
Diversified — the classic manual adjustment, the one most people associate with chiropractic. Fast, precise, delivered by hand.
Activator — a small handheld instrument that delivers a low-force impulse. Great for members who are anxious about manual adjustment, hypermobile, or dealing with a condition that calls for lighter input.
Upper Cervical Toggle — a specialized technique targeting the top vertebra of your spine (the atlas, C1) with a precise contact using a specific drop table. No twisting. No cracking sound. Common for members who are hesitant about traditional adjustments or when the primary issue is upstream at the base of the skull.
If manipulation isn’t the right call for you specifically, we use one of the lighter techniques or focus on soft tissue and mobility instead. You never get adjusted just because the schedule said so.
Then Jake takes over for 30 minutes of movement work. Two or three drills specific to what we found in the assessment. If tech neck is your problem, you leave with a set of postural resets. If it’s training-driven, you leave with mobility and stability work targeting the pattern. Care plan members get their programming delivered through our practice app between visits.
How long until you feel better?
Honest answer: it depends on how long you’ve had it.
Acute neck pain (something that flared up this week or in the last month) typically shows meaningful, holding change within 4-6 adjustments. Not “one visit and you’re cured.” Consistency early is what gets your body to hold the change.
Chronic neck pain (something you’ve dealt with for six months or years) is a longer timeline — usually 3-4 months of consistent care. Your body has spent years adapting around the problem, and unwinding that takes time. We reassess every six visits so you see incremental change along the way, not just at the end.
We believe every body is capable of change. We don’t put an arbitrary cap on your care or push a 30-visit package. We reassess with you regularly and evolve the plan as your body responds. If we’re not seeing what we expect, we have that conversation directly.
When to see a chiropractor vs. going to the ER
Not every neck pain is a chiropractic case. We screen every member before we touch you, because some symptoms need immediate medical attention, not an adjustment.
We refer out immediately for:
- Signs of stroke risk (sudden severe headache, dizziness with vision changes, difficulty speaking)
- Numbness or weakness in the arms or hands
- Loss of bowel or bladder control
- Recent significant trauma (car accident, fall, sports impact)
- Fever with neck stiffness (could indicate infection)
- Suspected fracture
If any of those show up in your history or on exam, you get referred to your primary care provider, an orthopedic specialist, or the ER before we do anything else. This is standard practice for us and it’s why we can adjust safely.
What to expect on your first visit
Every new member starts with our $97 New Member Exam. It’s spread across two visits because a real assessment takes longer than the 20 minutes most practices give it.
Day 1 (~45 minutes): Full history, CLA InSight Nervous System Scans, digital posture and squat analysis, functional movement assessment.
Day 2 (~45 minutes): Video walkthrough of your findings so you see what we see, custom care recommendations, and your first adjustment with Dr. Alejandra.
You leave Day 2 with a clear picture of what’s happening, what we recommend, and what it costs. No pressure to commit to a plan on the spot.