“How often should you see a chiropractor for neck pain?”

First you would have to determine what is causing your neck pain, is it muscular imbalance, nerve related, and possible degeneration of some sort. If symptoms are acute or continue to exacerbate, I like to see my patient a few times a week in the beginning, while slowly decreasing their visit amount. Some patients are encouraged by their Chiropractor to continue care at a certain amount a month as the care helps to alleviate symptoms and keep proper function of the spine and body.

This can vary widely. In my opinion, go three times a week for two weeks then if some progress is being made, continue 2 x week for 2 weeks then taper off watching to see if pain returns or stays fixed. This is just a common scenario as each case may have reasons to be different. If you are trying to just prevent pain that is not present at the moment, and you have a chronic issue like a job wearing a heavy helmet or you sleep on your stomach, then once a month is a good idea.

I need more info to answer this correctly. Is there a reverse curve in the neck? Is there DDD of the spine and the discs? If these are present, then a regular corrective program of adjustments would be best, 2-3 adjustments per week, for at least 18 weeks.

It is difficult to say without knowing your history. It varies from patient to patient. Depending on the severity of your pain, one adjustment may help relieve your pain for a month to 3 months. I usually recommend at least once a month, as long as your symptoms aren't severe. In the beginning you may need to be seen as often as 2 to 3 times in a week. For less severe cases, maybe once a week until it's manageable.

Every situation is different. If it is acute and new pain, you should see a chiropractor at your earliest convenience. You will be evaluated and given advice at that point. After you have been evaluated, you will be given advice on a treatment plan. Subsequently, you may choose maintenance care which may be one or two times per month.

If your neck was injured in a sports incident or auto accident or even a work injury, we recommend 3x a week for 4 weeks, pending re-eval. If progress is made, we reduce to 1-2x a week until the patient is Maximum Medical Improvement (MMI). For minor aches and pains, I usually recommend 2x per week for for 3 weeks.

It depends on the nature of the pain. At least once for sure.

While every case is slightly different (depending on severity of the issue, how long its been there, what structures are involved etc), generally with neck pain we see patients 2-3 times per week for 2-3 weeks and then taper down to an as needed basis.

Dr. Latza

Some cases can be very similar, many are factored differently. By that I mean mild cases of neck sprain/strain and/or subluxation (Mis-alignment) may involve minimal treatments, do your recommended excel uses, and see the chiropractor as-needed. That would depend on how faithful you do the excercises, how much stress you come under. So basically, you see the chiro. as-needed, which in that case would be infrequent to none, depending on how your neck feels. On the other side, if your neck problem involves subluxation of a long duration, degenerative arthritis (osteoarthritis) and maybe poor posture, then after you’ve received rehab (corrective treatment), then you’d be wise to see the chiropractor on a maintenance basis, think of it as a periodic oil change that you do regularly so your car lasts longer with fewer to no repairs. Our body is just a living “machine”. That might be once-a-month, or every 2 or 3 months, depending on your need. After having your condition corrected/rehabbed, ask your chiropractor this:
“Dr, if I were were an immediate member of your family, what frequency of maintenance care would you recommend for me”?
Sorry to be so long winded on my answer, but the answer to your question has a lot of circumstances to consider, and every case should be analyzed individually. I can share with you that I personally visit my chiropractor once a week, for a maintenance treatment. I’ve done this for over 20 years. If I do that, what does that tell you about the benefit of regular chiropractic care. Now I realize that that frequency wouldn’t be practical for everyone, but it’s like a massage, you can’t over do it, but you can under do it and miss the benefits. In my personal case I have a lot of degenerative arthritis and a well aligned spine will continue to wear and degenerate with age, a well adjusted spine will wear and degenerate slower. A spine that’s misaligned, will wear/degenerate faster and you will have to live there in that body till you die.

It is dependent on what has caused your neck pain, but for wellness reasons, it is good to see them once a month at least.

How often you see a chiropractor for your neck pain depends on how how bad your neck problem is and how long it has been there. Subluxations or misalignments inyour spine degenerate over time. Degeneration in your joints due to old injuries is more commonly known as osteoarthritis. Make sure to have a thorough evaluation and discuss treatment options with your chiropractor.

I’ll often recommend 2-3x/week until the pain is gone, and then a less frequent schedule to prevent it from returning as well as to enjoy all the amazing brain and body benefits Chiropractic has to offer.

The more the damage, the more often.

This depends on the history of pain and some other factors which may delay the healing process. I generally recommend about 10 visits over the course of 10 weeks to stop the pain and fix the dysfunction that has caused the pain.