Can Chiropractic Help Correct Cervical Lordosis? What You Should Know

At our chiropractic office, we often hear questions about whether chiropractic care can help restore the natural curve in the neck, called cervical lordosis. If you've ever heard of the term "loss of cervical lordosis," you may know that it's more than just a posture issue—it can lead to several uncomfortable symptoms.

In this article, we’ll break down what cervical lordosis is, why losing it can cause problems, and how chiropractic care can help correct it.

What Is Cervical Lordosis?

Your cervical spine, or neck, naturally has a slight curve that helps balance the head’s weight and ensures your spine is properly aligned. When this natural curve is lost, a condition known as cervical kyphosis or cervical rectification can occur, which can sometimes reverse the curvature, leading to poor posture and a variety of health issues.

What Happens When You Lose Cervical Lordosis?

Losing cervical lordosis, whether due to trauma, poor posture, or other factors, is associated with several symptoms. These can include:

1. Neck Pain: Many studies have found a strong link between reduced cervical lordosis and neck pain. People with little or no cervical curve are significantly more likely to experience ongoing neck discomfort (McAviney et al., 2005).

2. Headaches: Chronic headaches can also be a sign of issues in your cervical spine. A study showed that restoring cervical lordosis through chiropractic care not only helped correct neck posture but also relieved headaches and neck pain in patients who had experienced neck trauma (Norton et al., 2022).

3. Dizziness and Balance Issues: Loss of cervical lordosis can also cause dizziness, particularly if it follows a whiplash injury. In one case, a patient suffering from post-traumatic dizziness experienced significant improvement after chiropractic treatments that focused on restoring their cervical curve (Fortner et al., 2018).

4. Arm Pain and Numbness (Radiculopathy): When cervical lordosis is lost, nerve compression can occur, leading to a condition called cervical radiculopathy, which causes pain or numbness in the arms. Chiropractic adjustments aimed at restoring cervical lordosis have been shown to alleviate these symptoms and improve nerve function (Chu, 2021).

   
   

Can Chiropractic Help Restore Cervical Lordosis?

Yes! Chiropractic care, particularly a specialized technique known as Chiropractic BioPhysics® (CBP®), has been shown to be effective in restoring cervical lordosis.

Chiropractic BioPhysics® (CBP®) combines spinal adjustments, cervical traction, and exercises to gradually correct the curve in your neck. For example, in one study, a 16-year-old patient who had lost cervical lordosis due to a car accident underwent chiropractic treatment and saw significant improvements, with the natural curve in his neck restored over time (Norton et al., 2023).

Another study showed that chiropractic care improved not just neck alignment but also relieved chronic headaches and neck pain in a pediatric patient. After a few weeks of treatment, the patient’s cervical lordosis was corrected, and the improvements were still maintained 17 months later (Norton et al., 2022).

What Should You Expect from Chiropractic Treatment?

When you visit a chiropractor to address cervical lordosis, the treatment will typically involve:

• Spinal Adjustments: Chiropractors use manual adjustments to gently move your spine into proper alignment. Frequency of adjustments may vary depending on the patient.

• Cervical Traction: This technique involves gentle stretching of the neck to restore its natural curve.

• Corrective Exercises: You may be given specific exercises to help strengthen the muscles that support your neck and spine.

  
  

In many cases, patients experience improvements not just in neck pain but also in other related symptoms like headaches, dizziness, and even arm numbness. For long-term success, consistency in treatment and follow-up care are key.

Conclusion

If you're dealing with neck pain, headaches, or balance issues, it might be more than just everyday stress—loss of cervical lordosis could be the root cause. The good news is that chiropractic care has been shown to effectively correct this loss, improve your posture, and alleviate related symptoms. If you're curious about how chiropractic care can help restore your neck’s natural curve, don’t hesitate to schedule an appointment at our office! We will take a look at your case and see how we can help you!

Your Chiropractic Healing Journey: The Road to Recovery

Everyone's healing journey looks different! A newborn baby will heal much faster than a pregnant or postpartum mom, and that mom will likely heal faster than an older adult with a heavy symptom burden. BUT, we want to provide you with a general idea of what a Chiropractic Care plan looks like. First, we perform a very specific and complete Initial Assessment (adult, pediatric, pre/postnatal, or preconception) to understand your unique case and how your body is actually functioning. Then, based your results, age, symptom burden, health history and your health goals, we provide a comprehensive report. This report includes your results and your individualized care plan with our very best professional and clinical recommendations of what is necessary for your recovery in the most efficient manner possible.

INTENSIVE PHASE

At the beginning, your adjustments will be more frequent while the stability of the spine and nervous system regulation is restored. Each adjustment has a cumulative effect so it is very important to follow your proper frequency to get your desired results. Depending on your age, physical condition, chronicity of the problem(s) and lifestyle choices, repetitive adjustments for several weeks or months will be necessary to reduce the interferences, or subluxations, in your nervous system. Your 1st Progress Check will tell us how quickly or slowly your body is healing and when you're ready to progress to the second phase of care.

WELLNESS CARE

Neurological & spinal imbalance due to subluxations may still be present even after initial pain or symptom relief. Pain is typically the last issue to show up in the body and the first thing to go away - it's just the tip of the iceberg! In the Wellness phase, our goal is to begin addressing the months to years of accumulated damage and resolve underlying causes to your symptoms. The frequency of your adjustments is reduced as your nervous system is now relearning to find balance. Leaving care at this stage is at risk of relapse as only surface level symptoms have had time to heal. Several Progress Checks every few months may be necessary throughout this phase in order for us to track changes.

LIFETIME CARE

Once an optimal recovery is achieved, we don't completely abandon you! We recommend a minimal frequency of adjustments to maintain your progress and finally begin to utilize Chiropractic care as your preventative health care routine. Like other preventive health measures, regular chiropractic adjustments save you time, energy and money. People who are proactively concerned about their health and have already experienced the benefits of chiropractic consistently choose this type of care for themselves and their families.

Not all Chiropractic Care Plans and not all Chiropractors are the same! The techniques used, areas of specialization, and philosophies of health & healing will also provide direction to a chiropractic care plan.

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