3 Things You Can do to fix your left side Neck Pain

August 20, 2024

Neck Pain

Your digestion is the key to left-side neck stiffness and pain!

Bad posture, herniated disk, spinal stenosis, injury, and muscle tension from stress also can be causes of neck pain.
But these factors are not the only ways you get stiffness and pain in your neck.

Do you have bloating, gassy, nausea, vomiting, constipation, or diarrhea? If so, you might have neck pain due to your digestion problems.

But why your digestion relates to your neck? It is because of your nervous system.

The autonomic nervous system is associated with two nerves: the sympathetic and the parasympathetic.
When you are stressed out, the sympathetic nerves are dominant. When you are relaxed, the parasympathetic nerves are dominant.
One of the Nerves called the vagus nerve attached to internal organs like the stomach, heart, lungs, and neck.
When you stimulate too much of the nerve, you will get stomach upset, raise the heartbeats, and sometimes have difficulty swallowing, leading to neck stiffness.
It is the mechanism of the digestive system and neck.

As acupuncturists, how do we look at neck and digestion problems?

From a traditional Chinese medicine standpoint, the digestive system and neck are highly related.
The right side of the neck is associated with the Liver organ related to stress, called Liver Qi Stagnation.
The other possible symptoms of Liver disorders are irritability, anxiety, rib pain, menstrual disorders like cramping, irregular periods, etc.
On the other hand, the left side of the neck is Spleen and Stomach, which are the digestion systems because the stomach meridian originates from the eyes and goes through the head and the digestive systems.
So when you have bloating or gas or even constipation or diarrhea, it affects your neck, especially on the left side, and tightness of the neck.
The other symptoms of Spleen and stomach disorders are bloating, gas, constipation, or diarrhea, like any digestive problems.

Right Neck – Stress side
Left Neck – Digestion side

Call us to get Free Consultation at 972-777-0836

What can you do if you have left-side neck pain?

1. Apply a heat pack to your neck and your stomach

Heat makes the blood flow and relaxes the muscle tension in your neck. In addition, you can also put it in your stomach.
Once the stomach relaxes, your neck tension also releases.

2. Watch out for your diet.

Any food that gives you bloating, gas, constipation, or diarrhea is unsuitable for digestion.
Please eat balanced nutrition, including carbohydrates, vegetables, and protein, with vitamins and minerals. Refrain from spicy, greasy food and dairy products like milk and cheese.

10 Common food that can cause bloating from healthpass.com

Salty and highly processed food
Carbonated drinks
Diary food
High Carbohydrates foods
Cruciferous vegetables
Raw vegetables
Greasy food
Artificial sweeteners
Spicy foods
Coffee acidic fruits & alcohol

3. Go to an acupuncturist near you.

Acupuncture can release muscle tension and help your digestion.

It is one of the oriental medicine treatments that has 4000 years of history in China. We use fine needles to release inflammation and reduce pain.

In the hands of a well-trained practitioner, acupuncture has much broader applications beyond pain relief. The World Health Organization (WHO) recognizes the use of acupuncture in the treatment of a wide range of common illnesses, including:

From the World Health Organization website:

1. Diseases, symptoms, or conditions for which acupuncture has been proved-through controlled trials to be an effective treatment:

Adverse reactions to radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy
Allergic rhinitis (including hay fever)
Biliary colic
Depression (including depressive neurosis and depression following stroke)
Dysentery, acute bacillary
Dysmenorrhoea, primary
Epigastralgia, acute (in peptic ulcer, acute and chronic gastritis, and gastrospasm)
Facial pain (including craniomandibular disorders)
Headache
Hypertension, essential
Hypotension, primary
Induction of labor
Knee pain
Leukopenia
Low back pain
Malposition of fetus, correction of
Morning sickness
Nausea and vomiting
Neck pain
Pain in dentistry (including dental pain and temporomandibular dysfunction)
Periarthritis of shoulder
Postoperative pain
Renal colic
Rheumatoid arthritis
Sciatica
Sprain
Stroke
Tennis elbow

2. Diseases, symptoms or conditions for which the therapeutic effect of acupuncture has been shown but for which further proof is needed:

Abdominal pain (in acute gastroenteritis or due to gastrointestinal spasm)
Acne vulgaris
Alcohol dependence and detoxification
Bell’s palsy
Bronchial asthma
Cancer pain
Cardiac neurosis
Cholecystitis, chronic, with acute exacerbation
Cholelithiasis
Competition stress syndrome
Craniocerebral injury, closed
Diabetes mellitus, non-insulin-dependent
Earache
Epidemic haemorrhagic fever
Epistaxis, simple (without generalized or local disease)
Eye pain due to subconjunctival injection
Female infertility
Facial spasm
Female urethral syndrome
Fibromyalgia and fasciitis
Gastrokinetic disturbance
Gouty arthritis
Hepatitis B virus carrier status
Herpes zoster (human (alpha) herpesvirus 3)
Hyperlipaemia
Hypo-ovarianism
Insomnia
Labour pain
Lactation, deficiency
Male sexual dysfunction, non-organic
Ménière disease
Neuralgia, post-herpetic
Neurodermatitis
Obesity
Opium, cocaine and heroin dependence
Osteoarthritis
Pain due to endoscopic examination
Pain in thromboangiitis obliterans
Polycystic ovary syndrome (Stein-Leventhal syndrome)
Postextubation in children
Postoperative convalescence
Premenstrual syndrome
Prostatitis, chronic
Pruritus
Radicular and pseudoradicular pain syndrome
Raynaud syndrome, primary
Recurrent lower urinary-tract infection
Reflex sympathetic dystrophy
Retention of urine, traumatic
Schizophrenia
Sialism, drug-induced
Sjögren syndrome
Sore throat (including tonsillitis)
Spine pain, acute
Stiff neck
Temporomandibular joint dysfunction
Tietze syndrome
Tobacco dependence
Tourette syndrome
Ulcerative colitis, chronic
Urolithiasis
Vascular dementia
Whooping cough (pertussis)

The World Health Organization Interregional Seminar compiled the above list of illnesses that may benefit from acupuncture treatment. The list is only a partial list and is based on clinical experience and not necessarily on controlled clinical research. The inclusion of specific diseases are not meant to indicate the extent of acupuncture’s efficacy in treatment since all conditions may vary in severity and response.

Sources: 1. NIH, Acupuncture, Nov. 3–5, 1997, Vol. 15, No. 52. World Health Organization. Viewpoint on Acupuncture. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization, 1979.

Pursuing Your Health is Our Passion

Call or Text 972-777-0836

We'll be happy to answer your questions.

Conclusion

Applying an heat pack on Neck and be careful what you eat to avoid alleviating your digestion are two things that you can do at desk work, on the couch, and even before you go to bed.

If you still have an issue with your neck, you can call us at (972) 777-0836 or request Free Initial Consolation at our clinic in Plano, TX. I hope this helps and see you next time. Sayonara!