The spine is a primary focus of chiropractic because it houses the spinal cord. From the spinal cord the nerves branch out to serve the entire body. Movement or alignment problems, (subluxations), of the spinal joints can irritate the nerves. This irritation may result in pain, tingling, or numbness  in the neck back, arms or legs. Affected muscles may become tight or weak which changes the dynamics around the spine even more, and the problem becomes worse.

Our body is very good at adapting to problems, but these adaptations sap our energy, create unnecessary wear and tear on the joints, (arthritis), and eventually fail causing other problems. When a neck or back problem "goes away by itself" it is usually the result of the body adapting. Symptoms are your body's way of telling you something is wrong. The wise approach is to listen to the body's warnings and address problems as they arise. The very wise approach is to stretch, exercise, maintain good posture and ergonomics and get regular spinal adjustments so that problems never arise.