I go to a husband and wife practice where she is a chiropractor and he is an acupuncturist. I used to have neck problems and as it turned out both of their skill sets were required to help me, because the issue crossed over into both of their areas. I'll try to explain briefly, but if you're unfamiliar with the subtle energy system of the body which acupuncture works with, it may be a little difficult to understand. Essentially your body has 12 major energy pathways called meridians, and they span every organ, system, and muscle in the body. When there is distress in an area of the body it is accompanied by a disruption in the flow of the energy through the pathway, and yes there are modern measurement methods to verify this. It is common for disruptions in the flow of the energy to 'throw' problems or symptoms to areas both upstream and/or downstream where the energy blockage is. These problems in energy flow manifest as pain, tenderness, or tightness in muscles. Depending on what area of the body is having a disruption in energy flow will in turn determine what part of the body is negatively affected by the disruption. This is why people who have knots in their back muscles can go to a massage therapist to have the knots massaged out only to have them return days or weeks later. Their back is not the issue, it is something else causing the knots. The same is likely for your neck, just as it was the case for me. The tightness or inflammation could be to a number of things. It could be chiropractic misalignment, an energy blockage, or a combination of both. If any of this makes any sense to you, you may want to look into it. Thanks.
......ibuprofen helps very little