Get Rid of a Sore Neck
Sore necks can be caused by a variety of things, including uncomfortable sleeping positions, injuries, and incorrect posture. If you want to get rid of a sore neck, read this article for some tips and advice.
Contents
10 Second Summary
1. Exercise the neck slowly and gently.
2. Take over-the-counter drugs, a warm shower, or a warm bath.
3. Apply a heating pad, an ice pack, or some balm.
4. Try using a neck brace for severe pain.
5. Consider getting a massage for persistent pain.
Steps
Treatments For Sore Neck
- Exercise the muscles slowly. Slowly rotate your neck in a circular motion to help stretch out the agitated muscles. This may be somewhat uncomfortable at first, but it ultimately helps to alleviate the pain.
- Move your neck slowly back and forth. Stop the movement if and when you begin to feel any pain. Your range of motion should improve the more you flex your neck back and forth.
- Move your neck from side to side. Stop the movement if and when you begin to feel any pain. As in the first exercise, your range of motion should improve the more you flex your neck.
- Move your neck in a figure-8 pattern. This means moving it side-to-side while you simultaneously move it up and down. Do this slowly and stop if you feel any pain.
- Take over-the-counter drugs such as acetaminophen or ibuprofen. These drugs should help relieve pain in the neck. Do not, however, give aspirin to children below the age of 18, as aspirin in children has been linked to Reye's syndrome, which causes severe swelling of the brain.
- Take a shower. Let the lukewarm to hot water run over your neck for at least four or five minutes. Keep your neck straight as you do this, and do not turn it.
- Soak with bath salts. Bath salts can help improve circulation, relieve muscle tension, and reduce stress. Experiment with different bath salt additives for added pain relief.
- Epsom salts may be used in a warm bath. Epsom salts are made of magnesium and sulfate, and offer a go-to remedy for many health ailments in addition to relaxing the mind. Magnesium helps regulate the activity of numerous enzymes, as well as raising serotonin levels in the brain.
- Use a heating pad. Apply a heating pad for a couple of minutes to help to stimulate blood flow in your neck.
- Use an ice pack. Apply an ice pack, or something from the freezer wrapped in a towel to the affected area. Ice will dull the pain better than heat will.
- Apply a balm to the sore neck. Balms come with many different applications; they can be herbal, analgesic (pain relief), or rubefacient (increase circulation). Know which kind of balm you are using.
- Balms such as IcyHot or Namman Muay (an herbal balm from Thailand) help heat or simulate heat on the skin. IcyHot purports to dull the pain with cold, after which it heats the ache away. Massage or rub these or similar balms into the neck area for mild pain relief.
- If neck pain is severe, a neck brace may be needed to support the neck. Only use a brace if you feel your neck is unstable and the pain is severe. To do this at home, roll up a bath towel and wrap around your neck so that your base of your skull rests on top of the towel. Sit in a comfortable position.
- If pain is severe seek help. If you have been in an accident, are experiencing illness, or think you might have whiplash, see your doctor about getting a proper medical neck brace.
- Get a massage. Consult with your doctor before getting a massage if the pain has been persistent for a long period. Go get a massage at your local spa. Massages are costly, but shop around for good service.
- Acupuncture may be effective for chronic neck pain. Although, tests in the past decade have shown acupuncture to be no more effective than a placebo treatment. Acupuncture and massage both offer intense pressure inside muscles, but acupuncture may be better suited to offering a higher intensity pressure inside the muscle.
- Hydrotherapy, or water therapy, may also be effective. Hydrotherapy may be done at home in the shower, and offers a different kind of massage. Target the neck with warm water for three to four minutes. Turn the water to its cold setting and target the neck for 30 seconds to a minute. Repeat as many times as necessary.
- Get a massage with different essential oils or rubbing alcohol. Essential oils such as lavender, tea tree, or citronella oils can impart healing properties in addition to stimulating the sense of smell. Rubbing alcohol starts off cold and gradually gets warmer, offering the same effect as some balms.
Avoiding Sore Neck
- Sleep the right way. If you've woken up and experienced torticollis, or pain in the neck from sleeping awkwardly, you're like millions of other people. Try these tips for avoiding torticollis in the future.
- Sleep with the window closed, as warm as it is outside. During the summer especially, many people open their bedroom window in order to go to sleep. Then, in the middle of the night, when the temperature drops precipitously, the cold air causes the neck muscles to stiffen and cramp. Use a fan instead of opening your window next time!
- Sleep with enough, but not too many, pillows. People who like to sleep on their stomachs should sleep with at least one pillow — torticollis can happen when the person turns his/her head 90 degrees to grab air.
- People who sleep on their backs should not sleep with too many pillows, as this can create a sharp, uncomfortable angle between the neck and the shoulders during the night.
- Take precautions after an unusual activity. Many people report having a pain in their necks after doing something that they don't normally do, such as garden, a new exercise, or packing and moving. If you know you've done something that puts you a risk at torticollis, massage your neck, flex it with different exercises, and take a warm bath before bed.
- Make sure your workstation is ergonomically correct. If you work long hours at a desk, you may want to make sure that your work environment is set up to be optimally relaxing. If you put in the time up front to ensure that your muscles are being treated right, you might not have to deal with any fallout later on.
- Keep your feet flat on the floor. This will often depend on how high your chair is, so don't be afraid to tinker with it to achieve good results.
- Change your posture regularly. Sitting in one position for long periods of time is not healthy. So switch it up. Sit upright for most of the time. Sit reclined for some of the time. Sit declined for a little bit.
- Find time to stand. Every hour, take a 5 minute break if you can and walk around. Inspect the sky. Talk to a coworker. Figure out the 15th decimal of pi. Whatever it is, break up the monotony of being seated for hours on end.
- Consider using a standing workstation. Check out standing desks, or think about the feasibility of a treadmill desk.
- Practice meditation techniques. Try to meditate, focusing your attention away from your hectic, busy life, and toward your inner states. You may find it helpful in giving you perspective in addition to warding off neck pain that's caused by emotional stress. The following exercise takes three minutes, and can be done by anyone.
- For one minute, focus your awareness on what is happening to you at this very moment; look at your thoughts and emotions, inspecting them.
- For one minute after that, collect your attention and focus it on breathing. Notice what part of your body is most aware of your breathing.
- For the the final minute, spend your time expanding your awareness outside of your immediate consciousness: from your head to your fingers, toes, hairs, and eventually outside your body, if possible.
- Remove physical and emotional stressors from your life. Emotional stress can have a strange effect on your physical health, and some even say that emotional stress can cause physical pain. Find natural, healthy ways to relieve stress in your life:
- Exercise regularly. Find something — swimming, running, cycling, climbing — that makes you excited and feel alive. Make it into a routine. Your body will feel better and your mind will feel more relaxed.
- Don't get into negative reinforcement cycles. Don't punish yourself for hurting yourself. Realize what is happening, take control, and start finding reasons to love yourself.
Tips
- To prevent further cases, keep your head level when you go to sleep. Your neck usually becomes sore as a result of sleeping in an irregular position, or using an inappropriate amount of pillows, causing your neck to stretch out in an awkward manner.
- Rubbing your neck can help the pain go away, so ask someone to rub your neck for you - it really helps.
- Pull your chin to your chest for 30 seconds; this stretches the neck.
- If you use a handheld device, like an iPhone, always hold it level to your face, and make your head go behind your shoulders a bit.
- Support your neck with a pillow of your regular size while sleeping.
- When reading or working on the computer, keep your head straight. Try not to slouch at all.
- Rest your neck on a foam roller to release tense sore muscles.
- If all else fails, go to a medical doctor - they may be able to tell if there is something really wrong with you.
- Take NSAID (Non Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs) such as Ibuprofen to help with pain.
- Consult a professional, for example, a chiropractor, osteopath or manipulative physiotherapist.
- Use a warm cloth and put it on the spot that hurts for 10-20 minutes.
- Try not to move around a lot. It will only make it worse.
Warnings
- Don't hunch over books and other small items. This may cause pain in the neck and back.
- Avoid sleeping on couches, chairs, or other locations that don't offer proper support for the neck.
- Don't crack or pop your neck. It may bring relief at first, but it only makes it worse later on.
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