Treating Neck Pain

Neck pain is very common. It doesn’t matter what kind of work you do; neck pain could be a constant companion. Do you live with it? Do you just accept it? Or do you so something about it?

When You Have the Pain

Here are a few things you can do that have worked for me and for others to relieve neck pain. No, I’m not talking about kicking the husband and kids out. These are real treatments that can help.

• Relax – Believe it or not, most neck pain is due to stress. When you tense up, you use the muscles in your shoulders and neck. Prolonged tension brings about pain. You need to relax. Lay down with your head slightly raised. Don’t try to read a book at an awkward angle or watch the TV the same way. You need to relax and let you neck get a chance to let itself go.
• Ice It Up – This never sounds right to me, but it works. Don’t put heat on your neck when it first begins to hurt. That will only make it worse. You need ice. You can put a rice bag in the freezer, use a cold pack, or even use a product such as Total Pillow.
• Heat, Maybe – Heat can be good but not when you first experience neck pain. That is by far not what you need. Ice it first. When do use heat, low heat is best. Use a heating pad, hot rice bag, or the Total Pillow which can also be heated. Don’t put heat directly on your skin. Make sure there is a cloth between you and the heat source.
• Massage- Personally, this is my all-time favorite way to treat neck pain. A good massage works the muscles loose and can give you great relieve. This is not a permanent fix. If you have a job such as working at your computer all day, you might want to consider getting regular massages.
• Medicine – Aspirin can work to help ease the pain. Use that with ice, a massage, and relaxing to get a real good attack on that neck pain.
• Doctors – You can always go to a doctor if you have neck pain. Most don’t, but should if the pain is constantly causing headaches, leading to breathing or swallowing problems. Never mess around with something that appears to be out of the ordinary.

Avoiding Future Pain

If constant neck pain is a problem for you, you might want to consider doing some changes in your life to prevent all that needless neck pain. Here are few things you might want to consider based on your lifestyle.

• Posture – All that nagging your mother did was for a reason. Your posture is important. It could be a big source of your neck pain. Improve your posture. It won’t happen overnight, but it can happen. I’m not talking just walking. Think of how you sit. That is usually worse than how we walk. Why is that? Read on.
• Position of head – When you work on your computer, you tend to position your head at an odd angle. When you read a book in bed, you strain your neck unknowingly. When you watch TV, you could be doing the same thing. This can be really bad if you have a desk job.
• Flex the neck – As you are working, stop and rotate your neck around. Do a self-massage. That will help you avoid neck pain from working at a station.

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