Easing Neck Pain & When to Seek Medical Help

Neck pain is something that we all experience at various points in our lives. Neck pain can be experienced because of a number of different reasons such as poor posture, overexertion, stress or it could be because of something more serious such as Arthritis or Degenerative Disk Disease.

4 Ways to Reduce Neck Pain at Home

1: Apply a Hot or Cold Compress

Applying a hot or cold compress to your neck will help with reducing the pain felt in your neck. You should apply a cold compress if you are feeling a sharp pain & a warm compress if you are experiencing muscle stiffness.

Make sure that when using a hot or cold compress that the temperature of the compress is not so extreme that it could cause damage to your skin.

2: Do some Neck Exercises

There are a wide range of different exercises that you could perform at home that will aid in easing neck pain. Here are the three different neck exercises that we recommend you try if you are able to:

• Timed Neck Tilt (Side to side): Slowly tilt your head to each of your shoulders & hold for 8 seconds. Once completed repeat for the other side.
• Timed Neck Turn: Turn your head sideways until you are able to look over your shoulder & hold for 8 seconds. Once completed repeat for the other side
• Timed Neck Stretch: Slowly put your chin onto your chest, holding for 8 seconds. Once completed tilt your head back & hold for another 8 seconds.

If you are experiencing extreme pain whilst performing any of these exercises, stop doing them immediately & seek professional medical help.

3: A Neck massage

There are a wide array of neck massages that you can perform yourself, a loved one or a trained professional to be able to perform to be able to ease neck pain.

The most common type of massage that is used to reduce neck pain is known as the Swedish massage. This is performed by doing longer, steadily paced pushes along the problem area in the direction of blood flow.

4: Relax your Neck

Making sure that your neck is not under tension will help with reducing your neck pain, and at the very least stopping the neck pain from getting worse. Relaxing your neck can be done through breathing exercises, light stretches, or gentle heat.

Common Causes of Neck Pain

Poor Posture

Whether it’s because of an uncomfortable chair or being hunched over a computer, poor posture is a very common cause of neck pain. The National Library of Medicine did a study on the relationship between forward head posture and neck pain & found that:

Forward head posture (FHP) is the most common cervical postural fault in the sagittal plane that is found with different severity levels in almost all populations. Despite claims that FHP may be related to neck pain, this relation seems to be controversial. Thus, our purpose is to determine whether FHP differs between asymptomatic subjects and those with neck pain and to investigate if there is a relationship between head posture and neck pain.

Making sure that when you are sat down, proper posture is being maintained will assist in reducing neck pain overall.

Overexerting Yourself

If you are spending a lot of time during the day lifting heavy objects, you will find that sharp neck pain will be frequent afterwards. This is because of you overexerting your body & it not being used to the demand that you have put onto your neck.

If the activity that has caused the neck pain has to be done again, seek assistance with lifting or moving heavy objects.

Stress

When you are experiencing stress, you will naturally tense up & your muscles will be working harder due to the tension experienced. A case study from the National Library of Medicine has found that there is a direct link between psychological stress & physical neck pain.

If you are experiencing extended neck pain, it may because of extended bouts of stress & anxiety that you have been experiencing.

Degenerative Disc Disease

Whilst it has disease in its name, Degenerative Disc Disease is not a disease. It is a state where one of your cervical disks are damaged which will be causing pain.

The amount of pain experienced can vary widely, It can be a minor inconvenience or it can put you out of action until it is resolved.

Degenerative Disc Disease is caused by one of the disks drying out from either excessive use in strenuous activities, injury or it can occur over a long time.

When to seek medical help

There are a lot of different signs that you need to be aware of when experiencing neck pain that means that you should see a medical professional.

You should seek medical help if:

• If the pain is persistent or is getting worse: If your neck pain has been around for a long time or it is getting worse over time, you should seek medical help.
• If the pain is extreme: If the pain does not allow you to go about your daily life as you normally would, you should contact your doctor.
• If the pain spreads: If the pain in your neck spreads down you body, especially to your arms & legs that is a sign of something more serious like nerve damage.