Neck pain can be a real downer. Even a small amount of pain can turn daily activities into a hardship. Just remember the last time you had to drive with a crick in your neck. Nothing but pain every time you checked your mirrors, right? Knowing how to stop neck pain can help you get back to your normal activities (especially the things you enjoy) faster and easier.
Think about it: you use your neck every day, all day. Whether it’s mild neck pain while you’re sleeping or radiating neck pain after a long day of work. Minimizing pain can lead to a drastic improvement in your quality of life.
So What Causes Neck Pain?
Neck pain can occur for a wide variety of reasons. As with anything, neck pain will run between very minor (and easily dealt with) and very serious. For example, if you sleep in an odd position, you may just need to wait a couple of days. But if you sustain a whiplash injury in a car accident or suffer a slip and fall in the workplace, your neck could need more substantial help.
For most people, neck pain is most often caused by the following:
- Fatigue: There are some positions in which the neck muscles will become very sore. For example, if you stare at a computer screen all day, or watch a movie on a tablet that’s sitting in your lap. These activities can tire out the muscles in your neck. And this can lead to pain. The same thing happens when you drive for long periods of time: the muscles grow tired and your neck begins to hurt.
- Posture: For many of the same reasons, poor posture can also cause neck pain. Bad posture means that your neck has to cope with stresses that it’s not designed to handle (or in a way that it’s not designed to handle them). And over time, that can cause damage and pain.
- Degenerative diseases: Your neck is composed of a complex collection of bones, cartilage, muscles, tendons, and more. Degenerative diseases can impact each of these, and that can eventually lead to pain.
- Aging: As you age, your cartilage can start to break down. This can impact your neck because there are tiny discs of cartilaginous material between each of your vertebrae. Usually, these discs help your neck stay nice and flexible while preventing your vertebrae from painfully impacting one another. As your cartilage breaks down, these discs can become less effective, and pain can result.
- Sleeping: Maybe it’s too many pillows–maybe it’s too few. Your sleeping habits can have a big impact on your overall neck health. Make sure to sleep in a way that’s good for your neck.
- Stress: A lot of people carry their stress in their shoulder muscles. As the shoulders become tighter and tighter, the neck can start to lose mobility and begin to hurt more often (and more severely).
How to Stop Neck Pain
The neck is a very odd part of the human body. It has to be limber and flexible (for looking left and right, sometimes very quickly). And it has to be strong (after all, it’s holding up your entire head).
This means that sometimes the neck is a little more prone to injury than we’d like. Knowing how to stop neck pain usually means taking an approach that mixes preventing injury and treating pain.
Here’s a couple of things you can do:
- Use a light (and gentle) massage: Sometimes massaging the muscles of the neck can help alleviate your neck pain. But it’s important to be gentle here. The last thing you want to do is make an injury worse.
- Use heat: Hot compresses and soaks can help the neck relax, diminishing tension in the neck.
- Improve your posture: This includes when you’re standing and when you’re sitting. Make sure your computer is at eye level. And when you stand, try to keep your back nice and straight.
- Don’t spend too long looking at your mobile phone or other devices: Most people look down when they check their text messages or glance at their tablet. Your neck is just fine looking down every once in a while. But when you spend most of your day looking down at your phone, your neck muscles will strain and tire. This can cause significant and lost lasting neck pain.
- Take over the counter pain medication: There are some over-the-counter pain relievers that can help you control your neck pain. This is good for the occasional tweaked neck. But long term use won’t address the underlying problems, and many of these medications have negative effects when used for long periods of time.
When Should I See a Chiropractor for Neck Pain?
Neck pain that doesn’t go away or returns frequently needs to be addressed. And a chiropractor knows how to stop neck pain without the need for medication. Instead, your chiropractor will be able address the underlying issues and injuries that may be present.
In general, you should see a chiropractor if your neck pain:
- Was caused by trauma or injury. For example, if your neck pain was caused by a car accident or workplace incident, you’ll likely want to see a chiropractor to make sure nothing is wrong or you have no lingering injury.
- Your neck doesn’t feel better after a few days.
- Your pain returns frequently or interferes with your daily activities.
- Your neck pain is severe.
Whether you have neck pain when sleeping or you had a slip and fall at work, the chiropractic principles involved in treatment are similar. Your chiropractor will work with you to improve your range of motion, address the injury, and build strength and flexibility.
You might know how to stop neck pain in some cases, but not all neck pain is equal. Sometimes you need help and treatment. If you want neck pain to stop interfering with your life, contact Diaspo Chiropractic and Physical Therapy today.
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