Wearing a brace for too long can make neck stiffness worse and weaken the neck muscles. You can try using heat or ice to see if it helps. Try using a heating pad on a low or medium setting for 15 to 20 minutes every 2 to 3 hours. Try a warm shower in place of one session with the heating pad. You can also buy single-use heat wraps that last up to 8 hours.
You can also try an ice pack for 10 to 15 minutes every 2 to 3 hours. Take pain medicines exactly as directed. If the doctor gave you a prescription medicine for pain, take it as prescribed. If you are not taking a prescription pain medicine, ask your doctor if you can take an over-the-counter medicine.
Gently rub the area to relieve pain and help with blood flow. Do not massage the area if it hurts to do so. Do not do anything that makes the pain worse. Take it easy for a couple of days. You can do your usual activities if they do not hurt your neck or put it at risk for more stress or injury. Try sleeping on a special neck pillow. Place it under your neck, not under your head. Placing a tightly rolled-up towel under your neck while you sleep will also work.
If you use a neck pillow or rolled towel, do not use your regular pillow at the same time. To prevent future neck pain, do exercises to stretch and strengthen your neck and back. Here is what the therapist can offer:. Finally, take inventory of your posture or daily habits that could trigger neck pain, like sitting for extended periods in positions that strain the neck during reading, TV watching, computer work, or sleeping. Attending to the cause may stop some flare-ups of neck pain at the source.
If neck pain is severe, lasts for weeks or months, drastically limits your ability to move your head, radiates into the shoulders, or feels worse in the morning, consider seeing a doctor.
Fever or weakness or numbness in the arms are other "red flags" that warrant additional evaluation. In some cases, an underlying physical problem, such as arthritis, an infection, or a compressed nerve, may be the cause.
Depending on the diagnosis, you may need additional treatments or even surgery to relieve the pain and get back to your normal activities. Be sure to keep your head level; you should be gliding your head backward, not bending or tipping it. Hold for five seconds. Repeat five times. As a service to our readers, Harvard Health Publishing provides access to our library of archived content. Please note the date of last review or update on all articles.
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Sometimes the terms neck strain and neck sprain are used interchangeably. While a sprain is an injury to a ligament not a muscle or tendon , the symptoms of pain and stiffness felt in both a strain and sprain are typically similar and resolve on their own before an official diagnosis is sought. More than 20 muscles are connected in the neck. Watch Cervical Muscle Anatomy Animation. A healthy muscle is comprised of numerous muscle fibers. Within each of these fibers are bundles of myofibrils that contain contractile proteins, which perform the actual contractions for muscle movements.
When the muscle overexerts or stretches too far, small tears can form in the muscle, tendon, or connective tissue between the muscle and tendon, which is usually the weakest part. More extensive neck strains involve more inflammation, which leads to more swelling, pain, and a longer recovery period. Other neck muscles can also become strained, and it is possible for more than one neck muscle to become painful at the same time. This is not a complete list of neck strain causes.
Sometimes the exact cause of a neck strain is not known.
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