Neck Pain Relief
You use your neck for practically everything, which is why neck pain can make simple tasks a huge struggle. The problem is, most people don't know about the real root causes of neck pain. This can leave you frustrated when conventional stretching techniques don't work.
In this article, I'm going to give you some simple techniques for getting neck pain relief fast. If you have had some suborn neck pain that just doesn't seem to go away, you're in the right place. See if these home remedies will help.
In this article: -
What Causes Neck Pain?
There are many different things that can cause neck pain. Some have to do with your spine, while others have to do with the muscles in your neck. In fact, some causes of neck pain may have nothing to do with your neck at all. Here are the top causes of neck pain:
Physical Injury - Slips, falls, and car accidents can cause a lot of trauma to the neck muscles and spine. If you experienced whiplash or a cervical disk fracture, this could cause a lot of long-term neck pain if it's not dealt with. Even if you damaged your shoulder blades or spinal cord, this could lead to neck pain because the muscles are connected.
Bad posture - Your cervical spine is the part of your spine that makes up your neck. If you have poor posture, over time, your cervical disks in your spine can become misaligned. This often happens if you sit on the couch with bad posture for hours each day. Bad posture can cause a lot of neck pain. It can also create a stiff neck and a hunched back over time.
Sitting at a desk - Many jobs today require long hours sitting at a desk and looking at a computer. Sitting for too long can bring a lot of symptoms like neck pain and stiffness. If your desk isn't the right height, you will have to bend your neck down to look at your computer screen. If your desk chair doesn't offer the proper support, this can cause back, shoulder, and neck pain that lasts decades unless an adjustment is made.
Age - Cervical spondylosis, also known as arthritis of the neck, is when the disks in the cervical spine begin to degenerate with repeated use and age. In some cases, there are little or no symptoms that come with this condition. However, others can experience chronic pain, along with other symptoms like a restricted range of movement. Keep in mind that cervical spondylosis is different from the autoimmune disease rheumatoid arthritis.
Referred pain - Referred pain is when you have pain in one area of your body, but you feel it somewhere else. This is common because of the vast network of connected sensory nerves throughout the body. One example is if you have a problem along your phrenic nerves. The phrenic nerves run from your abdomen to your shoulders and neck. The gallbladder and adrenal glands are a common source of neck pain. I'll show you how to fix this problem in a moment.
How to Get Neck Pain Relief Fast
I have some very effective techniques for relieving neck pain. These are techniques that you won't find in physical therapy—most physical therapists don't know the real underlying cause of neck pain symptoms. Moreover, these techniques will help with stiffness, numbness, decreased range of motion, and other symptoms that accompany neck pain.
Start With a Self-assessment
The first thing you want to do before trying these pain relief techniques is to assess the condition of your neck. On a scale of 1-10, rate these following things:
- Neck pain
- Stiffness
- Numbness
- Range of motion (left, right, up, down, left ear to shoulder, right ear to shoulder)
Write down your assessment of each of these after each neck pain remedy. This will help you isolate the problem, so you know which home remedy will help solve your neck pain.
Referred Neck Pain Technique
The first thing you want to try for relieving neck pain is to check the gallbladder. Why? Because most often, neck pain is referred pain—and the gallbladder is most often the source.
There's a nerve called the phrenic nerve that runs from the gallbladder up into the neck. When your gallbladder is sluggish, congested, or overworked, it can be very painful. So what you want to do is help reset your gallbladder using a simple massage technique.
To massage your gallbladder, you can have a partner help you out, or you can do it yourself. Start by placing your hand just underneath your right ribcage. Slowly add pressure using your fingers. You may have to push slightly upward into the underneath part of your ribcage. Apply some pressure and massage this area for a couple of minutes. If you feel a lot of tenderness, this is a sign you have a sluggish gallbladder.
You can repeat this massage for your left side where your pancreas is. In some cases, it can be a problem with the pancreas working too hard.
After doing this technique, rate your neck pain, stiffness, numbness, and range of motion and compare it to your first self-assessment. If this technique doesn't help, you know that it's a problem with your neck and not referred pain.
Apple Cider Vinegar
If the last technique helps, you know that deferred pain is the issue. However, massaging your gallbladder is only a short-term fix. What do you do if the symptoms keep coming back?
What I recommend is using apple cider vinegar. Apple cider vinegar helps improve the congestion of the gallbladder and improve overall digestion. In many cases, deferred pain is coming from the digestive system.
You can add apple cider vinegar to a cup of tea, or you can drink it with a cup of water. Dehydrated apple cider vinegar capsules are also available if you don't care for the taste.
Opposite Muscle Technique
When you experience whiplash or another trauma that damages the muscles in your neck, the opposite muscle technique is the best way to get pain relief.
In physical therapy sessions, they have you stretch the muscle that has pain. So if you have pain in your neck when looking up, they have you look up even further to stretch the muscle. But this doesn't always work. Damaged muscles tend to act like a rubber band. When you stretch them, they simply snap back to their original form.
What I recommend is to try stretching the opposite muscle. So if your neck hurts when looking up, stretch it downward. This can really help with chronic neck pain and discomfort. Here's how to do the stretch:
- Find out which direction hurts most when you move your neck
- Stretch in the opposite direction
- Hold for 2-3 seconds
- Straighten your neck
- Repeat the stretch 10 times
This same technique works when the neck pain is rooted in your shoulders. If your shoulder muscles are sore, stretch the muscles underneath your arms by holding onto a bar with both hands and letting your body hang.
Try these techniques and see if they work for you.
Up Next: -
- Dissolve Neck Pain and Stiffness
- How to Fix a Stiff Neck
- Get Rid of Lower Neck and Shoulder Tightness
Disclaimer: Our educational content is not meant or intended for medical advice or treatment.
Editor’s Note: This post has been updated for quality and relevancy.
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