My aching neck

A pain in the neck is a pain in the neck. And it's a pain that is hard to forget about whether you are awake or trying to sleep. Even the least amount of movement is painful. It can become a real problem when you have chronic neck pain.
What can you do about it?

         What causes neck pain?

Basically neck pain is caused by overuse and injury to the neck muscles

1. Cervical strain is caused by the strain of muscles of ligament of the cervical spine. Over stretching be may one of the causes. Car accidents and sports activities also contribute to cervical strain.
2. When the cartilage is worn out in the neck and there is degeneration of the cervical spine the condition is called Cervical spondylosis.
3. Facet joints are small joints that support the weight and stress in the neck. When these joints are inflamed it's called Cervical facet syndrome
4. Whiplash is one of the most common types of neck pain. This occurs when the spine is stretched.

Sleeping and neck pain

A few tips to help prevent neck pain while sleeping

• Your head should not be at an angle on the pillow. This will definitely strain your neck and make your neck stiff in the morning.


• Try to be consistent in how you position yourself at night. If you prop your head up with 2 pillows make sure to do that every night.


• If you wake up in the middle of the night and get up, make sure when you go to bed to go back to your familiar position


• If you need to use pillows to help with your positioning in bed


• Don't sleep on your stomach because of the strain that it puts on your back and stomach muscles.

Neck pain and Chiropractors

Millions of Americans find relief from neck pains and other pain in the body. One of the most common procedures that a chiropractor does is a neck adjustment (cervical manipulation). This procedure can reduce pain and almost immediately improve neck mobility. For more information about chiropractors go to The American Chiropractic Association.

Stress has an effect on Neck Pain

Stress can cause so many problems in life including neck pain. There are many ways to reduce emotional stress including progressive relaxation and abdominal breathing.

Check out my squidoo lens on Stress and How to deal with it.

Headaches and neck pain

Headaches can stem from neck pain. Usually poor posture or neck stress strains the nerve endings on muscles and joints causing the headache. Proper posture and a strong neck can help with the problem.

How to give your self a neck massage!

How to get rid of pain in neck

It really isn't that difficult to give your self a neck massage. Follow this link NECK MASSAGE

Traction

Traction, also known as traction of the spine, is a therapy that stretches the muscles and ligaments making a space between the vertebrae. This helps relieve the pain of pinched nerves. There are 2 types of traction: manual and mechanical. Manual, of course is done by a therapist while mechanical is done by weights and a harness.

What is whiplash?

Whiplash is an injury to the neck caused by sudden movement of the neck muscles. Some of the more common injuries associated with whiplash are: car accidents, bicycle accidents or from falling off a ladder.

What causes a stiff neck?

Waking up in the morning with a stiff neck is one sure fire way to ruin your day. You will spend the rest of the day trying to work the stiffness out only to get a headache for your troubles. You can certainly do without that pain in the neck. But what prevents a stiff neck?

Maybe we should ask what causes a stiff neck to find the prevention. Some of the main causes of a stiff neck are:

Sleeping on your stomach or sleeping with your head twisted will definitely strain those neck muscles by morning.

Solution: Always sleep on your back and make sure that you have a pillow that will support your neck.

Opening a window will cause not only a draft but also a cold and sore neck.

Solution: This is easy close the window or make sure that your neck is covered.

Sitting in front of a computer all day with your neck stuck in one position certainly won't help.

Solution: Always take a break on a regular basis while working on a computer.

You may not think that your posture is that bad, but if you slouch when you sit down or if you hang your head while you walk this may cause a stiff neck.

Solution: Check your posture in a mirror. Stand up straight and don't slouch.

Neck muscle spasms

If you have ever played football or any other contact sports you may have had neck muscle spasms. It is a cramp in your neck where your neck muscles can't contract. Besides sports, neck muscle spasms can be caused by poor posture, sleeping in an uncomfortable position or stress.