Neck pain is one of those things - you don't realize how severe the problem is until it's, well, pretty severe. In fact, for a lot of people, neck pain doesn't even register until it becomes bad enough to be a problem.
Neck pain isn't an overnight problem - it develops and evolves over time, and will usually become a bigger problem if it's paired with problems like arthritis or disc disease, and even regular things like stress, bad posture, or lack of sleep.
There are plenty of tips to provide some relief for the problem of neck pain, but the most common ones like medication, ice packs, and heating pads don't necessarily do the job. While some of them can help temporarily, this isn't very useful in the long run.
Here are some tips to ease neck pain that may help.
Tips For Managing Neck Pain
Don't Stay In One Position For Too Long
Bad posture is, well, bad. Poor posture comes with a whole arsenal of problems that are a pain to deal with - literally - and are also quite difficult to reverse. Once you've ruined your posture, fixing it is a very difficult task.
But avoiding bad posture is a lot easier and can make a significant difference. Poor posture is often a result of staying idle for a long stretch of time. You wouldn't even realize it, but you'd be leaning forward, hunching over your desk, and ruining your back and neck.
That's why moving around helps. When you make it a point to incorporate movement in your routine, you can avoid maintaining that poor posture, and when you come back to your work, you'll at least try to sit with the correct posture initially. While this will undoubtedly also start deteriorating, your next attempt at moving around would help.
Even something as simple as standing up and stretching for a few seconds every ten minutes or so can make a huge difference in your posture, and thus, keep your neck from being stuck in an unhealthy position for too long. If you've already been suffering from neck pains, this can keep it from getting worse, and over time, maybe even getting rid of it entirely.
Get a Chair That Supports Your Neck
Moving around will definitely help, but what about when you're sitting and working? Not to mention all the times when you're simply too caught up in your work to ruin the flow by moving around.
A good ergonomic chair that supports your neck can do wonders. Maintaining good posture during the day is about making sure that your head is naturally balanced on the cervical spine. A headrest can help with this because it makes sure you're not leaning forward, or hunching over your desk.
FlexiSpot's Ergonomic Mesh Chair can help with this. With its headrest, you can keep your head comfortably supported while you work.
Also, make sure that your computer screen is positioned appropriately. Your eyes should be level with the top third of the screen. For a lot of people, this is difficult to do without a headrest, because we end up leaning forward to keep our head supported. That's why a good chair can be so useful.
Invest in a Standing Desk
You'd be surprised how much a standing desk can help with neck problems. When sitting, we tend to get lazy and hunch over without even realizing we're doing it. In fact, sitting tends to lead to a more awkward position and will result in neck pain and back pain.
With a standing desk, you can adjust the height so you don't have to look up or down while working, and because standing encourages a natural position, you don't end up leaning on your desk or hunching forward. This way, your neck stays in a neutral position, and keeps it from hurting.
FlexiSpot's Comhar All-in-One Standing Desk is a great option for a standing desk.
Physiotherapy
Physiotherapy is often considered to be something for people who have sustained injuries. This is true, but it can be very helpful for any other problem with the body as well. Physiotherapy uses physical methods to bring the body back to normal, and since neck pain is not exactly normal, this is a great way to address any concerns around it.
A physiotherapist can help by identifying poor posture, which can be very helpful if you're not sure how to maintain good posture. They will also point out any habits that are contributing to the pain and stiffness, and help you avoid them.
You'll likely be told to do some stretches and exercises to strengthen the weakened areas of the neck. When your muscles get weak, they are unable to hold the correct posture, and your posture gets worse, as a result.
By incorporating exercise into your routine and getting rid of habits that are causing neck pain, your muscles become stronger and thus, the pain starts to subside.
Take Up Swimming
If you were looking for an excuse to go swimming, this could be it! Swimming is actually a great way to address the problem of neck pain because it is a low-impact exercise that doesn't put too much stress on your body.
Being in the water also results in buoyancy, which helps reduce the impact. You would have to take advice from a professional about what kind of strokes you should avoid to keep your neck safe, but for the large part, swimming can be very helpful.
Start Meditating!
Meditation is about getting rid of stress, so it may help with getting rid of chronic pain caused by stress. Finding yourself a nice place to relax and focus on the things you want to think about can help you get rid of your troubles and thus, reduce stress levels.
Of course, this will only help if the problem is actually limited to stress, and other factors haven't bled into it. Meditation can be a great help, but will probably work best when paired with other solutions that focus on the physical aspect of neck pain.
Use The Right Pillows
Did you know you can sometimes cause neck pain by sleeping wrong? While a bed with lots of fluffy pillows can look comfortable, it's not necessarily great for your neck. In fact, sleeping with too many pillows - or even the wrong kind of pillow - can result in neck pain.
For one thing, get rid of the extras. You can build a nest for yourself with them if you really need to use them all, but if you have too many pillows under your head, you're setting yourself up for trouble.
In fact, neck pain and sleep have a two-way relationship: poor sleep can cause neck pain, but neck pain can also result in poor sleep, so you definitely don't want to get stuck in that loop.
Using the right pillow can be very helpful in keeping that problem from arising. This would really depend on the person since there is no one type of pillow that works best. You'd have to find something that works best for you, based on your problem.
A water pillow can generally be very helpful though, because you can adjust the firmness by adding or removing some of the water inside. More water results in a firm pillow, while less water makes it softer. Depending on your needs, you can adjust to find something that works for you.
If nothing else, you can experiment with different types of pillows and see if you can solve the problem with a traditional one.
Check Your Sleep Position
You also want to make sure that you're sleeping the right way. Pillows aside, your position also matters!
Sleeping on your stomach will usually cause problems because you end up twisting your head to the side and keeping it that way for hours at a time. Unsurprisingly, this can result in pain. Sleeping on your stomach also causes pain in the lower back which is another unfortunate condition you definitely don't want to deal with.
Make sure you're sleeping on your side or on your back, with pillows tucked around to keep your body in a neutral position. If you're sleeping on your side, keep a pillow between your legs, and if you're sleeping on your back, keep one under your knees.
How long it takes for your neck to stop hurting will really depend on the condition. For most people, the pain is a result of poor posture or related factors, so it's generally not a problem that should cause too much concern. With painkillers for temporary relief on bad days, and the tips mentioned here, you can get rid of the pain slowly.
Neck pain only becomes a concern if you notice any other symptoms - radiating pain, fevers, and other such things might indicate a deeper problem, so you'd want to bring these up to your doctor. For the most part, though, with a little bit of care and effort, you can get rid of the problem quite easily.
