How to Relieve Neck Pain? Home Remedies for Quick Relief!

Neck pain is one of the most common musculoskeletal disorders, affecting a whopping 80% of people once in their lifetime. The neck has joints for head rotation and movement.

Bad posture, muscle tightness, pulled ligaments compressing a nerve, and underlying medical conditions can cause persistent neck pain. Also called cervicalgia, neck pain from all causes presents itself through a combination of symptoms.

As numerous people experience neck pain, you must know the causes and recognize the symptoms. If you’re wondering how to relieve neck pain, some remedies might help.

What Are the Symptoms of Neck Pain?

The cervical spine has many blood vessels, nerves, ligaments, and joints. These structures are important for neck movement.

Any trauma or injury to the neck muscles and ligaments can make the neck stiff and cause pain. The most common symptoms of neck pain are the following.

• Pain radiating at the back of the neck
• Radiating pain in the shoulder
• Difficulty moving the neck
• Cervicogenic headache
• Neck numbness
• Muscular tension
• Neck stiffness
• Sharp pain

How to Relieve Neck Pain? Seven Home Remedies

Doctors estimate that 20 to 50% of adults deal with neck pain annually, which indicates that anyone can experience it. Depending on the primary cause, you can relieve neck pain in numerous ways.

Here are seven tips to relieve neck pain.

1. Postural Changes

Sternocleidomastoid is the largest muscle of the neck. This muscle has to hold your head in an unnatural position when you have a bad posture.

Many people sit in front of a screen for long periods of time, which causes the tech neck. The neck muscles hold the head in place, which strains the muscles of the neck.

Poor posture with the head tilted forward, rounder shoulders, and a hunched back causes pain in the neck, shoulder, and upper back.

Similarly, many people look down at their phones for long periods of time, which causes text neck syndrome. Tilting your head down puts extra pressure on the neck muscles, causing this repetitive stress injury.

Maintaining your posture relieves muscular tension in the neck. Here are some postural adjustments to relieve neck pain.

• Consider buying a neck support pillow to maintain your posture.
• Hold your phone or other devices at eye level instead of tilting your head down for hours.
• Keep the head in line with the center of the body.
• Keep your cervical spine straight to reduce pain and discomfort.
• Roll your shoulder back to align with the ears.

2. Change Your Sleep Position

If you’re thinking about how to relieve neck pain in the morning, you need to change your sleeping position. If you sleep on your side, use a firm pillow that does not sag under the weight of your head and neck.

Make sure that your pillow fills the space between your mattress and the neck. This position aligns the spine, reducing the strain on your neck muscles.

3. Massage Therapy

Massage therapy is an excellent way to relieve neck pain as it reduces muscular tension that causes neck pain.

You can use a tennis ball for a self-massage. Gently press the tennis ball against the back of your neck and around the neck.

Essential oils such as lavender oil and ginger oil help reduce muscle stiffness. Warm a few drops of essential oil and apply to your neck. Massage gently for ten minutes to improve the blood flow to the area and reduce muscular tension.

4. Perform Muscle Strengthening Exercises

Neck muscle strengthening exercises and yoga relieve neck pain. These gentle stretching exercises relieve the pain from muscular strains.

Slowly tilt your head forward and backward a few times to relieve muscle tension. Try side-to-side neck movement to avoid straining the neck ligaments.

Shoulder rolls and shoulder shrugs are also excellent for relieving neck pain that radiates to the back and shoulders. Another helpful exercise is the chin tucks, which strengthen the neck muscles.

5. Apply Hot or Cold Compresses

If your injury leaves you wondering how to relieve neck pain, immediately use warm and cold compresses to relieve acute pain.

Heat and cold therapy is used to reduce inflammation. Apply an ice pack to your neck for 15-20 minutes to numb the affected area. This relieves pain.

If chronic neck pain results from muscle stiffness, tension, and soreness, use a warm compress. A heating pad or warm compress relaxes the muscular tension, improves blood flow, and speeds up healing.

6. Take Over-the-Counter Pain Relievers

OTC pain relievers such as ibuprofen or acetaminophen relieve temporary pain and inflammation in the neck.

Side effects such as restricted movement, muscular tension, and headaches might accompany neck pain. OTC pain relievers are helpful for managing these side effects.

7. Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (Tens) Unit

A TENS unit is a small battery-operated device with leads that connect to electrodes. Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation is a pain relieving method for treating chronic neck pain using mild current.

Low-level current to the skin stimulates the nerves, blocking the pain signals in the body. However, a TENS unit as a home remedy should only be strictly used for chronic neck pain.

How to Relieve Neck Pain From Underlying Medical Conditions?

Underlying medical conditions such as herniated cervical discs, cervical spinal stenosis, arthritis, or pinched nerves cause neck pain.

If any of these problems leave you wondering how to relieve neck pain, medical treatment should be your top priority.

Treatment options for these medical conditions are physical therapy and chiropractic care. Chiropractors relieve neck pain by working on the nerves, muscles, and tendons, while a physiotherapist focuses on exercises that stretch your ligaments to relieve muscular tension.

Other medical treatment options include laser therapy, yoga, massage, acupuncture, and aquatic therapy. If the pain persists for more than three months, it could restrict movement and impact your quality of life. Under these circumstances, you should immediately seek medical attention.

Wrap Up

Neck pain is quite common due to several causes. The most common cause is a strain from bad posture. Identifying the cause is the primary step towards relieving neck pain as it makes it easier to manage the condition.

Use cold and hot compresses on the neck to reduce initial numbness and tingling sensation in the neck. Make basic postural changes, stretch your neck lightly, take regular breaks from work, and practice neck muscle strengthening exercises to reduce neck pain.

However, if the neck pain persists for over three weeks and restricts movement, you should see a doctor for medical treatment.