The Top Three Stiff Neck Remedies
Stiff neck remedies are a dime a dozen. Just mention that you have a stiff neck and you are sure to garner a handful of ideas from your friends and coworkers. Everyone seems to have an opinion about what you should do for a stiff neck. This plethora of advice is no doubt because so many of us are overworked these days; a stiff neck has become an occupational hazard we have all experienced it at one point or another.
So what are the best stiff neck remedies?
Take a pain reliever: There are several good pain relievers that can help you with stiffness and pain in you neck. Although several of these products market themselves specifically for neck pain, a simple Advil can do the trick. If your pain is severe, you can go ahead and take a double dose and that should do the trick. Be careful however, if you have any sort of medical condition, such as a heart condition, that makes it dangerous for you to take this sort of a painkiller. Consult your physician if this is the case.
Also, if you often get this sort of neck pain, you may not want to make this a regular practice since prolonged use of certain painkillers can have adverse health effects.
If your neck pain is due to PMS, you might replace a regular painkiller for Midol or a similar PMS specific analgesic medicine.
Another form of painkiller that many find more effective is a topical cream of the Ben Gay variety. These creams will often go straight to the pain source and relieve it on contact. Consult your pharmacist.
A Neck Massage: One of the best relievers for any kind of neck or back pain is a good, well administered neck or back massage. A licensed massage therapist is trained to find just the right sort of pressure that actually will wash away your neck pain. (Some people also find acupuncture a great pain and stress reliever when properly administered.)
What manifests itself as neck pain is often just an extension of back pain. A good masseuse will not only focus her treatment on the area where the pain is localized but on the surrounding area as well. In fact, just the relaxing touch of another person working to get you fully relaxed may be enough to lower your neck pain and generally change your outlook on life.
If paying for a massage is beyond your means and you have a caring significant other in your life you may be able to talk them into giving you the loving touch that will melt away that pain you are feeling. Be careful, however, since this sort of touching may lead to sex—which, as it turns out, is also a great way of relieving tension induced pains. So in a way, it’s a win-win!
Apply Heat! I know it sounds like something your grandparents would do, but the truth is that applying a hot pack to any area of pain usually has a good effect. A warm moist towel or hot pack to the neck can really do wonders.
If you are at home, adjust your showerhead so that it is on massage mode and crank up the heat. The rhythmic pounding on your neck should do just the trick!
If you find that your stiff neck remedies don’t work and that your stiffness not only continues but seems to get worse you should seek out a chiropractor. Look carefully at what may have caused your neck pain in the first place and let the chiropractor help you to diagnose the problem. Occasionally a stiff neck can be the sign of some other underlying condition.
You don’t have to go through life feeling that everything is a pain in the neck!