Simple home remedies for stiff neck or pain
This is my second part of blog on home remedies for stiff neck or pain. In the first we see reasons why we get neck pain. In this blog you will see some more simple home remedies.
5. Try Cold therapy
During the day, use ice on your neck. Cold therapy will help to reduce inflammation and provide a numbing effect. When you use an ice pack- wrap it in a towel and set a timer for 10 min- 15 min max. If you are using an ice pack for your neck, use a 6x20 cervical ice pack. If you are looking for ice for your neck, upper back and shoulders, consider the 9x16 tri-sectional cold pack. Arc4life has a large selection of ice packs that can help in pain relief for your stiff neck.
6. Try Arnica
Use arnica you can find it at your health food store. Gently rub it on your neck works great
7. Use Bio Freeze
This "Bio freeze" it comes in a gel and roll-on form. You can get this from medical store and this is not a prescription.
8. Try Icy Hot
IcyHot, you could get it at a local pharmacy. You put some on your neck and rub it in till you can feel the heat
9. Stretching
Stretch your calves as your neck muscles are actually linked to your calves through interconnecting musculature called facial trains
10. Workplace ergonomic adjustment
Consider looking at your workspace during the day- especially if you sit at a computer all day or do a desk job. Simply changing the height of your chair, the distance of your computer screen, the way you hold on to the telephone- all these things if done in an ergonomic way, can make a big difference so that you don't have a sore/stiff neck at the end of the day. Improving your posture overall, will impact how you neck feels.
11. Try Chinese home remedy
This is a traditional Chinese home remedy for stiff neck that anyone can quickly learn. As it's not easy to do on your own neck you'll need someone else to do it for you. All you need is a spoon and a few drops of oil - massage oil, sesame oil or even Vicks vapour will do. A Chinese soup spoon works well as does the edge of a metal Vicks vapour lid. Basically, you use the edge of the spoon or lid to rub (scrape) the neck for a few minutes until it turns red (or in some cases purple!) The scraping action moves the blood in the underlying muscles and soft tissues of the neck, relieving stiffness and pain almost immediately. It works equally well for acute and chronic stiff neck. Here're the steps to follow:
a. The person with the stiff neck should sit down and remove any clothing or jewelry covering the neck, and also tie up long hair.
b. Apply a few drops of oil to ONE side of the back of the neck - just enough to lightly lubricate the skin. Too much and the spoon will slip and slide uncontrollably.
c. Stand behind the person and start scraping his/her neck in long, even strokes with the edge of the spoon, from the base of the skull, down the neck and across the top of the shoulder. Press as hard as you can without causing excess pain - it's the muscles you're working with more than the skin so you need to apply a little pressure. Apply 30-50 strokes. Notice the skin turning red. There may be lots of tiny red spots which may actually be dark red, purple or even black. This is simply stagnant blood in the muscles - it's nothing to be concerned about. The darker the spots, the more stiffness, pain and stagnation the person usually has in their neck. All you're doing is releasing the stagnant blood and improving circulation in the neck muscles. This very often gives immediate relief.
d. Repeat steps 2 and 3 on the other side of the neck. People with neck problems often have pain and tension in their upper back too, so you may also have to scrape down either side of their spine between their shoulder blades.
e. If the person feels dizzy at any stage, stop, and have them lie down and take some slow deep breaths.
f. Depending on the color of the spots, they make take several days to a week or more to fade. Once faded completely, you may reapply the treatment if the person still has pain. One to three scraping treatments over several weeks is usually enough to alleviate most neck problems involving muscular tension, stiffness and pain.
A final note - don't be fooled by the apparent simplicity of this technique. As mentioned, it very often provides instant stiff neck relief and may be the only stiff neck remedy you ever need. In fact the author has found skin scraping to be a more effective stiff neck remedy than acupuncture.
12. Acupressure Point for Stiff Neck
Luo Zhen is the name of an acupuncture/acupressure point used specifically for a stiff neck. The point is found on the back of the hand in between the two bones in the depression just past the knuckles of the pointer and middle finger.
How to use Luo Zhen to treat a stiff neck:
a. Massage the point on the opposite side of the body from the neck pain. If the right side of your neck hurts, massage the point on your left hand. You will need to massage this point by pressing into it with the tip of your finger, and make sure to use enough pressure to feel slight tenderness at the point.
b. Maintain that pressure while making very small circles with your pressing finger.
c. At the same time as you are stimulating the acupressure point, exercise the neck by rotating your head side to side. You should slowly begin to notice a slight increase in your range of motion while experiencing a decrease in pain
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