Best Pain Relief For Neck Pain
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Neck pain is probably one of the most annoying and painful body pains one can ever get. Which is why it is important to get the best pain relief for neck pain as soon as the symptoms appear. Let the body start healing itself before it gets out of control. That is why having some products at home or in the office at all times is critical to preventing long term neck pain. As soon as you feel the cramp or pinched nerve, hit it hard with some natural pain relief therapy as mentioned below.
With neck pain, it’s painful to move your head and at times impossible. This amount of restriction can limit your other body movements as a result. Such as turning and bending. When you can turn your neck, it limits your visual eye line. So simple tasks can become a nightmare. Making household chores, work, and studying a challenge.
Even sleeping is hard when you have neck pain. You don’t know how to position your head and your body right so that it won’t trigger your neck pain and become bothersome. If you experience regular neck pain, I’d recommend looking into a pillow suited to neck pain sufferers. Much more, when you want to shift weight and change positions during your sleep, neck pain sometimes make it impossible to do that. So keeping your neck in alignment with the correct pillow plays a vital role in recovery times.
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Home Remedy Treatments To Alleviate Neck Pain
Home treatment can alleviate neck pain, especially if it is just caused by neck strain or a virus infection. Having products you can use at home on the first symptom of a sore neck can prove beneficial. I’m a big believer of using natural products/self help product before turning to medications and such. However, the combination of the two can be rewarding for chronic pain.
Heat Therapy For Neck Pain
Using a heat pack and a warm shower is probably the most basic and easiest home treatment you can do to alleviate neck pain. While I say basic, it’s very effective. Basic is just becasue it’s so easy anyone can perform it on themselves.
Anyone can heat up a microwavable heat pad for a couple minutes, wrap it around the neck and start benefiting from heat therapy immediately. For the more advanced heat treatment, infrared heat pads are the best idea. These infrared heat pads for the neck penetrate deeper into the muscles to heat from the inside. What this does is increases the blood flow which brings in more oxygen and nutrients. This encourages a faster healing period for the neck pain.
By using heat therapy, it can completely alleviate neck pain. I have various sizes and models to treat individual parts of the body. Affects are almost immediate and by using them several times a day for 20-30 minute sessions I can eliminate the problem in just 1-2 days.
- Ice pack – put an ice pack on the affected area for 10 to 15 minutes every 3 hours. Keep in mind the time because too much cold can cause worse neck pain. Ice treatment is to reduce the swelling after immediate injury. After that, heat therapy should be used to speed up the healing of tissues and muscles.
- Stretching – sometimes, all you need is a good stretch. Stretching your neck muscles can help ease neck stiffness. A cervical neck traction device can be a good tool to own. This self help device allows you to correctly align the neck and instantaneously relieve pain. While not a permanent solution, the immediate break from pain is much welcomed.
- Massage – rubbing the surrounding area can help encourage blood flow much like a heat pad. Massaging with nonprescription gels such as Bengay can boost pain relief. Some neck and shoulder massagers are brilliant for relieving neck pain as well. Especially if they offer heat treatment.
Creams & Pill Treatments For Neck Pain
While treatment of neck pain depends on the cause, pain relief can come from various different medications. These are your non natural alternatives. Which some people use in combination with the natural treatments mentioned above.
- Bengay – this gel is a pain reliever, which you rub on the affected areas so you can cool and relax your neck muscles. Bengay has proven to alleviate pain instantly, however, if the neck pain is persistent, it would also come back after a few hours of relief. More of a temporary relief treatment so you can get from A to B.
- Tylenol – Tylenol does not reduce inflammation and is a known medicine to reduce fever and relieve pain. Tylenol promises no side effects such as nausea and stomach pain.
- Ibuprofen – ibuprofen such as Advil deals with fever and help relieve pain and inflammation.
- Muscle relaxants – this is a prescription drug that is used to treat severe neck pain and acute spasms.
- Antidepressents – this type of prescription drug can be used to treat persistent and long-lasting neck pain.
- Injections – injections are only an option if you feel neck pain together with any numbness in your upper body part. This may suggest that a nerve root is irritated or pinched, which calls for a heavier drug
Natural & Medicated Relief For Neck Pain
If these home remedies do not take away your neck pain, you might want to consider going to a doctor or a physical therapist. You also might want to consider acupuncture, which people swear is effective. If the pain is serious enough, don’t delay. Take the day off work and get it seen to immediately.
By arming yourself with some self help devices to combat neck pain, you can monitor it from home a lot better. Without relying on medications too much. Heat pads and massagers do work and can last a long time. So consider them an investment into your health.
Whatever is causing your neck pain, trying these medications and home treatments should help alleviate the pain even just a little bit. However, it would be best to see a doctor especially if the pain you are experiencing is persistent.
What Causes Neck Pain
The reason for your neck pain could come down to a variety of reasons. It can be due to an illness or due to a muscle restraint. Causes of neck pain can range from being in a wrong sleeping position through the night or a virus infection to a mild disorder or a serious disease. Causes of neck pain may be due to several things such as:
- Neck Strain – you may have strained your neck by being in one position for too long. This can be caused by stress, overworking, or a bad sleeping position
- Stiff Neck – stiff neck is probably one of the most common type and cause of neck pain. This is due, like neck strain, sitting for too long, or a bad sleeping position. Stress can also add to having stiff neck
- Virus infection – colds affect your throat because of the viral infection. It is where phlegm pass as you cough, causing neck strain
- Pinched Nerve – a pinched nerve can cause neck pain, it is usually accompanied by a body part’s numbness. This can be treated quickly with proper medication.
- Infection of the spine bones – this cause is more on the serious side of neck pain causes. You should go see a doctor and you would most likely need multiple treatments and medications
- Neck injury – a previous accident may cause neck pain. Physical therapy is the answer to reducing this pain