You might have experienced that your neck gets tightened and stiff at a sudden moment which is called Neck Muscle Spasm. The neck is made of bones, muscles, and ligaments. When the muscles in the neck suddenly tighten, they cause pain and stiffness. The stiffness makes you unable to move your head around. It can happen by suddenly moving your neck while doing exercises or when you are frequently moving your neck around. And one of the biggest reasons is that the neck muscles weaken over a period due to bad posture. But when the neck gets stiff you should know how to make it right in minutes because it is painful and frustrating to get going with it. Sometimes this stiffness gets fixed with some home remedies and, at times, it also becomes chronic. In such a case, you may have to take neck pain treatment.
The tips you can follow to make your neck relax and flexible at home are:
1- Relax The Muscles with Stretches:
To get rid of the stiff neck, firstly, you have to relax your neck muscles. To relax them up you have to stretch your neck in all directions gently. While making the stretches, fix your shoulders on one position and gently bend your head towards the right shoulder. Continue it until you feel a stretch in your neck, but if it causes more pain, then you should immediately stop doing it. Gently move your head to the original position and continue stretching it on the left side. You can also move it around, clock and anti-clockwise. This will ease the pain and relax the muscles that have caused stiffness in your neck.
2- Gentle Massage:
The second tip to treat a stiff neck is to massage with essential oil gently on the affected area. The oil can be rosemary essential oil mixed with avocado and olive oil. Massaging the neck with oil causes calm and comfort to inflexible muscles. You can visit a physiotherapist who can technically massage the neck. Other treatments than massage can be trying acupuncture or taking chiropractic care. The acupuncture employs injecting needles on specific points in hand or foot palm, directed to treat a particular issue. The chiropractors, on the other hand, manipulate muscles to provide relief.
3- Apply Moist Heat or Cold Therapy:
The most common remedy that is widely used to treat a stiff neck is applying a cold or hot compress. Doing so causes the blood vessels to relax and therefore, the blood flow to the affected area in the neck increases. It causes pain relief and relaxation of muscles.
4- Pain Relief Ointment/ NSAIDs:
Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs(NSAIDs) are not the treatment to adjust the stiff neck but are pain relief doses that can only kill the pain. Ibuprofen and naproxen are the NSAIDs that can reduce the pain. Also, pain relief creams can address the inflammation and pain in your neck adequately.
