Stiff neck: 5 things you should know
The stiff neck is a nuisance and often painful, caused by tension in the muscles. In fact, it can be defined as a muscle spasm, usually due to overloading of the sternocleidomastoid which, due to its shortening, forcing to be the head slightly tilted to one side. Let’s look more closely at the 5 basic questions to prevent the annoying symptoms of stiff neck.
Table of Contents
Symptoms and Causes
In addition to the discomfort to the change of head position, the pain becomes more intense when moving the neck and press on the affected muscle. Among the causes, sudden movements, take overweight, sedentary and poor posture, including the sleep.
Heat is a great ally
In addition to muscle relaxants and anti-inflammatory, a remedy that can be effective is to apply heat to the area, using wet towels in hot water, a bottle of hot water or a jet at high temperature. Heat reduces muscle contraction and relaxes the affected area.
Give a massage
An excellent remedy to relieve stiff neck is to apply a massage, relying on the hands of the (doctor or physiotherapist) experts. It is important to give good massage, with the appropriate pressure, since otherwise we can make the neck injury worse.
The importance of prevention
Prevention is health, and in this case, goes through correct bad posture, keeping the neck in a fixed position when working, studying and even when watching TV. Enhance the functionality of neck exercises to strengthen the movement, force and stability of the cervical spine.
Homemade tricks
To prepare also is to adopt small habits or daily gestures that help us to take care of the muscular health, like walking each day at least half an hour, moving head and arms from time to time if we are at the computer, the screen should be placed at the eye height to avoid straining the neck.