A pain in the neck can be due to an injury, a physical or a muscular problem like a trapped nerve in one of the disks in the vertebrae or from chronic arthritic conditions.  The resulting pain can be sudden and intense or only of a short duration.  When this happens, it is called a “crick” in the neck. If the pain persists for more than three months, it is called a chronic neck pain. Women are more susceptible to incidents of neck pain because their neck muscles are weaker than those of the men. Injuries to the neck area may be caused by any prolonged or sudden violent movements of the neck area, when the muscles, tendons, ligaments or joints are overstretched, resulting in pain. When this happens, the neck pain treatment may be non-surgical in nature.  First aid neck pain treatment in instances like this can be something as simple as taking things easy over the next few days after the onslaught of the pain, applying alternating hot and cold compresses or taking over the counter muscular pain relievers. Quite often, the pain goes away in 4 – 6 weeks. When the pain or the muscle spasm is more severe, your medical doctor may prescribe some stronger medication or a more proactive line of action.

There will also be cases where neck pain treatment, especially for non-specific neck pain, i.e., where the cause of the pain is not quite clear,   may be carried out through exercise regimens or through manual therapy or massage. The exercise program may make use of yoga poses or other mild forms of exercise. A professional masseuse, a chiropractor or a physical therapist may do massage. This neck pain treatment, known as “mobilization” will involve slow twisting, pulling or pushing movements.  This approach has been found to be beneficial in both acute and chronic mechanical neck disorders. However, under no circumstances should you embark on any unsupervised neck pain treatment manipulation programs. This is because any rapid or forceful movements must be avoided as these could just make the condition go from bad to worse. A manual therapy program should be undertaken only after due consultation with your doctor and carried out by a trained professional. In some cases, your doctor may advise that you wear a cervical collar for a short period of time to reduce the neck pain.

Patients, who suffer from chronic neck pain and the associated problems that come with this condition such as a depression, may respond to conservative neck pain treatment programs more slowly. Chronic neck pain may be caused by certain degenerative diseases or by injuries such as whiplash from a vehicular accident, a pinched nerve or a herniated disk. Or, when the chronic neck pain is the result of vigorous contact sports, neck pain treatment may take the form of neck muscle strengthening exercises or to neck bracing in certain severe cases. It is very important to know what is the root cause of your neck pain because this will determine that neck pain treatment options will be available to you.

Filed under: Neck Pain Treatments

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