The stiff neck - Many people often wake up with pain in the neck area and limited mobility of the cervical spine. In general, one then says that one was lying badly at night. Sometimes a stiff neck in summer after previous drafts, e.g. during a drive. This condition can become annoying, even critical, for the driver if he has to reverse his car, but the head cannot turn.
Causes of a stiff neck
Older people often have limited mobility in the cervical spine. It can be a natural aging process, but often also a bony change in this area.
Both can lead to more or less severe pain and discomfort. In some cases the beds are held responsible for this.
There are various possible causes for this so common evil. If you go to sleep in the evening free of symptoms and wake up in the morning with a painful stiff neck, often with a crooked neck, one can assume that one or more cervical vertebral joints have shifted. The result is pressure on neighboring nerve outlets with corresponding pain when moving.
Diseases with this symptom
- Neck stiff
- disc prolapse
- Cervical spine syndrome
- arthrosis
- Whiplash
- Frostbite
Treatment & Therapy
What can you do about it? The doctor's therapeutic measures range from tablets to injections, rubs, radiation to massages and chriopractic manipulations. The latter sometimes show immediate success.
Stiff neck, caused by hypothermia in the neck and shoulder muscles (drafts, etc.), experience shows that often reacts positively to moist heat treatment. It is advisable not to use dry heat, otherwise there is a risk of increased pain.
Hot showers are just as simple as they are effective, cold water in the state of discomfort should be avoided. Rubbing in with skin-irritating, skin-reddening agents mostly only hits the skin without being able to affect the origin of the discomfort deep down in the tissue. In addition to the acute stiff neck described, we know the condition of chronic in mostly older people.
In these cases, too, moist heat treatment and light active therapy are indicated. The latter should include gentle head turning and head circles. These exercises are made easier by slightly lifting the shoulder, which relaxes the muscles in this area, which are always cramped, and the blood circulation experiences a better starting position.
With the forms of pain that have been described, another tried and tested simple remedy for the night should be described: the supporting cervical collar. You put this roll around your neck and neck before going to bed and tie the two ends with a bow around your neck without pulling. The cervical spine receives a pleasant, effective support overnight, which is a considerable prophylaxis. In addition, the ruff keeps you warm.
In principle, you should not sleep in beds that are too soft and, if possible, without a headboard. Additional small pillows and bolsters, which constantly change their place during sleep, are superfluous thanks to the neck brace described above.
You can experience lasting improvement through skilled chiropractic care, which was preceded by a thorough, deep massage of the neck and shoulder muscles. Chiropractic is problematic when the neck depth is age-related and there are significant changes in the cervical spine. Here one should limit oneself to the therapeutic measures already described.
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