We can have a stiff neck problem due to sleeping at an inappropriate angle, quick movement, and neck injury. There is a probability that it may be better within a few days, but also there are chances that neck pain and stiffness can take more days. So, it’s necessary to use the proper treatment methods to get relief in the quickest span of time. In this section, we are going to explore chronic stiff neck pain.
Sometimes, you can observe that the symptoms are appearing again and again. Therefore, it’s mandatory to treat it well. There are a number of treatment options where you may consult with your doctor according to the severity of the pain & stiffness in your neck. The prime objective of the treatment is to provide early relief from the problem as well as increasing the range of motion.
Chronic stiff neck & its pain may cause several other challenges that may hinder your daily lifestyle. This may include sleeping problems, reduced range of motion of the head, and painful flare-ups. Sometimes with the passage of time, symptoms get worse.
If you’re continuously facing chronic neck stiffness problems, then you should visit your doctor. A physiotherapy specialist may also be helpful for you. He may guide you well and can carry out different kinds of treatment in order to provide you with early relief. This may include applying the ice and heat therapy, spinal manipulation & mobilization, massage therapy etc. He/She may also allow you to take the over the counter medications such as naproxen and ibuprofen so that it could offer you some relief. Exercises and massage can be pretty much effective and can improve the function of your neck and shoulder. It impacts on the soft tissues.
In the upcoming section, we will see the causes & treatment options for chronic neck pain and stiffness.
Common Causes of Chronic Stiff Neck Pain
Now let’s try to understand what may be possible causes of chronic neck stiff neck pain. This will guide you well to adopt a better treatment plan for your chronic neck pain.
- Cervical Spondylosis
It’s one of the most known reasons for neck pain stiffness. Basically, it’s related to the degeneration of the cervical spine’s discs or joints. It may cause inflammation and instability in the affected area. Here it’s also worth noting that the pain and stiffness occur mainly due to the swellings or muscle spasms.
- Wrong Posture
If you’re working hourly in a sitting position. And this sitting position is not proper; then there are chances of different kinds of health problems. You may have chronic stiff neck and back pain.
Poor sitting Posture may lead to more stress on the cervical spine. It may cause straining muscles & ligaments which support the neck. There are various wrong sitting postures. In that list head-and-shoulders-forward posture is one of the wrong postures.
You should try to adopt the right Posture where ears are positioned directly above to the shoulders. The chest should be open and shoulders back. Whenever you adopt the correct Posture, your cervical spine adopts the balancing. Therefore it’s mandatory to sit in a proper posture if you want to avoid neck stiffness problems.
- Underlying Chronic Conditions
There are several other conditions that can play a significant role in pain and stiffness. Fibromyalgia can also be the cause of the underlying chronic conditions. These causes could be cervical spine instability, infections in the spinal cord, and nerve compression.
Read Our Blog: Causes of Neck Pain Amongst Youth
Stiff Neck Pain Treatment Options
Treatment options can be chosen on the basis of the severity of neck stiffness and pain. These treatments can be classified as temporary and regular. Physiotherapy provided better ways to treat this condition. This may include spinal manipulation, cold and heat therapy as well as massage. After examining your problem, the physical therapy specialist may choose any of the treatment plans.
Let’s go through the stiff neck pain treatment one by one.
- Spinal Manipulation and Mobilization:
As we know the Cervical spine degeneration or any other problem in the spine may cause neck stiffness and pain. Therefore, the spine needs extra care. Spinal manipulation can be one of the most appropriate ways to treat neck pain issues. Spinal manipulation deals with the adjustment which applied to the cervical spine’s joints.
An experienced & professional chiropractic care specialist, doctor, or physical therapy specialist can do the spinal manipulation in a better way. The prime objective of spinal manipulation is to increase the range of motion as well as to provide early recovery from the pain. There are mainly two techniques involved including – high-velocity and low amplitude manipulation. While carrying out this process, the physical therapy specialists apply the thrusts with hands so that joints could move beyond normal.
- Self-Care (Heat and Ice Method)
This is also quite an effective way to treat the neck stiffness and pain. In this case, you need to apply the ice or heat pack according to your need. In addition to self-care treatment, you may use some sort of stretch as well as over the counter medications. But during this, you need too much care. Such as you have to do this in a pain-free way or without any discomfort. In order to prevent the stiffness or tightening, you need to keep the neck joint & muscle active.
- Lifestyle Changes
This is very important to change in your lifestyle or routines which are impacting your neck. Here you should avoid the daily habits which can impact the structures of your spine, mostly the cervical region. You must adopt the proper sitting posture, must be physically active, and should take care of sleep position. These will contribute to providing the early recovery and relief from neck pain and stiffness.
- Massage Therapy
If you are facing pain again and again, then massage can do wonder. If you apply massage on the soft tissues of the neck, then it can provide better relief by relaxing muscles. It is very useful for muscle spasms.
It’s considered as one of the finest ways to treat neck stiffness where it belongs to the flow of energy. It’s believed in Chinese medicine, that most of the diseases are caused by any sort of interference in the flow of energy. The trained acupuncture specialists perform this practice with the help of inserting needles in different parts of the body which need more energy flow. This will help a lot by providing relaxation and pain relief.
Besides the above-mentioned treatment ways Surgery can also be used but in the case of severity. Here cervical radiculopathy & myelopathy is worth noting.
How Anodyne Spine is Best for Chronic Stiff Neck
We are one of the notable physiotherapy centres in the Delhi/NCR region. A team of chiropractic professionals, physiotherapy specialists, & spine specialists always strive to provide world-class treatment for neck stiffness & pain.
We use cutting-edge physiotherapy practices to make treatment easy and affordable. Since our inception, we have treated thousands of patients who are suffering from the back, leg, neck, shoulder, and sports injuries. We make differences through our spine therapy & reckoned for our neck pain treatment in South Delhi.