Waking up with neck pain can put you in a bad mood for the rest of the day. When your neck hurts, everyday movements can be difficult, from checking your rearview mirror as you drive to turning to say hello to a neighbor. Neck pain is often coupled with stiffness and reduced range of motion. While it can be tempting to try to grin and bear it and hope the pain goes away on its own, there are things you can do to get rid of neck pain.

Physical therapists can help alleviate pain in nearly any area of the body. Neck pain is one of the most common types of musculoskeletal pain that they can treat. There are several tips and tricks that are backed by physical therapists to help reduce neck pain. 

In this blog post, we’ll share tips for getting rid of neck stiffness and pain. Then we’ll talk about common physical therapy treatments that can be used to get rid of neck pain, including the effective options that we provide at Franklin Rehabilitation. 

5 tips recommended by a physical therapist for getting rid of neck pain

Maybe you recently sustained a neck injury, or maybe you just slept wrong and woke up with pain in your neck. While physical therapy should be considered for persistent, worsening or recurring neck pain, it’s good to know how to treat the pain at home or in between PT sessions. 

Here are five tips from physical therapists for reducing neck pain:

 

• Alternate hot and cold therapy — When you have pain in any part of the body, icing the area is often one of the first courses of action, as it’s a tried-and-true method for temporary pain relief. Applying ice at 15-minute intervals can help numb the area and reduce inflammation by constricting the blood vessels. Ice should be alternated with heat, such as a hot compress. Putting a hot compress on your neck for 20-minute intervals helps to boost circulation and accelerate the healing process.

• Be aware of your posture — Most of us don’t pay close attention to our posture on a day-to-day basis. Poor posture is a common cause of neck pain; by being more mindful of your neck and shoulder position throughout your day, you can help ease the tension in your neck. Your physical therapist can help you learn the right postural adjustments to reduce neck pain and stiffness, such as keeping your head aligned with the rest of your body.

• Find a supportive pillow — Even if your neck pain doesn’t stem from your sleeping position, having the proper support under your head each night can prevent your neck pain from worsening overnight. Physical therapists will often recommend using a cervical pillow, which has a heightened part under the neck for support. It also helps to relieve tense neck muscles. The goal is to keep your neck and head as aligned with your shoulders when you sleep as they are when you’re sitting or standing during the day.

• Practice breathing exercises — Long-term stress can cause muscle tension, leading to neck pain and stiffness. Relaxation techniques like breathing exercises are often recommended by physical therapists for people with neck pain. Breathing exercises, such as diaphragmatic breathing or lion’s breath, can help you relax both your mind and body.

• Stay hydrated — It can be surprising to learn that not drinking enough water can lead to pain. Daily hydration works to keep muscles, tendons and ligaments lubricated so that they can properly move when needed. Without water, your neck muscles can become tight and stiff, leading to neck tension. By drinking eight glasses of water a day, you can help relax your affected neck muscles and joints for reduced pain. 

How a physical therapist can help you reduce your neck pain during a session

While we all would like for common issues like neck pain to be alleviated quickly at home, that’s not always the case. If you’re experiencing persistent or worsening neck pain that’s interfering with your overall quality of life, it’s time to book an appointment with a physical therapist. 

A physical therapist can not only help reduce your neck pain, but they can also improve the strength, mobility and function of the area to decrease the risk of future issues or injury. They may incorporate a variety of treatments into your sessions, including:

• Manual therapy — When it comes to tight muscles in your neck and back, your physical therapist will likely use their hands for manual therapy techniques. For neck pain, soft tissue mobilization can help you find the relief that you’re looking for. It involves the therapist using firm pressure and kneading to find and break up the tight tissue to release the tension and reduce stiffness.

• Targeted exercises — One of the pillars of most physical therapy treatment plans is targeted exercises. Your physical therapist can guide you through exercises that work to strengthen the neck muscles for improved stability and spinal support. These may include exercises like neck flexions or extensions. Your therapist can also show you stretches, like neck tilts, to reduce your pain and restore the neck’s range of motion.

• Dry needling — Another effective physical therapy treatment for muscle pain is dry needling. It involves a certified practitioner  inserting thin, nonmedicated filament needles into the trigger points in the neck that are causing pain. The needles cause muscle spasms, resulting in contractions that release the painful tension.

• Electrical stimulation — When it comes to reducing neck pain, your physical therapist may recommend electrical stimulation. It involves placing electrodes on the affected area. Low electrical pulses are sent to the neck muscles to help them relax and release their tension. This also helps reduce the pain signals that are being transmitted to the brain. 

Franklin Rehabilitation can help you reduce your neck pain with personalized treatments

Neck pain is relatively common, with up to a 50% annual prevalence rate. But even though something is common, that doesn’t mean it’s any less frustrating to deal with. When you’re experiencing neck pain, there are tips from physical therapists that you can incorporate into your day-to-day life. From switching out your pillow to drinking more water, you can alleviate your neck pain with the right self-care. But when these at-home approaches aren’t doing the job, we’re here to help.

At Franklin Rehabilitation, we’ll start off your neck pain treatment with an assessment of your symptoms, neck mobility and neck function. Then we can determine the likely cause of your neck pain, such as your sleeping position or a chronic pain condition that has developed over time. Using that insight, we can create a personalized treatment plan that will provide you with safe and effective treatments, such as soft tissue mobilization and dry needling.

The goal is to address your current neck pain and take the right measures to reduce the possibility of it occurring again in the future.

Call us or request an appointment today to treat your neck pain.