[What to do with a stiff neck] What should I do if I have a stiff neck? What is the best pillow for my cervical spine?
What is a stiff neck?
Go to bed in an abnormal position at night. After a long night, your body will slowly adjust to a suitable position for you to sleep in. When you wake up, your body cannot quickly adjust back to In the original normal posture, to adjust to the normal posture, it also takes a long time to adjust. During this process, you will feel physical discomfort and even pain. This is the stiff neck.
Causes of stiff neck
1. Muscle sprain. If the sleeping posture is poor at night, the head and neck are in an excessively deflected position for a long time; or the head and neck are in a hyperextension or hyperflexion state due to the inappropriate pillow during sleep, too high, too low or too hard, which can cause muscle tension on one side of the neck , The cervical facet joints are twisted wrongly, and static injury can occur for a long time, which makes the muscles and tendons in the injured area hard and disharmony, the blood flow is not smooth, the local pain is uncomfortable, and the movement is obviously limited.
2. Feeling wind-cold, such as cold during sleep, greedy for cold in midsummer, stagnation of qi and blood in the neck and back, obstruction of muscles and collaterals, resulting in stiffness and pain, and unfavorable movements.
Symptoms of stiff neck
1. Pain and discomfort in the back of the neck in the morning, mostly on one side, or on both sides Pain, or one side is heavy, the other side is light.
2. Due to the pain, the neck is not able to move freely, and it is difficult to rotate freely. In severe cases, it is difficult to pitch, and even the head is rigid in an abnormal position, which makes the head tilt to the side of the disease.
3. Neck muscle tenderness, superficial muscle spasm, stiffness, and a “string feeling” to the touch.
How to treat a stiff neck
1. Massage: stand behind the stiff neck person, lightly press the neck with one finger to find the most painful point, then use a thumb Start from the top of the side of the neck, until the shoulder and back, massage in sequence, massage the most painful point, until the feeling of obvious soreness indicates that the strength is enough, so repeat the massage 2 to 3 times, and then tap the massaged part with a hollow fist , repeat 2 to 3 times. Repeated massage and tapping can quickly relax the spasm neck muscles and relieve pain.
2. Hot compress: Use hot water bottle, electric hand stove, hot towel and infrared light bulb to relieve pain. Care must be taken to prevent burns.
3. Use safflower oil, Gancunshan rheumatism oil, cloud essence, etc., rub and rub the sore area 2 to 3 times a day, and it will have a certain effect.
4. Shangshi Pain Relief Ointment and Swelling Fragrance Pain Relief Pain Relief Pain Relief Pain Relief Pain Relief Pain Relief Pain Relief Pain Relief Pain Relief Pain Relief Pain Relief Pain Relief Pain Relief Cream .
5. Auricular acupuncture: Buried auricular acupuncture points in the neck and occipital area, press the above auricular points with the tip of the index finger for 5 to 10 minutes, or massage the above auricular points with the end of the index finger.
6. Acupuncture: For those who cannot pitch back and forth, take Dashu, Jinggu, and Kunlun points; those who cannot review left and right, take Jianwaishu, Houxi and Fengchi points. Generally, Xuanzhong acupoint, located three cun above the foot outer hole, needs 4 to 5 minutes of acupuncture, and moxibustion for 3 to 7 minutes. You can also massage this point for 15 minutes each time.
7. Take 1 tablet of pain reliever orally for temporary pain relief.
8. Change the sleeping position, adjust the height of the pillow, and twist the neck by yourself.
9. If it is caused by cervical spondylosis, under the guidance of a physiotherapist, perform home self-cervical traction therapy.
10. For patients with severe stiff neck, local injection of 0.25% nufcaine 10ml has obvious pain relief effect.
Understanding Misunderstanding of Stiff Necks
1. Is it easy to have stiff necks when sleeping on the side or lying down?
Positive solution: This is not the key issue. Most people think that when sleeping on the stomach or on the side, the shoulder and neck are at a larger angle, which makes it easy to get stiff. In fact, clinically, the rate of stiff neck caused by side sleeping and prone sleeping is not high. On the contrary, the discomfort caused by falling asleep due to bowing, tilting head, reading a book or watching TV is more. Even if you sleep on your back to avoid cervical deflection, if you don’t have the habit of sleeping on your back, you may still return to your original shape after falling asleep. There is no such thing as a healthy and perfect sleeping position. As long as you feel comfortable and don’t fall asleep in a state that violates ergonomics, there will be no major problems.
2. Should you sleep with a low pillow to avoid stiff neck?
Positive solution: the height of the pillow, the softness and hardness is moderate. The height of the pillow should be selected according to the individual body shape. Regardless of adults or children, the ideal pillow height is 1 fist height. In terms of material, avoid too soft or too hard latex pillows with better elasticity and support.
3. Can massage relieve stiff neck pain?
Positive solution: No! Too much massage force will aggravate the pain caused by stiff neck and help muscles relax. The key to alleviating the inflammation caused by excessive tension and tightness of the shoulder and neck muscles is relaxation. Ice compresses, hot compresses and stretching exercises all have good results.
Prevention of Stiff Neck
1. It is important to choose a suitable pillow.
2. Keep your neck warm when you sleep.
3. Study, correct working posture, develop good habits and reduce fatigue.
4. Avoid injury and protect your neck.
What is the best pillow for the cervical spine?
In addition to the high incidence of cervical and lumbar spine diseases caused by high work pressure, bad living habits, and lack of adequate exercise, sleeping is also a problem. The biggest culprit is that people spend 1/3 of their life sleeping. If you don’t develop a good sleeping position and use the wrong pillow, your cervical spine will get worse.
Cervical spondylosis is a serious threat to people’s health. According to the data of the epidemiological survey of orthopedic diseases in Beijing area released at the 8th Beijing Orthopaedic Annual Conference not long ago, 1 in 10 adults in Beijing suffers from cervical spondylosis. In addition to the high incidence of cervical and lumbar diseases caused by high work pressure, bad living habits, and lack of adequate exercise, sleep is also a major culprit. People spend 1/3 of their life sleeping. If you don’t develop a good sleeping position, use the wrong Pillow, the health of the cervical spine is getting worse.
For people with bad cervical spine, plank bed and brown trampoline are the first choice, and that kind of overly soft bed is not conducive to the health of cervical spine. So what kind of sleeping position is correct?
Professor Li Zirong, chief expert of the Department of Orthopedics of the China-Japan Friendship Hospital of the Ministry of Health, emphasized that it is most important to conform to the physiological curvature of the cervical spine. For those who are used to sleeping on their backs, the pillow height should be After compression, it is appropriate to be equal to the height of your own fist (the upward height of the clenched fist and the tiger’s mouth is the standard of fist height); for those who are used to sleeping on the side, the height of the pillow should be the same as the height of the shoulder width on one side after compression. Cervical spondylosis pillows that can maintain the normal physiological curvature of the neck whether sleeping on the back or side are the most ideal.
In order to achieve the purpose of supporting the neck, the shape of the pillow can be slightly arranged, fold the pillow, it looks like a “6” from the side, and the height of the raised part is about half shoulder height, so that will be more comfortable.
There are many so-called “cervical vertebra health pillows” on the market now, but in fact, there is no pillow with the height, model, and softness suitable for everyone, because everyone’s body shape and neck circumference are different. The medicine stuffed in the pillow does not have any special effect either. Relatively speaking, the most common buckwheat husk pillow is more adaptable. When filling the pillow, be careful not to fill it too much, otherwise it will affect its ability to “deform”. The correct way is to fill it about 70%.
For office workers who have been facing the computer for a long time, they can use their spare time to practice the following simple cervical spine exercises: sit upright on a chair, and do lowering, raising, turning left, turning right, and reaching forward respectively. Head back, head back, and make the head and neck circle clockwise and counterclockwise, and practice for 5 minutes a day.
