Neck pain is a major complaint of many patients. If it is not back pain they complain about, it is neck or head pain. While these are common complaints, it does not mean that you have to constantly live with neck pain, nor does it mean that you have to treat it with medication all the time either. Here are some common causes of neck pain and how to treat them without medication.

Kink in Your Neck

This is excruciating neck pain in one side of your neck. It often feels like someone jammed a fiery poker into the side of your neck and then shoved it over in the opposite direction. This is the direct result of your neck remaining in a fixed position for far too long and cutting off the blood supply. You can release the tension, tightness, and pain you feel by applying a heat pack for about twenty minutes. This loosens up the muscles that have become cramped and allows blood to flow through the area better.

Pain Radiating up from Your Shoulders

Neck pain that is felt at the base of your neck and in the tops of your shoulders is the result of sitting hunched over a desk and/or a computer screen for too long. It helps if you can regularly stand, stretch and move about every hour. Elevating your desk or computer screen or lowering your desk chair can help too. There are also ergonomic desk chairs that can help you sit better at your desk while you are working.

Pain Radiating from Your Neck into Your Head

When neck pain becomes a headache, but the neck pain is still there, this is caused by stress. You are physically restraining yourself from exploding into rage or screaming, and that tightens the neck muscles and scrunches up the shoulders. If you do not find a way to alleviate your stress, the pain in your neck heads into your head, which is your body's way of forcing you to take a break away from stress. Take a break and get a shoulder and neck massage, and the pain will go on its own.

Pain in the Front of Your Neck, Under Your Chin

When the pain is actually in the front of your neck and under your chin, this may be jaw-related. Upon closer inspection, you may have spent some time recently chewing some really hard foods or some really chewy foods. While this may hurt a few days, it will go away on its own. If you want to hasten the process, apply an ice pack to the area to take down some of the inflammation.

To learn more, contact a company like Physical Therapy at ACAC.