Two crick in the neck treatments you can do at home

Most of us have dealt with a scenario that led to a crick in the neck. For instance, you might have slept on your neck oddly one night and woken up with this type of muscle tension. You may also have been sitting at work staring down at your laptop and felt the crick when you started moving. In cases like these, there are two crick in the neck treatment options that you can use at home. 

1.   Apply heat

Since neck muscle tension is often the source of the problem, a crick in the neck can often be treated by applying heat to the tense muscles. This can help them become more flexible and reduce the pain your crick could be causing. There are several options you can use at home to apply heat to your tense neck muscles. 

For instance, you can use an electric heating pad. If you don’t have a heating pad, you can also try a heated rice sock. To make this homemade heating pad, place some uncooked rice in a clean sock. Place the rice sock in a microwave for about 30 seconds, and then place the sock on the tense neck muscles. Another option you can try if you’re without a heating pad is a hot shower. In some cases, the massaging effect of the shower jets can combine with the hot water to decrease neck muscle tension and pain. 

2.   Stretch the tense neck muscles

A second at-home treatment option for a crick in the neck is neck muscle stretches. An example of a stretch you could use for this issue is the side tilt. 

To do this stretch, sit or stand with your back straight, your shoulders back and your head centered over your shoulders. From this home position, slowly tilt your head away from the sore muscles like you’re trying to touch your ear to your shoulder. Once you feel a stretch in your neck muscles, hold the stretch for five to 10 seconds before returning to the home position. 

Repeat the steps to stretch the other side of your neck, and you should continue repeating this stretch until you’ve completed eight to 10 repetitions on each side of the neck. If you want to deepen the stretch, you can use your fingers to gently pull on your head as you tilt it. However, be careful not to pull too hard since this can overstretch the muscles and increase your pain. 

Armor Physical Therapy can help you with crick in the neck treatment

If you frequently have cricks in your neck or the muscle pain and tension doesn’t go away after several days, you may have a more serious neck issue. Armor Physical Therapy has a team that can help you with both minor and serious neck problems and injuries. Our team can perform a complimentary assessment to determine the source of your neck problem, and then, we’ll use this information to create an individualized therapy plan to fit your needs. Multiple therapy methods are typically used in our plans, and your therapy plan might include methods like: 

• Therapeutic exercises
• Manual therapy
• Graston Technique^®
• Trigger point therapy

Take the next step to start getting our help with crick in the neck treatment or other neck issues. Contact our team today for more information or to schedule an initial appointment.