Having therapy for neck pain in the office can alleviate so much pain and tension, but often a neck condition requires more than just a once-weekly therapy session with your chiropractor. Before long the neck pain can return with a vengeance. If your schedule doesn’t allow for daily therapy sessions with your chiropractor, here are three at-home remedies that can enhance the neck pain treatment you receive in the doctor’s office.
Stretches
Maintaining the enhanced range of motion you achieve after adjustment and other therapy is as simple as lightly stretching every day. By performing simple stretches after long periods of sitting or standing that aggravate the injury, you can actually improve the injury even faster than by therapy sessions alone. For effective neck pain treatment, the stretches should not be held for very long or at uncomfortable levels of tolerance.
* Head Rolls: Make sure your shoulders are relaxed and slowly roll your neck towards your right ear. Slowly and gently roll your head 180 degrees (be sure not to overextend). A single rotation should take at least ten seconds. Repeat three to five times towards the right ear and then repeat towards the left.
* Chin Drop: Gently drop your chin to your chest (as far as you comfortably can). Let your neck muscles relax and breathe deeply. Feel the stretch extend past your neck to your shoulders and upper back. Hold the position for as close to 20 seconds as you can. Repeat as needed.
Heat Therapy
Your chiropractor already uses heat as a treatment for neck pain, and you can do this at home as well. Making an at-home heat pack with rice and a pillowcase is very simple; there are several DIY tutorials online on how to make heat packs. If you are not crafty, there are also several retail versions of the head pad. These can be placed in the microwave until warm. Be sure to place a towel or some form of barrier between the hot pad and your skin. Fifteen minutes of heat therapy in the evening can not only reduce neck pain, but relieve tension and stress as well.
Gentle Massage
Who doesn’t love a good neck and shoulder massage. As pleasurable as they can be for stress relief, they can also be ideally suited to help combat neck pain. The problem is that this is not easily self-administered. When having a friend or family member massage the injury, remember not to use excess pressure. This can cause bruising in the area that can make further neck pain treatment rather uncomfortable. Gentle strokes going in a single direction can be effective without bruising the skin or muscle underneath. For more information on neck massages for pain relief, speak with the chiropractors at Synergy Wellness Center about which massage techniques will be the most effective for your injury. You can also connect to them on Facebook.
