Did you wake up with a stiff neck?
It’s amazing the crazy things we can do to ourselves in our sleep!
Sleeping with your neck tilted forward, or to one side or the other, can cause your muscles to get unhappy and become tight or go into a spasm.
Being in one position for a long time without moving (like sitting with your head turned toward someone) can aggravate your neck muscles, too.
A hard jarring sneeze or cough can cause a stiff neck, and this may be even more uncomfortable than the one that comes during your sleep. An accident that whips your head from side to side or front to back might cause pain in your neck, too.
When the muscles go into spasm, or seize up and keep you from moving your neck, that can be a protective step by your body to prevent injury.
Be mindful as you apply the following steps and pay attention to what your body is telling you. If something doesn’t feel appropriate, don’t do it.
Here are the 3 natural steps you can take to help your neck relax:
1. Use heat on the muscles on the tops of your shoulders. You can also apply heat to your upper chest and upper back. If heat is not the best treatment for you to use, you’ll be able to tell; you’ll feel slightly worse afterward. If you use a hot shower, direct the water to your upper back, tops of shoulders (each separately) and the front of your upper chest and neck.
2. Use ice on the muscles at the back of your neck. Also, wrap the ice pack around your neck to benefit the muscles on the sides and front. It may feel like the pain is in the back of your neck, but there’s a good chance that all of the neck muscles are involved. Some muscles run from your collar bone to the back of your head. If you only have a small ice pack, your muscles will just have to take turns!
The rule of thumb is: Heat for tight muscles and ice for nervy symptoms.
Since a stiff neck may involve the nerves in your neck, go for ice around your whole neck and upper chest toward the middle. Ice will relax the muscles and also helps numb the pain.
3. Gently, slowly move your neck into slightly different positions but only a very small amount. Breathe into these little tiny movements.
Stretching tight muscles won’t help, but warming them with subtle, tiny, gentle, slight movements will help them relax.
It also helps to place your neck in the most comfortable position you can manage. That’s called the ‘position of ease.’ Doing the tiny movements while you are in your position of ease helps the most.
If you have a liniment, you can rub it on your neck and shoulder tops. The rubbing helps at least as much as the liniment. Remember your chest, too.
Some people will take some over-the-counter pain relief medicine which may help relieve symptoms. Prescription muscle relaxants apparently relax all of the muscles but they don’t relieve spasms specifically.
Massaging or rubbing tight areas will also help, but don’t expect your stiff neck to get better instantly.
If it’s stiff from sleeping or some over-activity, it may take a couple of days. If a hard sneeze or some type of jamming activity caused your neck pain and loss of range-of-motion, it might take 5 days or so to gradually feel better.
If you feel that you need to see your doctor, be sure to do that. Just remember, bodies change all the time. Just because something is happening today, tomorrow may be a whole different story. Today’s tests may be inaccurate by next week as your body has begun to heal itself.
Your body wants to be well and it has the ability to heal. These 3 natural steps will help you get rid of your stiff neck.
what a bummer. I got an exam tomorrow and I slept awkwardly. Have an insane stiff neck now. I am sitting with my head tilted to the left.
I used ice in a cloth for like 30 mins , took a panadol.. I will use the ice again in another hour.. Hope it goes soon, it really is painful and annoying
Hi Vineet,
Keep using the ice on the sides of your neck and tops of your shoulders.
When you start to feel numbness is when the cold pack comes off.
You can do 20 minutes on, 20 minutes off.
Best of luck with your exam and I hope your stiff neck goes away quickly.
Kathryn
The Pain Relief Coach
I have had a stiff neck on and off for 6+ months. I used to sleep on my side with my arm under my pillow and I think that’s what started it. I also sit at a desk 4 days a week and hunch my shoulders over. The pain moves around, sometimes my neck, jaw, shoulder, clavicle, ear and face. But its always on my right side and I cant usually bend my head to the left very far. I use peppermint oil, heat and ice. Sometimes it goes away for a few days but always comes back. I try to sleep on my back but do end up laying on my right side. I do think my posture is a big part of it. Any advice for me?
Hi Lauren,
Sure, I do have suggestions on what to do to help get rid of your stiff neck naturally. 🙂 You’re probably right about the sleeping position starting your neck, shoulder and face pain. Sounds like you’re straining some neck and shoulder muscles and they’re getting ‘tight’.
This will be two-pronged advice: First, you’ll have to alter your sleep and work position/posture and second, what else to do to get rid of the pain and keep it from returning.
It’s good to change sleep positions often but when you do sleep on your right side, you can place a folded bath towel or flat pillow under your ribs. The pillow will fill the gap between your arm pit and your hip bone. It will help keep your spine in alignment while you sleep. It also takes pressure off your shoulder when combines with a sufficient head pillow/support. Ideally, sleeping on the back is a really good position but if you can’t…
then make sure that your pillow (not your arm) is thick enough to support your head and to keep your spine in neutral (straight) position. You can stack a couple of pillows together. The goal is to not have your head tilted to either side when side-sleeping, but to have your spine straight. You might need some additional cushioning for your neck. You can create a custom pillow from fiberfill or even a soft towel or scarf in a pillow case.
You were probably placing your arm under your pillow trying to get your head into that neutral position. Now, your arm will be free to be in front of you, wherever it’s comfortable.
Posture: So important to have a strong back side and long relaxed muscles in the front of your body! This video will help: https://youtu.be/0-dlOOeUL34
This video is by a physical therapist and I really like it because it’s subtle. Helpful but subtle. Gentle and effective. https://youtu.be/pbHRK7jpr1M Doing these movements can help your neck and everything close to it to relax.
My self-help program https://www.KnotsInYourBack.com can give you additional help in getting rid of your still neck, if you still need it.
If you’re right-handed, you may be stretching to reach the mouse or keyboard (and everything else!) Try holding your elbow next to your waist instead of stretching. When you’re working, keep catching yourself slouching and straight up. It helps to put a rolled towel behind your waist. That will help you sit up straighter. Stick your tail way back into your chair and sit on your ‘sit bones’ rather than your tailbone. When your back is strong, it’s so much easier to sit upright. Take lots of stretch breaks to get your arms upward over your head and back.
It sounds like the muscles on that side of your neck are kind of ‘tight.’ Rubbing them, and using cold and heat can help them relax but also you have to stop doing whatever caused them to get crabby in the first place. You may find that standing or sitting upright and squeezing/lifting your shoulders up to your ears (hold your shoulders there for a minute or two) will help those tight muscles to relax. So, it’s hold, hold, hold and then after a minute or two, relax. Allow your shoulders to drop gently. Can repeat a few times each day.
Improving your sitting posture, your sleeping position, stretching the muscles in the front of your body, and strengthening the back will get you on the road to getting rid of your stiff neck and adjacent pain. If you go to a massage therapist, please choose one who understands how bodies work. You can search the Massage category here.
Thank you so much for your reply! I will start all of this immediately. I did forget to mention that I have been to a chiropractor and that helps for a few days and then I can slowly feel my neck muscles tensing back up. He has mention that one of my right top ribs is out of place and he will put it back in place. I ‘m not sure how I am doing that? Are there any stretches or exercises that would help keep my rib in the right spot?
Hi Lauren,
You’re very welcome! Muscles move bones. Bones cannot move on their own so when you help the muscles around bones get back to neutral, the bones get back to neutral, too. That’s why lots of chiropractors use or have massage therapists in their office. It makes the adjustment easier for both the chiropractor and the patient. 🙂
One study said that if a bone is moved into place, the muscles around start to remember where they’re supposed to be, so perhaps that’s his plan to get the rib back into place. It’s a several-times process and massage is more direct and faster.
Rolling from side to side and back and forth, both while stretching or rolled into a ball, helps awaken muscles. Sometimes you might hear a ‘pop’ as a bone shifts back into place. The video for getting better posture and strong back can help with this because it’s stretching the front muscles.
If you ask the chiropractor which rib, you can look at a muscle chart to see which muscles are attached to it. Or maybe he would know. Then, you’d (most likely) lengthen those muscle. I’m long-distance guessing that they’re on the front of your body/chest. If it’s top right and you’re right handed, that’s the area to stretch. Any stretches to open up the front of your body, along with strengthening your back, will help you get rid of the tight muscles and the stiff neck.
Think: Slow, gentle, thoughtful. You cannot force muscles to relax! There is a subtle movement therapy called Feldenkrais and there are a lot of good short training videos on YouTube. It helps get bodies back into balance.
Thank you for getting back to me. I’m looking forward to you getting rid of your stiff neck, having better posture and a happier body! 🙂