Poor Neck Posture

Long term abnormal neck posture leads to muscle strain, disc herniations, arthritis, pinched nerves and instability. Poor health can result from stretching of the spinal cord. A major part of head, neck, jaw and shoulder pain is due to poor posture including fibromyalgia, myofascial pain syndrome, temporomandibular joint dysfunction and chronic fatigue syndromes.

Whiplash Neck Injury

Common symptoms of whiplash injury are neck pain from mild muscle strain or minor tearing of muscles and/or ligaments. In more severe cases, this type of neck injury may include nerve damage, disc damage, and in the most severe cases ruptures of ligaments in the neck and fractures of the neck bones. Minor whiplash neck injuries are usually associated with pain and limited motion of the head and neck. These symptoms are usually temporary, but occasionally they may persist and include headaches, dizziness, and tingling in the arms indicating pain may be more than a minor neck strain or sprain.

Muscle Strain Of The Neck

When neck pain and muscle soreness has been present for some time, often it can be traced to factors which strain muscle such as poor posture. Correcting such factors along with self massage and heat directed to specific areas of the neck muscles may provide relief from neck pain.

Heat Therapy For Neck Pain

Generally, heat should not be applied to an acute neck injury (3-4 days) or where discoloration or swelling is present. Heat can produce an increase in internal bleeding and swelling where there is significant damage. A strain of a muscle is similar to a cut on a finger. There is pain, swelling and bleeding. You would not use heat initially until the bleeding stops and the tissue forms a scab or scar. Initially, the use of ice for neck pain relief would be recommended, except if you wake up in the morning with a stiff neck from sleeping under a cold draft; Then use heat.