Do you wake up some mornings with a stiff neck or pinched nerve?
Unlike most chronic pain, neck pain can occur sporadically, coming and going at times for no apparent reason. Being able to identify when the neck pain is only minor and when it is a more medically major neck pain is important in deciding when to seek treatment, and how to treat specific symptoms.
Here are some common Characteristics of Minor Neck Pain:
- Slight shoulder pain associated with the neck pain,
- A throbbing ache that is reduced by massage or a cold pack,
- Pain that does not become worse and begins to fade after 24-48 hours.
If any of these symptoms describe your neck pain, it is most likely that you are experiencing minor neck pain and should try treating it with a massage or possibly an ice pack.
If you do not experience any relief almost immediately, or if the pain becomes worse, then the neck pain should be considered major neck pain and you should seek professional treatment. Minor neck pain does not get worse before it gets better like the common cold, only major neck pain will become steadily more painful.
After you have successfully treated your minor neck pain, it is a good idea to try and determine what triggered the discomfort.
One of the most common causes of minor neck pain is a worn out or inappropriate bed pillow.
The best pillow choice you can make to treat and avoid neck pain is the Mediflow waterbase pillow. The Mediflow pillow is the only pillow which has been clinically shown, in 3 major studies no less, to relieve neck pain and improve quality of sleep.
