Neck pain can occur anywhere from the top of the shoulders to the bottom of the head. You may experience limited head and neck movement or pain that spreads to your arms or upper back.

Even people taking prescription medications or other medical treatment for neck pain may find that home treatment for neck pain helps speed up their recovery. Always talk to your physician before starting any home treatment for neck pain. For chronic long lasting pain, use the same treatment for neck pain and relief methods below, except the treatments for swelling.

Treatment for neck pain that appears suddenly and is acute starts with applying ice packs to the painful area for twenty-four to forty-eight hours. Cold treatments help diminish any swelling and pain and decrease muscle spasm pain. If you do not have an ice pack, fill a plastic bag with ice and wrap a pillowcase around it or use frozen vegetables wrapped in a tea towel.

Be very careful you do not leave the ice pack on too long and end up with frostbite or damage to your skin. Ice the back of your neck if the pain is near your upper back or shoulder.

During the first two days after a neck injury, stay away from anything that could increase swelling, such as heat.

Avoid taking a hot shower or bath and do not drink any alcoholic beverages. Once the swelling goes down which is usually from forty-eight to seventy-two hours after the injury, apply heat using a heating pad or warm pack on low. Some experts recommend a cold and heat treatment for neck pain, where you alternate between icing your neck and using a heating pad.

As part of your treatment for neck pain, encourage blood flow and relieve pain to the injured region by gently rubbing or massaging the area but only do this if it does not cause any pain. Many excellent nonprescription gels and creams on the market provide immediate pain relief. To reduce inflammation and relieve pain, there are several over the counter anti-inflammatory drugs and pain relievers, such as aspirin, acetaminophen, and ibuprofen.

Never give aspirin to anyone under the age of twenty because there is a chance of Reye’s syndrome.

To prevent stiffness and keep your neck strong and flexible do neck strengthening and stretching exercises. This treatment for neck pain can help in the healing process for both chronic and acute neck pain and often helps prevent further injury.

If possible, try to modify or avoid activities that aggravate your neck pain.

Unlike chronic neck pain, acute neck pain often comes on suddenly after trauma, surgery, stress, or other problems and lasts for a short or limited time. It is a direct reaction to trauma to tissue or disease and normally subsides when you treat the injury, disease, or cause.

Chronic neck pain is a long lasting, persistent, recurrent pain that can go on for years. There are many types of chronic pain besides chronic neck pain, which include cancer pain, back pain, arthritis, and headache pain. Identifying the chronic pains source, if possible, is the first step in evaluating and treating chronic neck pain and other long-lasting pains.

Never ignore any persistent pain including chronic neck pain, as it could be a sign of serious illness or disease and become worse if the cause is not determined and treated, although there are times when doctors and specialists cannot identify the exact cause of chronic pain.

Managing and treating chronic pain including chronic neck pain can be difficult and challenging. It often takes several combinations of therapy or treatment to find one that helps a person get some relief.

Treatment goals are to increase a person’s ability to function while reducing pain. At home, you may be able to help manage or control your pain by eating a proper, healthy, balanced diet. A registered dietitian or your doctor can supply you with a diet that contains all the vitamins and minerals you require.

Getting adequate sleep, appropriate daily exercise, and taking pain and anti-inflammatory drugs often helps chronic neck pain sufferers. Some people find relief by using therapies such as meditation or acupuncture. Many people dealing with chronic pain including chronic neck pain experience emotional problems such as anxiety, anger, depression, fear, and/or frustration, making it difficult to deal with or conquer the pain.

Your emotional well-being is extremely important so seek the help of a psychiatrist, psychologist, or licensed mental health counselor if necessary, for cognitive behavior therapy or other treatments.

If the above treatments do not reduce or relieve your chronic neck pain, your doctor or specialist may prescribe physical therapy to improve function and movement. They may change, add or prescribe new or stronger medications or recommend relaxation techniques to help you reduce stress.

It is extremely important to find a doctor or specialist that you feel comfortable talking to, have confidence in, and maintain regular contact. Ask your physician to refer you to a pain management clinic if the treatments for your chronic neck pain are not effective. The health professionals at a pain management clinic will help you identify possible treatments and help you determine realistic goals.

Prolonged or repeated movement to the neck’s joints, ligaments, muscles, bones or tendons usually caused by activities, account for the majority of the causes of neck pain. They can cause neck muscle spasms, a strain, neck joint inflammation, or a sprain.

Tension from focusing intensely or stress often causes painful, tight muscles connecting the shoulders, neck, and head. Other causes of neck pain include overhead exercises or work that uses the arms and upper body, such as weight lifting or holding your head in an odd, uncomfortable, or forward position for extended periods, while doing things such as reading, holding the phone receiver, playing video games, or working on the computer. Taking a nap sitting upright, sleeping with your neck in an uncomfortable position, a pillow that is too flat or high, or using your arm or upright fist as a headrest are often causes of neck pain.

In many cases, doctors cannot find any specific reason for a person’s neck problem.

A healthy well-balanced neck allows for stresses, movement and strains of the body and head. The cervical spine, which runs through the neck, consists of discs that separate the interlocking vertebrae, ligaments and muscles that hold the neck spine together.

When trauma or injury occurs to parts of the neck or the neck becomes unbalanced, this can cause a sore neck or painful neck injury. Several causes of neck pain include minor injuries such as, falling a short distance, tripping, twisting, or excessive cervical spine motion resulting in moderate neck problems. Direct blows to the head, face, or neck; whiplash; an injury that penetrates the neck; strangulation or other outside-neck pressure; falls from substantial heights; or sport-related injuries are often causes of neck pain and injury.

Medical conditions, some of them age related, are often causes of neck pain. Disc disorders occur when the disk cushioning between the vertebrae in your neck becomes dry, often due to aging, which causes the space to narrow near the nerves. Herniated neck disks occur when a disks inner gelatinous material protrudes through the tough covering of a disk and can irritate nearby nerves or cause a pinched nerve.

Other causes of neck pain occur when bony growths or other tissues press on the nerves in your neck. Rheumatoid arthritis, an inflammatory disease that commonly occurs in the upper neck region, can cause destruction of the neck joints. Meningitis is a very serious illness that causes the tissues of the spinal cord and the brain to become inflamed.

Influenza is another of the many causes of neck pain. It usually makes the whole body including the neck ache but does not cause severe neck stiffness. There are many other causes of neck pain such as infections, tumors, or even side effects from prescribed medications.