Recurrent stiff neck needs attention

What is a stiff neck

Stiff neck, also known as "lost neck", is a common disease that occurs in young and middle-aged people, especially in winter and spring. The common course of the disease is that there are no symptoms before going to bed, but after getting up in the morning, you feel obvious pain in the back and neck, and the movement of the neck is limited. This shows that the disease starts after sleep and is closely related to the pillow and sleeping posture.

There are two main causes of stiff neck:

Muscle sprain: If the sleeping posture is bad at night, the head and neck are in an improper position of excessive deflection for a long time; or because of an inappropriate pillow during sleep, which is too high, too low or too hard, causing the head and neck to be in a state of hyperextension or hyperflexion, it can cause tension in the muscles on one side of the neck and twist the facet joints of the cervical vertebra. Static injury can occur over a long period of time, making the muscles and tendons of the injured area stiff and disharmony, and the blood circulation is poor, resulting in local pain and discomfort, and obvious limitation of movement.

Exposure to wind and cold: If you catch a cold while sleeping or seek coolness in the hot summer, the qi and blood in the neck and back will stagnate, and the tendons and meridians will be blocked, resulting in stiffness and pain and difficulty in movement.

How to prevent stiff neck It is better to prevent the disease than to cure it. It is not difficult to prevent stiff neck. The key is to insist on doing the following three aspects:

First, prepare a good pillow and apply a neck and shoulder massage cream before going to bed. According to the anatomical and physiological characteristics of the human neck, a suitable pillow should not be too high or too low. The pillow should preferably have a concave middle part to prevent it from slipping easily and support the neck. The reasonable pillow height should be 8 to 10 cm for women and 10 to 15 cm for men. The width of the pillow should preferably be equivalent to the distance from the shoulder to the ear, and the softness should be easy to deform. When making a pillow, you can also add finely ground Chinese medicine, such as summer grass, astragalus, angelica, licorice, etc., to promote blood circulation in the neck.

Second, do a good job of keeping warm. When sleeping, not only cover the whole body with a quilt, but also cover the neck, and "pull" the quilt up. When the weather is hot, do not face the neck to the electric fan for a long time, and do not sleep in a place with "drafts" to avoid catching a cold in the neck, causing cervical muscle spasms and inducing stiff neck. People who sit at a desk for a long time should not forget to take care of their necks. They should often stand up and raise their heads to exercise their necks to prevent chronic strain of the cervical muscles.

Third, supplement calcium and vitamins. Calcium is the main component of human bones, and vitamins are essential for maintaining life. Sufficient calcium and vitamins can also promote blood circulation throughout the body and help excrete metabolic waste from the body. Usually, you should eat more bone soup, milk, soy products, and fresh vegetables. If necessary, you can also take calcium tablets and vitamins B and C appropriately.

The above introduces three ways to prevent stiff neck. In addition, you should do more neck and shoulder exercises, supplement calcium, avoid sleeping while sitting or in a moving car, eat less cold drinks, ice cream, or greasy, hot and irritating food, keep the habit of going to bed early and getting up early, and avoid overwork.

How to treat stiff neck If you have stiff neck, the best treatment is massage.

Doctors at Zhejiang Orthopedic Hospital said that once a stiff neck occurs, don't be nervous, calm down and treat the symptoms. Apply local hot compresses and keep warm. You can apply a hot towel or hot water bag to the affected area, or soak a towel in decoction of Chinese herbal medicine that relaxes muscles and activates blood circulation. Later, massage the painful area behind the neck with gentle techniques, then apply neck and shoulder massage cream, or use pain-relieving spray on the painful area. You can also use acupuncture and cupping.

Massage techniques can certainly be used to treat stubborn stiff neck, but they must be performed by experienced doctors. Do not ask well-meaning people who have only a limited understanding of the technique to "help". Do not force the neck to bend directly, and do not force it to make a sound, because once the technique of rotating the cervical spine is out of control, it will cause danger to the neck. In addition, you may wish to take some Chinese medicine that promotes blood circulation and removes blood stasis. In the acute stage, the neck movement should be properly controlled, and the neck should not be forced to bend, extend, lateralize, or rotate. The range of movement should be limited to not causing or aggravating neck pain.

Stiff neck has a quick onset and a short course, and can usually be cured within a week. Timely treatment can shorten the course of the disease, and it can heal itself without treatment, but there is a high chance of recurrence. If the symptoms of stiff neck recur or do not heal for a long time, the presence of cervical spondylosis should be considered, and a specialist should be consulted for early detection and treatment. There are many treatments for stiff neck, which are generally similar to those for cervical spondylosis. Because stiff neck has an acute onset and is only a simple muscle spasm, it has a tendency to heal itself. Therefore, as long as treatment measures are taken in time, the symptoms will disappear quickly.

Self-treatment for stiff neck: People who are prone to stiff neck must learn the emergency treatment methods for stiff neck. They can do health exercises for neck pain and know how to take care of themselves in daily life.

Emergency self-treatment for stiff neck: cold compress. If there is severe local pain, stiffness, swelling or burning sensation, it means that the injured part is congested and inflamed. Therefore, cold compress should be applied within 24 hours. You can wrap small ice cubes in a towel or plastic bag and apply them to the affected area for 15 to 30 minutes each time, twice a day. In severe cases, you can apply once every hour.

Hot compress. When the pain of inflammation is relieved, consider hot compress to dredge the meridians and activate blood circulation to remove blood stasis. You can use a hot towel for wet compress or a hot water bottle for dry compress. If you have time, you can take a hot bath, especially repeatedly rinse the affected area of ​​the neck with hot water, and massage the neck with your hands while washing for better results.

Self-massage. In traditional Chinese medicine, there is a "stiff neck point" located on the back of the hand, between the second and third metacarpal bones, a little behind the metacarpophalangeal joint. This point is a special and effective point for treating stiff neck. You can use your left and right hands to massage yourself alternately.

Key points: Use your thumb to massage the acupoints, starting with light and then increasing the force, and keep pressing hard for 10 to 15 minutes; during the massage, extend your head slightly forward, slowly retract from the front and bottom, bring your lower jaw closer to the sternal fossa, keep your neck muscles relaxed, then gently and slowly turn your head left and right, gradually increasing the amplitude, and gradually straighten your neck to the normal position. When rotating, limit it to the maximum amplitude that does not cause pain.

Simple health exercises: ● Put the middle, index and ring fingers of the left or right hand together, find the tender points in the painful area of ​​the neck (mostly in the sternocleidomastoid muscle, trapezius muscle, etc.), and massage from light to heavy for about 5 minutes, alternating between the left and right hands.

● Use the hypothenar to strike the shoulders and neck quickly and briskly from top to bottom and from bottom to top for about two minutes.

●Use your thumb and index finger to pinch the Fengchi and Jianjing points on both sides for 1 to 2 minutes.

● Press the stiff neck point (between the 2nd and 3rd metacarpal bones on the back of the hand, 5 fen behind the metacarpophalangeal joint) with your thumb or index finger, and continue for 2 to 3 minutes until you feel soreness and swelling.

●Finally, perform activities such as flexion, backward tilt, left and right tilt, and rotation of the head and neck. This movement should be performed slowly and do not use excessive force.