please help make my neck better!!

[funkychicken]

Today while I was out I turned round and pulled a muscle in my neck, when I got home my neck clicked on the same side as the sharp pain so I quickly moved my head and the other side of my neck clicked. Now I'm in complete agony, how can I make it better? I've taken painkillers, put gel on my neck and am using a heatpack. Help please! I can't move =(

[Scarlett]

OOH poor you! I think you should get yourself down to the chiropractor asap. If you have twisted badly you have to have it sorted out, or the pain will get worse as you are "holding" yourself wrongly. (Like if you walk badly, eventually you get back pain!!)

Also take Ibuprofen as this will reduce inflammation and mask the pain so you will losen up without realising. Try and maybe sleep with a flat pillow rather than plumped up, to try and get the position back to normal.

Also you can have a shower and direct the nozzel on your neck- heat often helps pain like this.xxx

[Peri]

Arnica ointment is also good and Rhus Tox ointment.  Rub lots in.  Be careful with your neck with regard to who you go to.  Get a reference from someone.  An Osteopath is good as well and slightly gentler I believe.  There are also muscle relaxant tabs called anxicalm which you can get on prescription.   If you can also have a hot bath - you need to relax as much as you can.  I hope you are better tomorrow funkychicken.  Let us know how you are !

[Buddy]

Sounds like a Rye (sp) neck which is agony but only heat treatment seems to work.You can buy lovely velvet pads which you heat in the micro and give relief.Poor you.

[tigerthecat]

This is going to sound daft but its worth a try- it always works for me. It may be that you have trapped a nerve so get a bath towel and roll it long ways to tie like a scarf round your neck. Put it tight around your neck like a colllar and  lift your head above it and kind of sit it on it - to take the weight of your head. it will prevent you moving your head  and will work loose - so readjust every so often. Keep taking the painkillers and get off the computer :-)

[Solarjunkie]

If you have someone you trust, get them to hold the sides of your head as if it were a valuable vase that they were lifting on to a table. Then "lift" which will gently pull your head up and straighten your neck, similar to the answer above.

If they succeed in lifting your head off your shoulders, you have gone too far! ;-)

This has worked for me many times. Now I go regularly to an osteopath and rarely have the problem. By the way, you should no more put heat on a damage neck muscle than you would on a sprained ankle - you need cold, not heat, for both.

[mydogsandme]

you have my deepest sympathies- this is something I'm often doing and I know what agony it is. Biofreeze gel is in my opinion the best immediate relief you can get. It feels cold and doesn't smell or stain like other creams. You can google it. Hope it feels beter soon.

[funkychicken]

Thank you all for your replies, my neck is a bit better today, I can actually move although do look a bit stupid when trying to turn my head! heheh I shall try some more of your suggestions and hopefully my neck will be all better by tuesday when I start college =)

thanks again everybody =)

[FP]

This isn't meant rudely - I promise, but one of the worse things you can be doing is sitting using a keyboard at the computer.  Your arm movements will aggrevate your neck and cause  upper back tension will also not help.  Try and stay away for a few days. 

Sit in a high back chair with your bum tucked in really close to the angle between seat and back.  Keep your back and neck straight and tuck your chin in towards your chest and then relax it, repeat five times. Turn your neck gently to the right and repeat the chin tucking and relaxing,  and then repeat on the left hand side.  Do this several times a day.  It is called the Chicken Shift (no not Sh*t!)

Ice packs work far better than heat if there is any inflammation, and it will lessen the pain dramatically.  Heat helps pain can actually aggrevate inflammation. Lie with a pack of frozen peas under your neck and shoulders for ten minutes twice a day. 

Lots of good advice given above.

Your have my sympathy.  I have had trouble with my neck for as long as I can remember.  Hope you are better for college.  Good luck.