What to do if your neck hurts after sleeping

I believe many people have experienced the phenomenon of stiff neck due to sleeping. The biggest symptom is neck pain. The severe pain makes it impossible to twist the neck at will. The phenomenon of stiff neck is most likely to occur in young and middle-aged people. The limited neck movement has a great impact on normal life, but as long as the method is appropriate, recovery will be quick. So, what should you do if you have a stiff neck due to sleeping?

Stiff neck is a common sleep symptom and occasionally occurs in babies, which needs to attract the attention of parents. A common cause of stiff neck is that there are no abnormal symptoms before falling asleep, but after waking up in the morning, you feel obvious soreness in the neck and back and limited neck movement. This shows that the disease originates after sleep and is closely related to the pillow and sleeping posture.

The main reasons for baby's stiff neck come from the following two aspects: one is muscle sprain, such as poor sleeping posture at night, the head and neck are in an over-deflected position 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, all of which can cause tension in the muscles on one side of the neck and twist the small joints of the cervical vertebrae. Static injury can occur over a long period of time, making the muscles and tendons of the injured area stiff and disharmony, qi and blood circulation poor, local pain and discomfort, and obvious limitation of movement. The second is exposure to wind and cold, such as catching a cold during sleep, and greed for coolness in midsummer, which can cause stagnation of qi and blood in the neck and back, and blockage of tendons and meridians, resulting in stiffness and pain, and poor movement.

Family members can help those with stiff neck to massage and apply hot compresses to relieve pain. Treatments for stiff neck include:

1. Massage: Stand behind the person with stiff neck, press the neck lightly with one finger to find the most painful point, then use a thumb to start from the top of the neck on that side and go all the way to the shoulder and back, massage in turn, massage the most painful point vigorously until you feel obvious soreness and swelling, which indicates that the force is enough, repeat this massage 2 to 3 times, then tap the massaged area with a hollow fist, and repeat 2 to 3 times. Repeating the above massage and tapping can quickly relax the spasmodic neck muscles and relieve pain.

2. Hot compress: Hot water bottles, electric hand warmers, hot towels and infrared bulbs can all relieve pain. Care must be taken to avoid burns.

3. Ear acupuncture: Place the ear acupuncture points on the neck and occipital area. Press the above ear points with the tip of the index finger for 5 to 10 minutes, or massage the above ear points with the tip of the index finger.

4. Acupuncture: For those who cannot bend forward and backward, use Dashu, Jinggu and Kunlun points; for those who cannot look left and right, use Jianwaiyu, Houxi and Fengchi points. Generally, the Xuan Zhong point can be selected, which is located three inches above the Zuwaidong point. Acupuncture is performed for 4 to 5 minutes and moxibustion is performed 3 to 7 times. You can also massage this point for 15 minutes each time.

5. Choose safflower oil, Gancunshan rheumatism oil, Yun essence, etc., rub the painful area 2 to 3 times a day, which will have a certain effect.