Neck Pain

Whether it’s from sleeping in a contorted position or hunching over a computer screen all day, that stiff, achy feeling is truly a pain in the neck.

While a muscular injury or ruptured disk can cause neck pain, a less obvious cause is poor posture. Take a look in the mirror; if your shoulders are hunched over and your neck is bent forward, the weight of your head—about 18 pounds—isn’t properly balanced over your shoulders, the way nature intended it. The muscles and ligaments in your neck do their best to compensate, but they aren’t happy with the situation, and they’re letting you know about it. The natural remedies in this chapter—in conjunction with medical care and used with your doctor’s approval—may help relieve neck pain, according to some health professionals.

Acupressure

To get rid of neck pain, press the GB 20 points, which are two inches out from the middle of your neck, underneath the base of the skull, says Michael Reed Gach, Ph.D., director of the Acupressure Institute in Berkeley, California, and author of Acupressure’s Potent Points. (For help in locating these points, refer to the illustration on page 565.) He says to close your eyes and press both GB 20 points for at least one minute, using the thumbs of both hands. To make holding these points most comfortable, Dr. Gach suggests sitting in a chair and bending over, with your elbows propped on a table or desk.

Hydrotherapy

Relieve neck pain with an ice massage, suggests Charles Thomas, Ph.D., co-author of Hydrotherapy: Simple Treatments for Common Ailments and a physical therapist at Desert Springs Therapy Center in Desert Hot Springs, California. His instructions: Freeze water in a plastic cup, remove the ice, and after rubbing your neck with your hand to prime the area, use the ice cube to rub your neck for 5 to 15 minutes. (Wear a glove or mitt to protect your hand from the cold.)

Imagery

Picture your neck pain as a ball that has a particular size, shape, color and texture. It may be as small as a marble or as large as a basketball. Allow the ball to grow larger and larger. As it does, the pain may momentarily increase. Now let the ball shrink smaller than its original size, but don’t let it disappear. As the intensity of the pain changes, allow the ball to change color, too. Now imagine that the ball turns into a liquid that flows down your arm, drips on the floor and reforms into a ball. Now kick or throw the ball out into space. Watch it disappear. Most of your pain should be gone, says Dennis Gersten, M.D., a San Diego psychiatrist and publisher of Atlantis, a bi-monthly imagery newsletter. He suggests doing this imagery for ten minutes twice a day and whenever the pain flares up.

Massage

Two exercises with a rolled-up towel can help you relieve tension and pain in your neck, writes Monika Struna in Self-Massage. For instructions, see the towel tricks for neck pain on page 580.

Reflexology

Work the following reflex points on your feet, suggests New York City reflexologist Laura Norman, author of Feet First: A Guide to Foot Relexology: adrenal gland, solar plexus, diaphragm, shoulder, neck and spine, with special emphasis on the cervical spine. Also work all of the points on the tops and bottoms of the toes, using whichever technique you find most comfortable.

To help you locate these points, consult the foot reflex chart on page 592. For instructions on how to work the points, see “Your Reflexology Session” on page 110.

Relaxation and Meditation

Studies have shown that stretch-based relaxation techniques are an excellent way to reduce neck pain, says Charles Carlson, Ph.D., professor of psychology at the University of Kentucky in Lexington. See the illustrations on page 602 to learn one such technique. Dr. Carlson suggests using it whenever your neck begins to feel sore. It is also a good preventive measure if you practice it for 20 minutes twice a day, he adds.