5 Ways to Ease Neck Pain

Your daily routine can be detrimental to the health of neck. Neck pain doesn't usually start out of the blue. It gradually accumulates over time due to poor posture, weak muscles, bad habits, and naturally due to age and conditions. Here are 5 ways to get help slow down and rid of the nagging neck pain once and for all.

1. Get a new pillow - This applies to side sleepers and back sleepers.  A new memory foam pillow that has a rounded front can help support the natural curve of your neck. These specialty pillows have a built in neck support with an indentation carved out for your head to rest in. This allows for a more natural sleeping position versus traditional feather pillows.
2. Don't stay in a fixed position for too long. When you're sitting at your desk, remember to get up and move around often so you don't get too stiff and comfortable in an unhealthy position.. A little bit of bad posture can ruin a lot of hard work trying to achieve good posture. Good posture means less stress and tension on the parts of your body that shouldn't be handling that much load, such as your neck and shoulders.
3. Improve your ergonomics. There are Basic ergonomic adjustments you can make to your desk and chair that will greatly improve your sitting position to mitigate poor posture. Raise your chair so that you are at eye level with the top of your computer screen. This will make sure that you aren't straining your neck up or down to look at your screen. You can also prop your tablet or laptop on a pillow so that sits at a 45 degree angle instead of being flat on your lap.
4. Stretch -  Stretching can be very beneficial to releasing tension and relaxing your muscles/nerves. Be sure to stretch your neck muscles frequently, especially when at your desk or driving. Simply roll your head slowly in a clockwise direction for a few rotations, then switch to a counter clockwise direction for a few rotations.
5. Massage - Gently massaging your neck and shoulder area is known to provide instant relief to a lot of people with neck pain. Going to see a massage therapist is a good option. There are also a lot of instructional videos on Youtube that can help as well.