Neck Strain Relief

Just like everywhere else on your body, your neck has muscles. When these muscles get jerked in ways their not supposed to, you get what is called a neck strain. You don't have to be an athlete or even a hard-working joe to get a neck strain. In fact, any movement that catches the neck muscles by surprise can result in it, sometimes weeks after.

Medicines

• For relief from pain and stiffness in the neck, try taking a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medication like ibuprofen, naproxen sodium or aspirin. These can help reduce inflammation and irritation in the strained muscle thus returning some mobility and alleviating some of the pain. Just watch out for how long you take these medications because overuse can cause liver and kidney problems.

Compress Therapy

• Using ice and then heat to treat the strain should also show some positive results. The Mayo Clinic recommends apply a cold compress for 20 to 30 minutes off and on during the day. This will help reduce swelling and inflammation and deaden the pained muscle a bit. Alternate your cold therapy with a heating pad to relax the sore muscle and loosen it up. Obviously, if it's a severe strain, icing it and heating it will not make the pain go away completely but it will help.

Neck Strain Exercises

• Exercise is a great way to start rebuilding and loosening the neck strain. By moving it around you will be increasing circulation to the neck and that alone helps to heal the strain. Neck rotations, side bends, chin tucks, chin-ups and scapula squeezes are all good ways to work the neck muscles and slowly bring them back to health. One word of caution. If while doing exercises, your arm or hand becomes numb, discontinue the exercise immediately and try again another day.