I hurt my neck shoveling!

Yes, you read that right. It’s not a lower back injury, but a neck injury. The mechanism is the same, but I wanted to address neck pain in this article. The fact is that you can strain any muscle or joint by doing almost any activity.

In this example, a patient of ours was shoveling snow and turned his head as he raised the shovel to fling some snow to the side. He mentioned that he was careful with his back: bend the knees, use the thigh as a support point, not lift too heavy a load, etc. But when he turned his head to the right, he immediately felt his muscles on the right side of her neck, from the back and side of her head to her upper back, sixteen up. He said that he felt like a big spasm or cramp.

We have seen this many times before, this same thing can happen in the lower back or in the leg as well. People can sometimes describe it as a “Charlie horse” feeling. So why can this happen by doing an activity that you wouldn’t think would cause it?

The answer is this: sometimes a muscle or joint is about to become irritated. Let’s say, for example, that the night before the blizzard you were on the computer for hours; your neck was tight afterwards but it seemed to go away. Then you went to bed and got up early to shovel. Half asleep, while everyone was still in bed, you put on your jacket, hat, and gloves, braved the cold, and started shoveling.

In the example above, you can see how the shoveler’s neck was probably still sore from the night before (it may have gotten worse in his sleep, too), then without warming up the muscles a bit (taking a shower or stretching a bit would have marked a big difference), or even drink some water (this obviously helps to hydrate the body, in this case the muscles and joints, which helps prevent injury). In this case, the individual probably shakes the body up a bit, gets out into the cold, and begins to do a fair amount of physical activity.

Now, I’m not saying that doing this or anything similar will cause a neck or back injury, and I know most of us have been guilty of it in the past. However, if one is in the habit of doing this kind of thing often, they can and will eventually hurt themselves. I’m going to give you some tips that you can use to heal your neck once you strain it, but keep in mind that the real goal is to prevent it from happening. Trust me, I’ve seen people who have pushed themselves so hard or pushed and restricted over and over again, that their neck is to the point where it doesn’t heal as easily or quickly. So, as you can probably guess, my first step in curing a sprained neck is to prevent it in the first place.

Neck Sprain/Strain Healing:

1. Try to avoid it and prevent it from happening. This goes especially for those of us who have injured our neck before and have an idea of ​​what causes it.

2. Improve or correct the alignment of the spine. To do this, see a chiropractor, osteopath, or someone who does this professionally. A massage often helps because a good massage can help relax the muscles and ligaments, allowing the spine to move back into place.

3. Use natural therapy first. Heat and ice are easy to make, cost nothing, and you can use them anytime. In reality, a prescription muscle relaxant is rarely needed.

4. Start doing gentle neck stretches once you start to feel better. This will help lengthen the muscles, breaking up muscle adhesions and preventing future strains. The most commonly needed stretch is the side tilt of the head. Slowly draw one ear toward your shoulder until you feel a stretch; hold for 10-20 seconds, relax and repeat.

5. Muscle massage at home. Use your fingertips to find those tight spots to massage. You will find that it is often a “hurt” type of feeling. Once you get a massage or spinal alignment, you’ll have a better idea of ​​how you feel.

6. Use a cervical pillow to sleep. This also helps relax the muscles helping to align the spine. It can also and should be used as one of the neck pain prevention methods.

There you go! The next time you strain your neck or feel a neck spasm coming on, use the tips above. My best recommendation is to use the list above for prevention or maintenance of the spine, if desired. We’ve all heard it before, but I’ll say it again: an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!

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