Cervical (Neck) Stiffness

Cervical (Neck) Stiffness – Do you slouch or have poor posture while typing on your computer or phone? Do you have poor sleep posture? Do you often turn your entire body from right to left to look at something instead of turning your head? In this article, I will describe the 3 main causes of neck pain. Often, neck pain is caused by more than just sore and stiff muscles.

Causes

● Chronic neck stiffness from cervical lordosis (straightening of the cervical spine)
● Scoliosis (the curving of the spine)
● Cervical spondylosis (neck arthritis)

All of these can lead to muscle tightness, muscle spasms, and occasional headaches.

Treatment

The best treatment plan includes the following:

● Neck stretching exercises and the use of moist heating pads for 20-minute treatments, repeated four times per day and as needed, can provide relief.
● Dry heat is okay but moist heat is better because the moist heat helps relax the muscles.
● Using ice compresses will help reduce the severity of headaches by reducing the amount of
blood flow to the brain (vasoconstriction) for 20-minute treatments and repeated four times per
day and as needed.
● The best medications to use for relief are NSAIDS (Advil, Aleve, Naproxen, or Ibuprofen). These
medications are helpful in treating inflammation, headaches, and arthritis.
● Narcotics are not recommended.
● To treat muscle spasms that are not relieved by neck stretching and moist heating pads,
antispasmodic (muscle relaxers) are useful.

Please consult with your primary care physician for a prescription of Cyclobenzaprine (Flexeril),
Methocarbamol (Robaxin), Chlorzoxazone (Lorzone), Lioresal (Baclofen), Metaxalone (Skelaxin), or
Tizanidine (Zanaflex). The CDC has placed a Blackbox warning on Carisoprodol (Somas) as it is no longer
recommended for use.