No doubt about it, neck pain can be a real energy zapper. Try these tips below or come get some professional care to feel better faster. If you’d like to save time and get in asap, click here for our online booking system or call our reception service on (03) 98883473.
Tip 1 – Keep Well Hydrated
When we are dehydrated our muscles and joints don’t work as well. It also lowers mineral levels such as magnesium which has a really important role in relaxing the muscles and the nervous system. Sometimes it’s hard to keep well hydrated. We get busy at our desk and before we know it, the day is nearing its end. Sometimes the weather puts us off drinking plain water and we opt for a glass of wine, a cup of coffee or a soft drink which further dehydrates us. We are all human after all!
To make it easier, try setting some alarms on your phone, or have a bottle within reach even while at your desk. If you have regular coffee breaks try swapping out the coffee for a plain water or an herbal tea instead. Your body and your neck will thank you for it!
Tip 2 – Keep your neck warm
When it’s cool outside or in the office you may need to layer up around the neck. The cold air can lead to muscle spasms which can aggravate a neck complaint. Scarves are your friend! At night if it’s cold, make sure you wear a PJ top and use light/warm blankets or doonas rather than heavy ones. Sometimes we shrug the blankets up and if the neck has cooled off, this action often leads to aggravating the spasm or pain.
Tip 3 – Move often throughout your day
It’s well researched that standing up from your desk as often as every 20 minutes has the best benefit – even if you literally stand up…sit down… It takes a sec and you don’t even need to look away from your screen. Maybe a bigger break every hour would also be a good idea – go make yourself that cup of herbal tea we talked about or have a walk over to the printer to grab that print out – make some excuse to get up and walk around! Now that you’re up, why not add a few neck movements? A few little head circles, looking up and down, looking from side to side, maybe even a few head retractions might help. Remember to move slowly and smoothly to get the best results, this way you’ll stay within your own comfort levels of range of movement as well.
Need some more help?
Myotherapy helps all sorts of neck pain and symptoms from loss of movement to extreme pain such as wry neck. We will assess, treat and show you some movements to help. We use proven techniques and exercises such as the McKenzie Technique but we make sure they are right for you. There is no one size fits all when it comes to the human body!
Practitioners Dwan Rosairo and Sarah Hall have further training in The McKenzie Technique® an amazingly effective technique that is fast and effective at relieving even the stubbornest of neck pains!
Here’s how we are going to help get rid of your neck pain.
Step 1. We assess the triggers of your neck pain. One of the most common triggers of neck pain is from looking at computer screens and looking down at pads and phones all day. We used to look up as well, but now it’s just down, down and more down! Short term we may need to reduce the trigger to get fast results, but don’t worry we won’t ask you to stop using your phone, just a few modifications.
Step 2. We treat to get rid of any current symptoms. Many of our patients have what’s called a ‘wry neck’ where they can hardly move! We defiantly want that relieved for you, but even if you are feeling a bit stiff, tight or ache we can help alleviate your symptoms in the first session.
Step 3. We help to fix the underlying cause to stop the triggers flaring up your neck pain time and time again.
Step 4. We teach you specific movements to combat the underlying cause of your neck pain so you can start to treat yourself and therefore you don’t have to rely on us so much!
Here’s some treatment techniques we use.
- Dry Needling to release active trigger points referring into your pain zone
- Active Cupping to release tight fascia that’s stopping the muscles from moving freely
- Joint Mobilisation to release locked up joints creating “danger signals” in your nervous system
- Manual trigger point release for those who prefer not to use dry needling
- Deep Massage techniques to calm the nervous system by creating a release of endorphins and other feel good hormones to help relieve pain naturally
- Practitioners Dwan Rosairo and Sarah Hall are trained in using The McKenzie Technique ® for neck pain. This is a researched technique that gives amazing results!
We can use one or several of these techniques. It’s all about coming up with a plan that’s going to work best for you however we will not use a treatment technique that you aren’t comfortable with.