Neck Pain Support Blog

How Back and Neck Pain Can be Helped when You Travel

It's July 4th and how are you spending the holiday? Are you driving this holiday or taking a plane trip somewhere? Chances are covid-19 has somehow affected your plans. Personally, we are doing a staycation. My son and I tested out a new golf club this morning and later we are doing a July 4th bbq with close family. Staying put and staying safe. Enjoying fireworks from our back lanai tonight !

Happy July 4th from the Neck Pain Support Blog

How can back and neck pain affect travel? In many many ways actually. It can make it  nightmare and cause you to have a flare up sometimes. Here are some great tips to help you with your travel plans- whether doing a staycation or going somewhere.

First, taking breaks is very important. The act of sitting can put a lot of stress on your joints, on your back and even your neck. Sitting in one place while driving, or on the computer can aggravate back and neck pain. Hence, standing up and moving around can make a big difference. Making a plan to get up every 15-20 minutes to get a drink of water is a great idea. Plan on stopping at a rest stop no matter what. Just stretching and moving can make such a big difference if you have neck and back pain.

Using pillows to your advantage can make a big difference. For both the back and the neck, use contoured neck and back pillows. For example using a lumbar pillow while sitting in the car for long periods or when you are on the computer, can help.

 

A lumbar pillow can make long car trip more comfortable for your lower back.

 

 

Just like using a pillow for lower back can help, same goes for your cervical spine. Using a cervical contoured neck pillow for sleep can also make a huge difference for optimal posture while sleeping on your side or back. The Arc4life Traction Pillow is a good example of pillow with curves that fit the shape of your neck. It is important to order the right size of a pillow like this. This arc4life pillow comes in 3 sizes: small, medium and large. 

A Contoured Neck Pillow at Night Can Keep Your Neck in Alignment While Sleeping

 

Next, doing neck and back stretches can go a long way to keep comfortable. Never to the point of pain, just to the point that you feel a stretch is the key. These are great stretches for the hips, neck, back and shoulders.

Effective stretches for the hips, neck, back and shoulders.

There you go: 3 simple things you can do to enjoy your staycation or TRAVEL away from home.

 

Additional Reading:

• Causes of neck pain you might not think of
• Arc4life Twist Pillow works great for patients who are travelling or for kids in the car
• Contoured Kids Pillows Designed for Smaller Cervical Spines
• Arc4life's Linear Gravity Neck Pillow- Small Size for Toddlers, Teens and Petite Individuals
• Change up the loft of your pillow easily
• Upper Back Stretches you can do anywhere

 

The Arc4life Traction Pillow Helped Me with my Numbness/Tingling and Sleeping at Night, Now What?

At the beginning of June we received a call from Marisol regarding some issues that she was having with her neck and hands. Specifically she mentioned that she was having a lot of neck pain, and numbness and tingling at night time and that this was waking her up at night. She had a busy day job and was super tired from the disjointed sleep that she was getting. She was desperate for a solution and asked if we could make some recommendations for her. 

She was recommended the Arc4life Traction Neck Pillow [ med ] and also given instructions on how to best use it.  First of all she was told to use the pillow gradually, as she was having a very tough time at night. She was to start using the pillow about 5-10 minutes, and then to put it away. The next night she was to use it 15 minutes. The night after 30 minutes. In this way, she was slowly getting her neck muscles using this type of contoured neck pillow. It was also suggested that she use the Support side of the pillow to start, as this was softer side of the pillow. Finally, it was recommended that she lay down [face up ] on the traction v side of the pillow for about 10-20 minutes per day. In this was she was getting support during the night and very gentle neck traction during the day as well. 

Fast forward to July. We received a phone call almost exactly 30 days later. Marisol stated that the arc4life traction pillow has worked for her. Gone was the numbness and tingling at night and she was able to sleep through the night. She was very satisfied with this and very grateful, as she was finally able to sleep at night. She stated that now she was only getting numbness and tingling while driving and while riding her bike. Marisol was interested in doing more for her symptoms and again asked for recommendations. 

Well, first of all we love to hear when a customer was helped- in any way. So the arc4life traction pillow helped Marisol to sleep at night comfortably. With this pillow, you are getting support and gentle neck traction. The next step to help get rid of that numbness and tingling during the day is do gentle neck traction during the day.

Our best recommendation is going to be the Posture Pump Neck Traction Device. We like this particular unit because it puts you neck into anatomically the right position to stretch: Into a C-Curve. It also opens up each of the neck vertabrae and allows the nerves to breathe properly and heal. 

 

The Posture Pump Cervical Traction Unit for the neck

Here is another good one, albeit its a little more cumbersome, but still effective: Soothe- A Ciser with Cervical Traction Device

One More: Cervical Traction System with Foam Roll. All of these units are better than the traction units that do up and down type of neck traction. For example a neck collar type of unit. 

Again when you do this type of neck traction, you want to start gradually. Just like using the arc4life traction pillow. Set a timer for yourself and try to do the neck traction 4-5/week. Start with 5 minutes [ set a timer ] and a very low amount of traction and work your way up to 15 minutes. This will ensure you are not experiencing soreness after doing the neck traction. Also, you can do neck stretches before you start: - these are some simple ones. One more thing you can do is use a heating pack on your neck after c-traction to ease any soreness or tightness. 

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Updated: 4/18/2020

Exercises to Help you with Neck Pain Relief

Here are 7 amazingly effective neck exercises that you can do on your own at home:

These neck exercises will help to strengthen your neck muscles. They involve putting your head and neck into certain ranges of motion. Make sure to do on both sides of your head:

• rotation
• flexion
• extension
• lateral flexion

Additional Reading:

• I just received my NEW Pillow... and HELLO, its nothing like my OLD pillow
• Do you have a Closet Full of Pillows?
• A Pillow that Gives you Neck Support - not just in times of Pain
• The Pillow for Alleviating Neck Pain
• Frozen Shoulder Fix..not for the Faint of Heart

 

 

 

I have chronic neck stiffness .What is a good way to relieve pain and stiffness?

I recently got this question about chronic stiff neck: 

Dear Neck Pain Support, 

I have chronic neck stiffness .What is a good way to relieve pain and stiffness?

- Raj

Dear Raj,

Great question. So many people suffer with a stiffness in their necks that they have had for a long time. My advice to you is to do regular neck exercises.

Doing these exercises can really help your mobility in your cervical spine. You have work at this everyday and start very slowly. Otherwise you will just aggravate your neck and cause more stiffness and pain.

You can do these neck exercises in the shower when you first wake up in the morning. It involves gentle movements in 6 directions. You must do all of it very gently. 

1. Very gently bring your head forward (chin to your chest), hold for 5–10 seconds
2. Then bring your head back (look up to the ceiling), hold for 5–10 seconds.
3. Bring your right ear to your right shoulder, hold for 5–10 seconds
4. Bring your left ear to your left shoulder, hold for 5–10 seconds
5. Turn your head to the left, hold for 5–10 seconds
6. Turn your head to the right, hold for for 5–10 seconds.

If you have pain in any one of these directions, ease off and do that motion with less tension. For example, if you have pain when you turn your bring your head forward (chin to your chest), don’t bring your head forward all the all the way. Just do it to the point that you start to feel pain, then stop. You will notice that if you do this stretching exercise daily, your range of motion will slowly start to increase. Incidentally, your neck pain will start to decrease as well.

Simple Neck Stretches that Can Help a Stiff Neck

Also, if you do this stretching exercise first thing in the morning, you can let warm/hot water hit your neck muscles while you stretch. This actually feels very good and can help your stretching.

If you cannot do this in the morning, you can also apply a warm moist heating pack to your head and neck muscles and then proceed with this exercise. 

Finally, get a supportive neck pillow for sleeping. This makes a huge huge difference every night. My suggestion is the arc4life cervical linear traction neck pillow because it provides excellent cervical support and gives you the C curve that you need in your neck when you sleep (for both side and back sleeping).

You can also use the arc4life pillow for a gentle neck stretch. Just lay on the traction V Side for 20-25 minutes on your back. A very therapeutic stretch that can relieve pain.

Additional Reading: 

• Information about the Arc4life cervical traction neck pillow
• Spinal Nerve Chart - understanding where your neck pain is coming from
• I have a stiff neck, a straight neck and shoulder pain
• Don't get a stiff neck when you travel

 

 

Neck Traction Does Not Need to Be Scary.

If you are looking for natural pain relief options for neck pain - neck traction might come up. When you first mention Neck Traction to patients they sometimes have a dazed look on their face. They think you are going to hook them to a machine that causes a lot of pain. 

Neck traction can be beneficial for many conditions including:

• neck arthitis
• radiculopathy
• pinched nerve
• nerve root compression
• spinal stenosis
• fibromyalgia
• whiplash (not acute)
• headahces
• muscle spasms
• herniated disc
• bulging disc

I want to show my Neck Pain Support Readers that you can start off with very basic neck traction. This allows you to slowly get into neck stretching. Here are 3 easy things you can use.

1. First use the arc4life traction neck pillow, especially the traction V Side. If you just lay on your back, on the traction V Side of the pillow for 20-25 minutes you will get some pain relief. You are not sleeping on the pillow, just laying on the pillow. Set a timer if you have too. This is a great form of passive traction that you can do at home. Basically you are stretching the spine very gently and allowing the nerves to be freed up in between the vertebrae. One important side note, order the right size of pillow. Ordering the wrong size can cause you unneeded pain.
2. A little more advanced form of this would be to use a traction unit - such as the cervi pedic, or an omni cervical relief device. Basically these units cradles the head and neck in proper alignment, to encourage gentle traction and correct cervical curvature. They are both ergonomically contoured and allow total relaxation of the neck, shoulder, and back muscles. Note you can use both the Omni and the Cervi pedic lying down or seated. 
3. The most advanced form you can do at home is using a posture pump 1100 or a Pronex Traction Unit With this unit for example you can get up to 20 lbs of pressure.  I often recommend to use this in a chiropractor or Physical therapists office first to understand how to use it and use it correctly. You will then know what neck traction feels like. Also, a unit like this helps to correct the natural C Curve in your neck. So if you have forward head posture, or a hunchback posture, then can help immensely.

Using the Pronex for Neck Stretching Can be Easy to Set up and do at Home

Neck Traction can have quite an impact on patients health. It can help with pain relief, better posture, relief of radiculopathy symptoms ( such as numbness and tingling, shooting pains), headache relief and stiffness and help patients sleep better.

Just remember to ease into it slowly. That is the key. Nothing scary about Neck Traction.

Updated: 4/24/2020

Related articles

Who Does the Arc4life Traction Pillow Work Well for? (The Queen of Neck Pillows)

Neck Pain Support Blog: Optimize Your Posture While You Sleep with the Right Pillow

What Are Some Ways to Improve Your Posture?

 

Ways to Improve Your Head and Neck Posture

 

 

Ways to Improve Posture:

• Watch how you use your cell phone. Don’t look down at it constantly. This adds a lot of extra pounds to your head and neck that you are carrying around, thus leading to neck pain, midback pain and headaches
• Don’t sleep on your stomach - this contorts your head and neck in such a way that it puts pressure on vital ligaments and nerves in the neck
• Sleep with a contoured neck pillow at night. A pillow that aligns your head and neck whether you are sleeping on your back or on your side
• Watch how you sit: When you drive, when you watch TV, when you use the computer. Are you slouching? Is your head forward?
• Do head retraction exercises to help improve your posture and train yourself to have ideal posture no matter where you are

Updated: 4/24/2020

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Should I Sleep Without A Pillow if I have a Forward Head Posture?

In the last post here on Neck Pain Support Blog, I wrote about how the Forward Head Posture can cause not only neck pain, but also pain in the mid and lower back.

So should you use a pillow with this type of neck posture? Is it healthy? Some might think that using no pillow might be the best solution for this. 

Using no pillow is not the answer - it is not only uncomfortable, but it can make your situation and pain worse.

I recommend using a contoured neck pillow. Your head and neck needs to be properly supported especially with this type of neck posture. It is important to get the right size of pillow. Because your head and neck are already naturally pushed forward, you don’t want to get a pillow size that is too big. A pillow that is too big will exaggerate your forward head posture. It can make your neck and back pain worse.

An Example of a Contoured Neck Pillow that Can help with FHP

In the meantime do neck traction and postural exercises to help improve the forward head posture. This type of posture puts a lot of pressure on the head, neck and shoulder area.

Check out Part I: Forward Head Posture Post here on Neck Pain Support Blog: How FHP Can cause midback and low back pain too.

Additional Reading Resources:

• Exercises you can do for forward head posture
• How to Help Neck Pain and Headaches from Work
• Solutions for A Stiff Neck 
• Improve Your Neck Posture with the right pillow
• Travel Neck Pillow for a Person with Existing Neck and Shoulder Pain

 

 

How to Start a Neck Traction Protocol for a Military Neck

A military neck occurs when the cervical spine straightens out. There is little curve or no curve at all. Also known as hypolordosis of the cervical curve or a cervical kyphosis. Can you change this curvature in your neck? YES you can. Keep in mind, it takes time. The great thing is that it can immensely help neck pain symptoms as well.

What Does Military Neck Look Like on an X-ray?

For many patients, it occurs after years and years of bad posture, a whiplash type of accident, and improper sleeping habits. It can cause muscles spasms, stiff neck, neck pain and headaches. More severe type of symptoms can be numbness and tingling, weakness and shooting pains.

Neck Traction is a great way to get the curve back in your neck. You may have tried neck traction in your chiropractors, or physical therapists office, and it may offered you relief of your symptoms. Neck traction is also a great way to train the cervical spine to help get the curve back in your neck.

Start by just using a towel roll to help stretch out your neck. This costs you nothing, and helps your muscles get used to this pulling type of motion.

Using a Towel Roll is the First Step in Doing Neck Traction

 Second, get a gentle traction unit such as the omni cervical relief pillow (its not really a pillow) or the cervipedic neck support. Both of these units that I have mentioned basically cradle your neck in a comfortable type of foam. Your head and skull lay comfortably while your neck is being stretched. This is used by a lot of health practitioners in their offices to help patients stretch their necks out.

The Omni Cervical Relief Pillow is a Gentle Neck Traction Devide

Third, get a traction unit such as the posture pump or the pronex pneumatic traction unit, which gives you a greater stretch that you can control.

The Posture Pump Gives You More Pressure and Works to Change the Curvature of the Neck

 

Doing neck traction too quickly can create a lot of soreness. Frankly many patients get turned off because they decide to do a lot of stretching all at once which can cause a lot of pain and headaches.

If you start off with a towel roll, you can really start to notice a change in your symptoms. Do this for a few weeks.  Little by little, start using a device like the omni or cervi pedic. Use this for a few weeks. Then move to a posture pump type of traction unit. Once you start with the posture pump, build up to using greater pressure. Again, its not an overnight thing - do this over a few months of time. Work up to 20-25 minutes to neck traction.

Not only will you feel better, but you will also notice a change in your actual spine. 

Additional Reading:

• How to Use a Posture Pump Easily At Home
• Another Gentle way to do Traction: With a Pillow
• Choosing the Best Cervical Traction Device
• 5 Products You Can Use toe Stretch Your Neck for Pain Relief
• Neck Pain That Results from a C5, C6, C7, or C8 radiculopathy

 

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Behind Every Great Athlete is a Chiropractor

People don't always talk about it, but it is prevalent that many athletes see a chiropractor to enhance their performance at a sports activity. Golf, volleyball, gymnastics, Ninga Training, badminton, lacrosse, wrestling,  - you name it, there is a chiropractor lurking in the back ground helping this girl or guy reach his or her pinnacle. Helping their body achieve optimum function, no matter what sport.

 

With Chiropractic treatment:

• you can decrease wear and tear on the body
• can have treatment without medications
• have better performance
• have better flexibility
• increased energy

Studies have shown over and over that chiropractic only improves ones functional capacity, especially in the arena of sports.

In many sports, shoulder injuries can result. Chiropractic definitely helps with injured players shoulders. Studies from the Annals of Internal Medicine and the British Medical Journal both concluded adding shoulder manipulation to traditional rehab techniques showed outcome improvements and decreased pain associated with certain shoulder injuries.

A Duke University study (2001) showed improvement of headaches after chiropractic treatment. The study concluded that , “Spinal manipulation resulted in almost immediate relief for headaches originating from the neck.” Since 60 to 90 percent of all headaches are linked to facet joint pain (neck), chiropractic treatments offer a significant form of relief.

A joint study from the JMPT and Physiological Therapeutics found that chiropractic care of ankle sprains helped increase ankle motion, decrease pain and allows for better ankle function.

Finally, Chiropractic helps with Injury prevention in many sports. An study from Australia, published in BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders,  reported that Australian football players who used a regiment of chiropractic care had a fewer number of leg injuries than those who did not.

“Chiropractic just makes you feel so much better. When I walk out of the clinic, I feel like I’m about three inches taller and everything’s in place. And as long as I see the chiropractor, I feel like I’m one step ahead of the game.”

- New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady

 

Additional Reading:

• Keeping Your Spine in Alignment allows for a better immune system
• How to use the traction side of the arc4life pillow for optimal function
• Treating the Military Neck and Loss of curvature
• Exercises to Get Rid of the Hunch Back Posture
• Why Deep Sleep is important for our brains and overall health

Study Shows that Tai Chi Can Help Patients with Chronic Neck Pain

Chronic Neck Pain can be one of those things that can impact your life on a daily basis. It may affect your ability to work, your ability to relax and do simple things around the house. Many patients often look for alternative treatment solutions that don't involve medications. One study this year looked at the relaxing sport of tai chi (if one can call it a sport). Perhaps more of a stretching routine ! According to a recent study, tai chi can help to relieve chronic neck pain. Researchers studied a group of participants who completed tai chi exercises for neck pain relief to a control group that did not receive any treatment. The study also compared to see if tai chi would be more beneficial than traditional neck exercises.

There were 114 neck pain sufferers in this study that lasted for 3 months. Co-author Peter M. Wayne explained, “The study results showed that 12 weeks of tai chi was more effective than no treatment to improve pain, disability, quality of life, and postural control in persons with chronic neck pain.”

Tai chi can be done by anyone because it a low impact type of exercise and can help focus and clear the mind. Specifically, it focuses on specific movements tied with breathing techniques, aiming to improve mobility, flexibility, and reduce pain. This makes it a great option for someone looking to find a solution for chronic neck pain relief.

Source: Chronic neck pain can be relieved with tai chi: Study

Additional Reading Resources:

• Neck Exercises
• Neck Stretches that You Can do At Home to Relieve Neck Pain
• Which Pillow is Best After my Neck Fusion Surgery?
• Join us on Facebook

Updated September 2020