Tight Neck

So last saturday I managed to fall off the stairs and hit my head into a closet. Left me with a minor concussion.

But that isn't the main problem, I have a really tight and painful neck. It's mostly on the right anterior side. I'm thinking it's that my head just flipped over (I was drunk and had just woken up when I fell, stupid, I know) which put a lot of strain on my neck.

Question is, what can I do to alleviate this a bit? I've been taking paracetamol, trying to keep it warm and doing the three-plane neck movement. Is there anything else?

You did get yourself checked by MD?

Here's one very surprising thing that has helped me with neck issues derived from trampoline induced whiplash.

Rather than going deep, this is very superficial work, targeting the cutaneous nerves in the neck.

You just lightly pinch the skin around the neck and tug it in various directions looking for one that feels the best. When you find an angle that feels good, hold it in the stretched position for a minute or so.

You can also try to roll the skin between thumb and fingers.

Yep, got it checked the morning after. Thanks for the tip, I'll try it out.

Good you are still with us and not ahead in the Darwin Awards Rik...

I have no direct advice for your neck except staying away from the bottle

FredInChina said:

Good you are still with us and not ahead in the Darwin Awards Rik...

I have no direct advice for your neck except staying away from the bottle

I happened to have figured that one out for myself, Fred.

Natural reaction of the body to seize up after a jolt like that. Ibuprofen (Advil) or naproxen (Aleve). Prescription strength ibuprofen is 600 or 800 mg, IIRC (equivalent to 3-4 regular).

Rubbing and pressing.

Hot and cold press alternating.

Ibuprofen and Naproxen are both NSAIDs and if I'm taking them orally, that will slow down healing processes all over my body. Not exactly what I want. What's the rationale behind the hot-cold thing? More blood flow?

The point of the anti-inflammatory is to allow the muscles in your neck to "release". If you can't find it in you to take a few days, 3-4 hopefully, to use them, then get some muscle relaxer prescribed.

It seems such an overly simple thing but the explanation of why people get stiff muscles is usually so easy. As in your case the body is reacting to a blow it's not used to. Anticipating another blow, the body tenses the attached muscles sets in a protective mode. Modern anti-inflammatorys do a great job of getting those muscles to relax.

Hot and cold alternate or pressing/massage are different modalities to achieve the same thing.

So my neck is a lot better now. It isn't entirely loosened up, but I can move around easily again. Last time I took paracetamol was two days ago. The things that helped most were movement and heat.

Thanks for all the replies!

jl5555 said:

The point of the anti-inflammatory is to allow the muscles in your neck to "release". If you can't find it in you to take a few days, 3-4 hopefully, to use them, then get some muscle relaxer prescribed.

It seems such an overly simple thing but the explanation of why people get stiff muscles is usually so easy. As in your case the body is reacting to a blow it's not used to. Anticipating another blow, the body tenses the attached muscles sets in a protective mode. Modern anti-inflammatorys do a great job of getting those muscles to relax.

Hot and cold alternate or pressing/massage are different modalities to achieve the same thing.

Sorry, but NSAIDs don't have any direct effect on the neural system and that is what causes the increased muscle tone (stiff muscle). The muscle relaxants, of course, do.

The NSAIDs can help shut down the inflammatory response, which isn't the greatest idea usually but in this case it is probably not the worst thing to do for the pain if nothing else works and QoL is a serious issue.

Regardless, the hot/cold is great because it turns the outer 1/2 inch or so of the skin into a pump that forces blood and fluids into and out of the area at an increased rate. Not sure if this has any direct effect on the nervous system or not, but it can really help with swelling if the swollen area is elevated.

Ending with heat is always the right thing to do when running hot-cold cycles for pain or injuries. Glad to hear Rik is doing better!