The spine is made up of bones, joints, discs, and muscles and ligaments holding it all together. Bones are the vertebrae supporting the body weight, joints are the facets that guide direction of the movement to spine, and discs separate the vertebrae and act as shock absorbers. Even the small injury in any of these can cause acute pain and swelling. The pain is felt in the head, shoulder, neck, or arm.

Some of the most common causes of back and neck pain are postural strain, severe blow or fall, heavy lifting, car accident, nerve dysfunction, ruptured or degenerated cervical disc, sleeping without good neck support, osteoporosis, tumors, bone spur, sleeping on the stomach, pregnancy, congenital problems and spondylosis.

Various Methods For Back And Neck Pain Relief

If suffering from back or neck pain or acute strains, cold massage or ice pack can be applied to the back for back and neck pain relief. This should be done 3-4 times a day for up to an hour each time. For chronic strains, heat should be applied using hot water bottle or heating pad for 15-20 minutes to get back and neck pain relief.

Using a cervical pillow can also provide some back and neck pain relief. If you don’t already have, invest in a good cervical or feather pillow, as good pillow will make you feel better after the rest.

Try to avoid standing for long hours as it can put stress on your back and neck. Avoid wearing high heels, and take breaks in between long hours of standing. If you get easily stressed, learn some stress reduction techniques as they can really provide some back and neck pain relief.

Try to sit and sleep on the hard surface, and avoid sitting in twisted positions, as it can make the pain worse. Bed rest can provide some relief from neck pain, but it does not speed the healing. Rest can be taken for 2-3 days, but more rest can actually delay the healing process.

Taking care of the posture can also help in giving some back and neck pain relief. While sitting, add pillow so that the head rests comfortably against it. For a good posture, ear, shoulder and hip should be in a straight line while sitting, standing or lying down.

Few exercises can also provide back and neck pain relief. Start with the basic stretches, turning and chin tucks initially, and gradually increase the intensity, only if there is no increase in pain. If done by a profession, back pain relief massage can be very useful.

If suffering from a neck or back pain, you don’t have to live with it. There are few simple things that you can do to avoid them, and there are easy treatments available that can help everyone.