Stiff Neck is a condition wherein the head can not be moved without difficulty and pain. Some people have this neck problem due to these reasons:

1. Wrong type of pillow being used, either it is too soft or too hard, too high or too low. When your pillow is one of the above, your neck is strained and when you wake up, you will feel pain on the neck and even on the shoulder. Your head cannot move on the left or the right because of pain. The tendency is to move your body and the head together to look to your left or your right.
2. While sleeping, your position was only on one side of your bed and did not change position at all during the sleep. This may cause stiff neck due to the inactivity of the neck. Most people sleep soundly that they do tend to forget their sleeping position.
3. Even during waking hours, people also experience stiff neck problem. Due to long hours of working in front of the computer, lifting of heavy things like the construction workers do, painting the walls and ceilings for long hours a day as for the commercial painter, and anything which you do without resting may cause stiff neck problem.
4. Not doing anything except watching TV for a long time without going away from the couch may also cause stiff neck. Even reading for hours on end without stopping may cause this problem.
5. Tension is the worst enemy of the neck. No amount of remedial measures can eliminate tension or stress. This is part of daily life. Only you, the one with stress, can remedy this.

The remedies for some are simple. It depends on what is the cause of your neck problem. The best remedy is to stop doing whatever it is that makes your neck stiff. You may consider changing your pillow to a more comfortable one to prevent you from having this problem. If you are working in an office and are always in front of a computer, you should take a small break and stretch a little. This will allow your neck to rest thereby preventing you from having that problem. That goes true with the construction workers who do lifting heavy materials, and the commercial painters who do their jobs repeatedly in a day. Those who do not go to work but just wasting time watching TV have to do an exercise regimen. Doing exercise everyday will not only prevent stiff neck but will also prevent different kinds of diseases like osteoporosis, heart ailment, and joints problems. As for tension problem, only the person who has tension problem can remedy this. One should avoid stress, or forget the problem that causes stress. Only you can remedy that.

There are also different kinds of treatments for neck pain. One is to apply heat pack and ice pack interchangeably for about 5 to 10 minutes several times until the pain is gone. Another is to wear a neck brace for about 15 minutes. The neck brace has special material that heats up when in use. The heat and pressure will relieve the wearer of stiff neck.