A Crick in the Neck: What's the Story?

Have you ever heard the phrase, "I must have slept wrong"? How do you sleep "wrong"? I didn't know there was a right and wrong way to sleep. I thought you lie down, close your eyes and off you go into nappy's house for several hours. Maybe that's why I'm tired some days. I've been sleeping wrong.

Usually when a person shows up in the office with their head tilted to one side unable to move comfortably in almost all directions is when I hear,  "I must have slept wrong". You may know this condition as a "crick in the neck". Many people mistakenly believe that the "crick" is a muscle strain and therefore that massage or stretching will help rid themselves of the problem. I think the spine is one of the regions of the body where muscles get blamed for a lot of problems. We generally don't do this in the chest, for example. I have never heard anyone say "Well, the reason you have chest pain is your chest muscles are too tight. We just need to rub them or stretch them and you'll be fine." Or, how about abdominal pain? Can you imagine stretching or rubbing your abdomen when you have gall bladder disease?

There are two types of "cricks":

1. Pain in the neck
2. The pain is around the shoulder blade.

In both cases, when you move your neck a certain way, you hurt a lot in one or both of these areas.

I have written other articles on pain in the shoulder blade, so today, I'll explain the crick with pain in the neck. The pain in the neck version is mostly from a sprained ligament. Here's how it happens. You fall asleep with your neck bent to the side more than usual (like on a fat pillow while lying on the sofa watching a movie). The position gradually stretches your neck muscles then begins to stretch the ligaments in your neck (specifically the capsular ligament and annular ligament). If you stay in the position long enough, you will sprain the ligament. A ligament sprain is a tear in the tissue ranging from mild to severe. Whenever you sprain a ligament, you will evoke an inflammatory response: the tissue swells and is painful. The swelling makes it difficult to move and the heightened sensitivity to motion from the inflammatory agents makes a normal motion, like turning your head, painful.

If you're wise, the acute stage of inflammation typically last 10-14 days. If not, and you continue to injure the healing tissue by being too active, you will experience symptoms for a longer period of time. As your tissues heal, your pain will subside and motion will increase. But, sometime after the injury is when things seem to go wrong.

The biggest mistake people make is treating pain instead of solving pain. Pain is not the problem. Your injured tissue is the problem and if you don't understand what those tissues need (and why would you unless you have studied it?), you will search for something to chase the pain away. Completely understandable, but still a mistake. Things like Advil, Motrin, Aleve can make you feel better but as the pain abates, temptation rises. You resume your normal routine without constraint but if you stop taking the drugs, you notice your neck hurts. You say "Ahh, it's nothing. It hurts a little but it will go away."  Hmmmm.....does it? Does your neck feel really normal? Can you do what you enjoy without reaching for the Advil?

You're probably wondering, "Well, what should I do?" Here's a tip. If you have a crick in the neck, whatever you do, don't stretch. Imagine stretching a sprained ankle. Probably wouldn't help much. It's the same problem in your neck. Respect the pain, slow down, and allow your body to heal. Easy gentle motions performed in a supported position will ease the discomfort and improve your movement. Exercise, especially aerobic, within the limits of your discomfort (and, this is not a contest to see who can be the next Braveheart) will help your body move through the inflammatory cycle and heal. Once your motion is normal and you have no symptoms, you can then gradually return to other forms of exercise.

I get some light-hearted teasing from my team because I have a habit of saying, "It's just not that hard". Well, it's true. Overcoming a crick in the neck is not very hard when you understand a few basics like tissue healing. OK. So, now you know. And, you know my position on mistakes: a mistake out of ignorance is just a mistake. A mistake when you know better is stupidity. Be smart.

Because we receive so many questions about neck pain, neck noises, neck cracking, etc., we will be adding two new seminars next year. One for health care professionals and one, that's free, for the public. Both seminars will unravel the mystery of neck pain. We will be posting the seminar dates soon, so sign up as soon as you can because I'm sure they will both be full in a hurry.

Hope to see you there. In the meantime, be well.

Make today count.

Doug Kelsey

P.S. We are proud to announce our newest product release today, the SpineSaver Kit. At only $5, you can expect tremendous relief for your spine no matter your profession or sport. This kit includes both the SpineSaver ball and instruction handout. Buy your kit today!

P.P.S We also provide competitive bulk pricing for clinicians who want to pass the SpineSaver Kit on to their clients.

Comments

[Karyana]

I have been suffering from back and neck pain for a little over a week now. My overall pain is due to torn liagments in my neck. I am currently receiving treatment from a chriopactor 3 times weekly and was given muscle relaxants and pain meds by my internal medicine doctor. How much longer will the pain last?

[JG]

Argh, thanks for this. Although I know you don't recommend, anti-noninflammatory's would help?

I woke up today with a minor "crick" about the 4th in as many years. Always seems to happen as we're getting into winter.

[David Roche, Dublin, Ireland.]

After suffering once a year for 30 years only did a Google today. Found the article & comments helpful. I often have the pain in the neck and around the shoulder blade together and currently down my arm and hand. - No honest it's not a stroke ! I did 10k last Sat morning went home and accidently fell asleep 15 mts only. On getting into the shower I knew I was in big trouble. It's now 5 days later and only medication subdues it. You're advise has been good in that regards - don't work out on medication for crick.

[James Cameron]

...Sorry that eighteen there should have read 10-14 days

[James Cameron]

No offense Doug, but this article doesn't seem to be very scientifically based. Also you start your article saying there is no right or wrong way to sleep and then go on to contradict yourself in saying that it can be caused by [falling asleep with your neck bent to the side more than usual].
Also, I'm no professional, but according to most of the family doctor sites the root cause of the "crick in the neck" is pretty much unknown and therefore advice on treatment is speculative. I know I tend to get cricks in the winter so I consider cold to be a likely contributing factor in some cases. Some websites encourage exercise and stretching to relieve a crick and I personally have always considered this a help.
I developed a crick yesterday morning and went to the gym in the afternoon. I must report that, while not healed it is feeling a lot better today. Eighteen days does seem an excessive amount of time to be suffering with a crick!

[Kubby]

Super article! I get these 1-2 times per year and undoubtedly have been treating them with stretching and Ibuprofen. Appreciate the tips!

[Collins]

Several years ago I experienced extreme discomfort, starting in my throat and spreading to my ears and chest. I thought I might be having a heart attack so called our local doctor. The PA saw me and I told him I had been dealing with a crick in my back, and he thought that my be the problem. Several years later, I had it happen again (had not noticed a crick) and actually called 911. Checked out fine but followed up witha cardiologist who due to family history did some test where I was injected with radioactive dye and put under some machine that made pictures of my heart. Also did the treadmill. Checked out fine. Today (at least 2 or 3 years since last episode) it happened again. Riding in the jeep (rough) with my husband. Lower back started bothering me, as it often does in the jeep, and then came the throat, ear, chest pain and pressure. Lasted about 7 minutes and was very uncomfortable. Any ideas? Could it be related to my back pain. For the last week or so I have been having some sciatica

[anon]

Yep me too. Have to echo the other anon's comments - excellent article. Woke up with the crick this morning so I thought to look it up on the net. First result on google as well.

[Anonymous]

Excellent article. I was one of the uninformed people treating my 'crick' as a strained muscle and wondering why it wasn't getting any better. =D Hopefully, following this advice I will start to see some improvement.

Thanks!

[Lep wenzler]

Great article I have had this problem for about a week and was unsure what my options where.Now just getting thru the next 10 days.

Thanks

[Chris]

How 'bout seeing a Chiropractor?

[Thomas Chapman]

I also thought the article was very interesting. I get these approximately once every 3 or 4 weeks and it normally leaves me out of action for about a week. It is extremely uncomfortable which is a major irritant and i am only 24. Does anyone have any tips for releif or what may be done to stop what has become a major 'pain in the neck'. Kind regards Tom

[Dailey]

i was very curious about your article about
"cricks in the neck" and i was curious because i think i may have one. Now I've had a very mild one before but it went away in less than a day and it wasn't bad at all. With this one I can't move my head, get up or do anything without screaming out in pain (literally) Please help me I don't know what to do!