Neck Pain, Woke Up With A Stiff Neck

A few days ago I woke up with a pretty good case of neck pain. Obviously I had slept some way that left me with a sore and stiff neck. I wasn’t too concerned because that’s what I do, fix body issues like that. Well was I in for a surprise! Here’s what happened.

When I first woke up I noticed right away that my neck was really sore. It actually hurt to move in many directions. I knew that not only was the neck out of alignment, but that at least the top three or four ribs on the stiff side were out of alignment as well. So, I quickly adjusted the neck and top ribs, only takes a minute or two for those areas.

Almost no change at all.

I was really surprised. So, I got up, took care of some things then worked on it again a little later. Then some more later. And some more.

Finally! After a couple of days of working on it and remembering a couple of simple therapies I got everything feeling right. Here’s what I learned, or at least relearned.

Healers of all types are their own worst diagnosticians. I knew this from earlier experience, just had to learn it again. If I had a client with the same issues that I had, they would have been completely out of pain within an hour, no problem.

The problem with working on myself is that somehow I forget the most simple things. Focusing on a client I can quickly and easily allow the answers to show themselves. I guess I get in my own way sometimes. At least I was able to work on all the right things, it just took longer. And, got a good article for you out of it too!

The particulars of what were needed to get rid of my neck pain are really the basics of what I would do for most any sore neck. They are not in any particular order at all. For example, the adjustment is almost always last, but there have been exceptions, at least in my experience. Normally I let the body tell me what to do and when by using muscle testing.

Adjustment
Most of the time an adjustment will be needed. Not always, but often enough that I consider it essential as long as it can be tolerated (I ALWAYS muscle test for tolerance to a treatment). Also, the neck is usually very easy to gently self adjust. Often there can be instant neck pain relief even if there are some minor misalignments. You can learn to adjust yourself with Self Adjusting Technique.

Heat
This can be very important. Massage will sometimes give the same benefit as heat, but other times there is nothing like a hot bath or a heat pack to really soften the muscles.

What happens is that the muscles can be so tight that they pull an adjusted joint right back out of alignment, even with a strong adjustment like you might get from a chiropractor. Heat can easily soften a neck enough to allow an adjustment to take as well as giving relief from the pain.

Caution: If the pain is sharp, or there is an injury that involved some kind of impact, then ice should be used for 24 to 48 hours before applying heat.

Here’s an article where you can learn more about the choice of hot or cold for back pain.

Massage
Massage is a great way to relieve almost any muscle pain. There is a style for just about any need. Here’s a good one for most neck pain.

Emotions
Emotional components are like a bit of an emotion, or the energy of an emotion. They can get stuck in different parts of the body. When they do, they usually cause some physical issue. For example, they can cause a muscle to tighten which can pull a joint out of alignment.

These emotions can be removed from the body with techniques like Neuro-Emotional Technique, or The Emotion Code — a fairly new technique that I really like. Once the emotion is cleared from the area the adjustment can usually be done with success, and usually with less effort.

There are many other possible treatments for neck pain, but this will help the most common stiff neck. Just don’t take two days to do them all like I did.