Neck and Shoulder Pain
Self-Massage for the Neck and Shoulders

Muscular neck and shoulder pain can strike when you're not even expecting it. Even doing small repetitive movements with your arms can cause severe neck and shoulder pain.

Have you ever woken up in the morning and had such a sore neck or shoulder or both that you could hardly get out of bed? I used to see these people in my massage practice all the time. "I must have slept wrong," they'd always say.

Muscle pain like that is caused by more than just sleeping wrong. Now that I work on the computer daily I find myself waking up some mornings with the same intense soreness and inability to turn my head that my clients used to describe.

I usually get this pain on the right side of my neck and in my right shoulder and upper back. It prevents me from turning my head in either direction and prevents me from moving my head up and down. The pain shoots down my neck to my shoulder blade and is constant.

If this describes your neck and shoulder pain these tips are for you.

You may want to numb the pain a bit first by icing the area. I say to use ice instead of heat because if it's a new symptom that just started today or yesterday icing the area to stop inflammation is a much more appropriate course of action than applying heat.

When you ice any area you must remember that you will keep the ice on for no longer than 15 minutes. Any longer than that will start to cause some tissue damage. You can use a bag of frozen vegetables to ice the area if you have nothing else on hand to use. Honestly, I like using a bag of frozen vegetables because they contour well to the body.

Self-Massage

You can give yourself a massage to relieve your neck and shoulder pain. Start by grabbing the large meaty muscle of the shoulder with the opposite hand. Squeeze it while twisting it at the same time. The motion should be done in two counts of three seconds. Take three seconds to slowly squeeze and twist the muscle. Then take three seconds to release it. Do that a few times.

You are probably feeling some pain in your upper back just above your scapula or shoulder blade. Get a tennis ball and position the ball between your upper back and the wall. Lean into the ball to provide the pressure. You can move around to adjust the position of the ball. When you find a painful area use static pressure to help decrease the pain. Try pressing into the area by leaning a little harder into the ball for 10 seconds. Then ease off the pressure for two seconds. Repeat that for no longer than two minutes.

You can massage the muscles in your neck using a gentle back and forth motion. Just feel around your neck with the pads of your fingers and find the sore areas and massage those areas by using a back and forth or circular motion with your fingertips.

Use common sense when you massage yourself. Don't do it too hard. You don't want to hurt yourself. My sister tried massaging her back with a tennis ball recently and bruised herself all up. Don't do that. You don't want to put too much pressure on the area. You need to be sensible.

Remember that massaging the area won't be a magical cure that will make your neck and shoulder pain instantly go away. It will help it heal faster though. You must give yourself time to heal. Don't do the activity that caused the problem until it's healed. Even when you do start doing it again find a better way to do it. Find a way that's more ergonomic.

Treating yourself right is extremely important. When you feel neck and shoulder pain it's because your body is trying to tell you that something you're doing is harming it. For me it happens when I spend too much time at the computer with my hand resting on the mouse. I have to remember to take my hand off the mouse and let me arm relax to avoid that problem. Notice what you're doing to cause your neck and shoulder pain. Try to change the way you perform that task.