This blog post comes from a recent QUORA question I came across recently:
I'm a six-footer and taller than the majority of people in my country. I'm 18, and when I was 16 I developed a habit of forcefully popping my neck sidewise. It grew worse, and now I have to pop my neck to relieve my pain every few minutes. I have a bad posture, too, with my neck a little crooked. What should I do?
Neck Pain Sucks. As a teenager, you probably have other things you are dealing with, and you don’t need neck pain to bringing you down. This habit of forcefully popping your neck and self cracking needs to stop. You are creating a situation of hypermobility (too much movement) in the cervical spine and it is not healthy for your neck.
Your bad posture is probably contributing to your neck pain and you need to find relief in a different way. This unhealthy habit is setting you up for neck pain for your entire life.
Here are a few things to try:
- See a chiropractor about your neck pain. They can make sure your neck is in alignment. They will probably adjust your neck in a controlled environment. They will also do different therapies for you such as: muscle work, electric stim, and neck traction. Plus see #2 #3 and #4- your chiropractor will help you with numerous things.
- Do neck stretches and neck strengthening exercises. Your Chiropractor will help to prescribe this for you. You need to strengthen in the cervical spine muscles.
- Fix your posture. You sound like you are taller than many people in your country. Hold your head up high. Don’t be cranking your neck and putting yourself in an awkward position. Bad posture puts a lot of stress on your cervical spine and you carrying around extra weight and pressure that is causing more pressure on your neck. This equals more neck pain. I am sure you have heard of text (or tech) neck – you have something similar going on.
- Use a supportive neck pillow at night. Again ask your chiropractor to recommend a pillow that would be ideal for you. Try to get a neck pillow that has neck contours on it. One example is the arc4life linear gravity neck pillow. This neck pillow has 2 neck rolls on it that will naturally align your head and neck in the most comfortable way possible. Also you can sleep on your back and on your side easily. If you get a good night’s sleep that is the first step in helping get rid of the neck pain you are experiencing.
Additional Reading Resources:
- Choosing the right pillow for neck pain
- Five Neck stretching products that will traction your neck gently and get rid of pain
- If you have chronic neck pain, try the traction v pillow
- Stiff Neck Remedies
- What Can you do for Neck Pain?
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