Do you suffer from lateral tension in your neck? Such tension is associated with pain, leads to discomfort and often means that you can hardly move properly.
Below you can find out more about the causes, symptoms and ways to improve the pain - it doesn't have to be quite so difficult if you want to get rid of lateral tension in your neck.
Content
1. tension in the side of the neck - these are possible causes of the pain!
2. classic symptoms of lateral neck tension
3. pain on pressure - is this still lateral tension in the neck?
4. how to relieve lateral muscle pain in the neck
5 Conclusion: Do not ignore pain on the side of the neck
Tension in the side of the neck - these are possible causes of the pain!
In this day and age, with the constant use of smartphones, PCs and laptops as well as a frequently observed incorrect posture when sitting, pain and tension can quickly occur. Lateral tension in the neck is just as common as discomfort in the back, shoulders or pain down to the arms.
Lateral neck pain often occurs when you sit for long periods of time, tense up, and don't take care to maintain an ergonomic posture. Sometimes the desk chair you use or the posture at your desk cause the uncomfortable discomfort, which fortunately can usually be improved without medical intervention.
The following causes can lead to the tension in the neck (lateral):
- Lack of movement
- Long times without relaxation at the PC
- A non-ergonomic posture at the computer
- Frequent and one-sided use of the smartphone (the so-called cell phone neck)
- Possible transfer pain from nearby tensions
- Stress
- Extreme muscle tension due to poor posture
- Migraine/headache
- Inflammatory diseases such as rheumatism
- Age-related wear and tear on the intervertebral discs
When looking at the possible causes of tension in the neck, it is striking how varied they are. It is therefore important not to simply take something to suppress the discomfort or pain. In addition to exercises designed to improve the situation, which you will find out more about in a moment, it is also important to look at the causes. Otherwise, you may only improve your symptoms for a short time, but in the long term you will have to deal with them again and again. It is therefore crucial to find out individually where the problem lies and how it can be solved.
By the way: Lateral tension in the neck does not always have physical causes that can be easily remedied. In the case of pain in the neck and back pain, in some cases there are psychological causes, which of course are not so easy to identify.
Classic symptoms of lateral neck tension
Do the lateral neck muscles feel tense? Or is it more of a pulling pain on the outside of the side of your neck? Or is it a pulling pain on the side of your neck up to your ear? Perhaps the pain gets worse with movement or better in a certain position?
The fact is, there are many different symptoms to look out for when your lateral neck muscles are giving you pain. You may have tight neck muscles, but severe lateral neck pain can have completely different reasons if you look at the previous list of causes.
That's why you'll find some classic symptoms here that can occur with lateral neck tension:
- Pain lateral neck
- Severe pain on the side of the neck and neck
- Lateral pain on the outside of the neck (also pulling pain/pain when moving)
- Feeling of strong tension in the region
- Lateral pain/tension in the neck with restricted mobility
- Tension in the neck in connection with pain/discomfort in other regions
- Pain after long periods on the PC/mobile phone
- Pain radiates to other regions (hands, shoulders or up to the back or neck)
- Hardened muscles that are sensitive to pressure and touch
Localize symptoms of tension on the side of the neck
It is important to first observe when and in which situations the pain is sometimes less severe or sometimes more severe. The symptoms are different for all sufferers, so it does not feel the same for every person to have tension on the side of the neck.
It is then worthwhile to observe a little when the pain occurs and when it even gets to the point where the entire ability to move is restricted. Perhaps you can no longer turn your head properly or only to a limited extent, or the neck feels as if it has been established because hardly any movement is possible.
However, it often happens that when there is tension on the side of the neck, the pain radiates to other regions such as the arms or fingers. Then, at the latest, the right time has come to incorporate exercises into everyday life and actively do something against the annoying discomfort.
Pain on pressure - is it still lateral tension in the neck?
Another possibility is that the tension in the side of the neck is not noticeable at all in all situations of everyday life. You rather have pain at the side of the neck when pressure is released? This also happens and is then often only noticeable after a longer period of time, in any case often much later than in the case of constantly present pain in the lateral neck.
If you only notice the tension in the lateral neck when pressure is applied, you can still assume the same causes as described above. Only the tension is often not yet as pronounced as with a constant feeling of pain or with limited mobility in general.
Incidentally, the feeling of tightness or a lump in the throat also usually comes from the outside, not the inside. The discomfort is then so severe that a feeling of pressure or tightness is felt on the inside. The exercises and practices described below can also help to improve this.
How to relieve lateral muscle pain in the neck
The urge to help yourself to this pain with a tablet or perhaps a heat patch is certainly strong. You may also want to just sit it out when tension on the side of your neck causes uncomfortable pain.
However, it is better to act early and not wait until the pain gets worse or you can no longer move your neck properly. The best solution for tension in the side of your neck is to get moving, incorporate helpful exercises into your daily routine and try not to wait too long.
Below you will find some helpful exercises that can help with lateral tension in the neck. However, a little patience is always required.
Tension in the neck sideways? These stretching exercises can help
- Simple stretching: Bend your neck towards your right shoulder and carefully use one hand to help you by grasping your head and pulling it towards your shoulder. Hold this stretch for 30 seconds and then switch sides. Perform the exercise twice on each side.
- Stretch backwards: Sit up straight and place your hand on your forehead, pressing it gently backwards. The aim is for you to tilt your head back and feel a stretch in your neck muscles. Hold this position for 30 seconds, take a break and perform the exercise four more times.
- Stretch towards the chest: Sit upright again and place your hands around your head and pull your chin towards your chest while applying light pressure to the back of your head. Hold the exercise for 30 seconds and perform it for a total of two minutes. If you have tension in the side of your neck, this exercise may be painful or sting. This is normal, but you should not overdo it, as the pain should not be too strong, but rather feel pleasant and relieving.
- Stretching the shoulder muscles: Sit or stand upright, clasp your hands behind your back and let your upper body fall forward as you pull your clasped hands upwards. Stretch your shoulders in this way for around 30 seconds, but without feeling any real pain. If this exercise is very painful, slowly work your way up to a stronger stretch so as not to overstrain yourself.
Exercises with the arms for tension on the side of the neck
- Shoulder raises: Sit or stand upright for this exercise and let both arms fall down by your sides. Now raise both shoulders at the same time as far as you can, hold the position for a few seconds and let them drop again. Do the exercise about five times.
- Loose shoulder circles: You can perform this very simple exercise while sitting or standing to loosen up your shoulders. To do this, first circle both shoulders forwards for 10 seconds and then let your shoulders circle backwards for 10 seconds. Do the exercise five times on each side.
- Swing your arms: Stand upright with your feet hip-width apart and swing your arms to the left and right. Do the exercise ten times. However, it is important that you do not involve your upper body and shoulders in the swinging arms or the movement.
Complementary tips for tension in the neck that occurs laterally
In addition to the exercises presented, there are a few other tips and tricks that can help with tension on the side of the neck. Exercise is one of the best solutions ever when it comes to painful tension in the neck.
It can also be helpful if you regularly use soothing massages or invest in a good, ergonomic Pillow. Avoid cold draughts on your neck at all costs and protect your neck from cold air coming in through a draughty window, for example.
In general, cold is harmful, while warmth usually improves the symptoms. A cherry stone cushion, a warm bath, red light or warming ointments can greatly support exercises and ensure a rapid improvement.
If you have a sedentary job at the computer, relaxing exercises in between are just as important as breaks, which must be taken. In this way, the tension in the side of the neck can quickly improve, depending on the intensity.
Additional tip: Also check whether you may have a magnesium deficiency. Magnesium can ease tension and help relieve muscle pain or prevent it altogether. In addition to classic dietary supplements, you can also increase your intake in your diet, for example through bananas, nuts, seeds and legumes.
Fighting the causes and solutions for lateral neck tension
The best solution for muscle pain or tension in the body is still natural methods that provide improvement of the whole situation. After all, it is important to identify causes and not just treat the symptoms. Otherwise, you could certainly take a pain pill and just move on. Unfortunately, this will not solve the existing problem.
Whether you have lateral neck pain on the left or lateral neck pain on the right, or if your neck muscle hurts in general, acupressure is a natural method to alleviate your symptoms. When used correctly, acupressure can release blockages and tension and successfully stimulate your self-healing powers. In addition to the exercises presented or on its own, acupressure can be more than helpful to notice a real improvement.
Release tension on the side of the neck with acupressure
Acupressure is characterized by the fact that only tools such as the fingers or perhaps an acupressure mat are required to achieve the desired effects. In contrast to acupuncture, no needles are required, and many years of training are not normally mandatory. However, it can without question be helpful, depending on the complaint, to relieve specific pains where little to nothing has helped before.
The Shakti Mat is a special acupressure mat that was developed specifically to relieve tension on the sides of the neck and for complaints involving general tension. The Shakti acupressure mat Pillow is also particularly suitable for problems with the neck and throat, making it easier for you to relax your muscles.
Finally, you can also improve or permanently relieve tension in a modern yet traditional way with the support of an acupressure cushion or acupressure mat. This makes acupressure easy for beginners who do not always know which acupressure points are recommended for which complaints or who cannot say exactly how to find the individual points in practice. After all, this is definitely associated with a little searching as well as trial and error. An acupressure mat therefore makes this task much easier.
Conclusion: Do not ignore pain on the side of the neck
If you have muscle pain on the side of your neck, experience regular pain or feel restricted in your movements in everyday life, you should take urgent action. However, there are actually only a few people who do not complain about corresponding complaints at least once in their life or even regularly. Therefore, if you have tension in the side of your neck, there is a certain need for action.
Otherwise, the long-term consequences are less pleasant, it may even lead to chronic pain or tension, which then will not disappear by doing some exercises. So, if you suffer from having pain on the side of your neck, which may already radiate, you should do something about it. At this point you have found suitable exercises to relieve the discomfort as well as ideas on how to use acupressure in a supportive way.
However, if the pain persists or the tension in the side of the neck does not go away at all, then a visit to the doctor is important. After all, there are causes that cannot simply be treated, so that in some cases a further look at the complaints and the possible causes is important.