Holiday Pains-In-The-Neck: What Causes Them And How To Fix Them
Posted on: 11 December 2017
For many people, the winter holidays are a royal pain-in-the-neck, literally. If you go through December feeling as though you have constant neck pain, there has to be a cause. The following causes are the most common, and the fixes are relatively simple.
Stress
Between the holiday plans, the present shopping, calling the relatives, running everywhere, and the dozen other things you feel you have to do to prepare, the stress piles up. If your job is also stressful, that just makes this month even worse. Add children to the mix, and you feel like you need to run far, far away. As the stress builds, so does the pain in your neck and shoulders. You may not notice it quite so much in your shoulders, but when it creeps into your neck and you can hardly turn your head without twinges of pain, you will feel it then.
The answer to stress is the same; reduce it. Find some time in your hectic schedule and take a long soak in the hot tub with a glass of wine. Leave the house and check into a hotel for one or two nights and do nothing but order room service and watch TV. Whatever puts you at complete ease, do it. If your neck still hurts, see a chiropractor for an adjustment.
Hanging Holiday Lights on Your Home's Exterior
If you are not stressing about the holidays, and you suddenly have pain, ask yourself what you did the day before. Did you slip and fall on the icy walk? Maybe you spent the entire day putting holiday lights on the outside of your house? Believe it or not, the more you reach over your head to do a repeated action, such as hang lights, the more pain you will feel in your neck the next day. This is a repeated stress injury, and they generally go away on their own. A chiropractic adjustment can help, but you could also try a heating pack that wraps around your neck and just resting for a day or two.
Shoveling the Snow
Not exactly a holiday activity, but shoveling snow is par for the course if you and the relatives are going to make it in and out of the driveway during family celebrations. Lifting big piles of snow with a shovel puts a lot of strain on your upper back and neck. It may even cause pain and problems in your lower back. This is definitely a series of back and neck pains for which you will want to visit your chiropractor if you hope to have a merry season.
Share