Relaxation

Stress can make neck pain worse. One way of reducing the effects of stress is to learn how to relax the neck muscles. Relaxation and exercises are not mutually exclusive they complement each other. You can sometimes get audiotapes to help with relaxation from your doctor or a physiotherapist. They can also be bought from the pain relief foundation.

Exercises

Simple exercises can help to restore your range of movement, promote strength, ease localised stiffness and help get your neck back yo normal. You should start by exercising very gently and gradually up. You can expect to feel some slight discomfort at first.

Figure 4 shows some simple stretching and strengthening exercises. Gently tense your neck muscles for a few seconds in each position. It you do this every day, the neck movements with increase your muscles strength.