Neck and Shoulder Pain Remedies You Can Do at Home

You never pay attention to how much you use your neck and shoulders until they feel stiff, sore, and heavy. We’ve all been there. Whether your neck and shoulder pain results from an accident, exercise, or from dancing all night at a concert, neck and shoulder pain affects the best of us. Even short-term neck and shoulder pain can make us feel we need a brace! Luckily, there are neck and shoulder pain remedies that you can do at home with the help of traditional pain remedies and HiDow’s line of electrotherapy accessories.

What Kind of Neck and Shoulder Pain Do You Have?

Generally speaking, you can break down the kind of pain that you are feeling into a few categories. This will help you decide which home remedies are best for you. The three categories are:

• Recent Pain,
• Chronic Pain.
• Both Short and Long Term.

Each category can be treated with a combination of hot treatments, cold treatments, and electrotherapy, like HiDow’s TENS/EMS units. These units are portable, easy to use, and useful when treating pain at home. When these remedies are combined with stretching, light exercise, and posture adjustments, they may help speed up your recovery process.

So which treatment should you use for what? Well…

Cold Treatments

Cold treatments include a variety of methods, but the concept is simple. Apply cold to the affected areas. Ice packs, cold sprays, cold gels, and even a bag of pees all help keep inflammation down and numb sore spots.

It’s important to note that you shouldn’t place ice or anything freezing directly on your skin. So please remember to wrap it in paper towels or a cloth rag.

Hot Treatments

If you are experiencing chronic neck and shoulder pain, you may find more relief by using hot treatments, even hot yoga, to help alleviate stiffness and soreness. Applying heat to an inflamed area causing pain will help dilate the blood vessels, which will promote blood flow and help relax sore muscles. There are a variety of heat treatments available, but some of the most common remedies include electric heat pads, heat packs, hot baths, hot water bottles, heat compresses, and heat wraps.

Electrotherapy

Transcutaneous Electric Nerve Stimulation (TENS) Therapy is a form of electrotherapy used to help alleviate chronic pain. Essentially, TENS therapy works by applying small sticky pads to the intended body area, which then sends a current to the muscles. The TENS device will stimulate sensory nerves lessening the pain the user feels. TENS units are very convenient and portable, and they are even wearable because you can strap them onto your body.

Ultimately, it’s a great idea to keep a variety of cold, hot, and electrotherapy remedies in your home to help alleviate pain at home as needed.