Neck pain can hit you out of the blue one day. You may have felt perfectly fine the day before and wake up to aching, sore muscles or other pain in your neck. Sometimes you may do an activity and not even realize it may be the reason for neck pain. Let’s look at a few of these activities so that they can be corrected.

Five Causes of Neck Pain

• Taking part in any activity that involves having the arms up over the head for an extended period of time while using the upper body, such as painting a ceiling or playing tennis.
• Keeping the neck at an angle for a long time, for example looking over someone’s shoulder at the movie theater or holding the phone between the ear and the shoulder to talk.
• Focusing on one particular thing for a long time or enduring something stressful can cause tension in the neck muscles.
• Resting the chin on your arm or on an upright fist can aggravate the neck.
• Sleeping wrong is also another big cause of neck pain. A pillow that is too low or too high or sleeping on your stomach with your head turned in one direction for a long time can be to blame.

The problems really begin when the neck muscles are overextended or are involved in repetitive motion as this leads to muscle spasms or an injuring and spraining of the ligaments.

Natural Relief for Neck Pain

Here at Body Balance Spinal Care in Sacramento, California, we help our patients eliminate neck pain by ensuring the upper cervical spine is in proper alignment. A misalignment in either of the top bones of the spine (C1 or C2) can lead to a breakdown of communication within the body as the brainstem is put under stress. By using a method that is both gentle and specific, the source of neck pain can be corrected without popping the spine. This has been seen to help with neck pain and, as communication is restored, other serious health issues may clear up as well.