When to see a doctor

By Mayo Clinic Staff

Neck pain caused by muscle tension or strain often goes away on its own within a few days. Neck pain that continues longer than several weeks often responds to exercise, stretching, physical therapy and massage. Sometimes you may need steroid injections or even surgery to lessen neck pain.

Seek emergency medical care

Call 911 or have someone drive you to the emergency room if you have severe neck pain that's associated with:

  • Traumatic injury. Examples include car collisions, diving accidents or falls.
  • Muscle weakness. Weakness in an arm or leg or trouble walking may be a sign of a more serious problem.
  • Fever. If you have severe neck pain with a high fever, you might have an infection of the membrane covering your spinal cord and brain. This is called meningitis.

Schedule an office visit

Call your healthcare professional if you have neck pain that:

  • Worsens in spite of self-care.
  • Persists after several weeks of self-care.
  • Radiates down your arms or legs.
  • Is accompanied by headache, weakness, numbness or tingling.

Self-care

To help ease discomfort, try these self-care tips:

  • Ice or heat. Apply an ice pack or ice wrapped in a towel for up to 15 minutes several times a day during the first 48 hours. After that, use heat. Try taking a warm shower or using a heating pad on the low setting.
  • Stretching. Stretch your neck muscles by turning your neck gently from side to side and up and down.
  • Massage. During a massage, a trained professional kneads the muscles in the neck. Massage might help people with chronic neck pain get relief from tightened muscles.
  • Good posture. Practice good posture, especially if you sit at a computer all day. Keep your back supported, and make sure that your computer screen is at eye level. When using cellphones, tablets and other small screens, keep your head up. Hold the device straight out rather than bending your neck to look down at the device.

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Oct. 22, 2024

See also

  1. Acute flaccid myelitis (AFM)
  2. Angina
  3. Bone spurs
  4. Brachial plexus injury
  5. Brachial plexus anatomy
  6. Chiari malformation
  7. Coronary artery spasm: Cause for concern?
  8. CSF leak (Cerebrospinal fluid leak)
  9. Eyestrain
  10. Fibromuscular dysplasia
  11. Headaches and stress
  12. Hemophilia
  13. Hurthle cell cancer
  14. Medication overuse headaches
  15. Myocardial ischemia
  16. Neck pain
  17. Polio
  18. Polymyalgia rheumatica
  19. Pseudotumor cerebri (idiopathic intracranial hypertension)
  20. Small vessel disease
  21. Tension headache
  22. Relieving tension-type headaches
  23. Thoracic outlet syndrome
  24. Nutrition and pain
  25. Pain rehabilitation
  26. Self-care approaches to treating pain
  27. Thunderclap headaches
  28. Thyroid cancer
  29. Thyroid Cancer
  30. What is thyroid cancer? A Mayo Clinic expert explains
  31. Thyroid cancer FAQs
  32. Whiplash