Once the inflammation connected to your neck pain has diminished, you can start to receive muscle work. Muscle work, in this context, can refer to anything from massage, to trigger point therapy, to post-isometric relaxation (PIR). Although it is imperative for inflammation to be reduced, a practitioner can work around any inflamed area, so therapy for the upper back, for instance, can be very helpful to the person suffering from neck pain. Muscle spasm, a common reflexive guarding response to many neck injuries, can also be reduced with electric muscle stimulation. Watch the video to see a demonstration of this type of therapy.

Because the muscles can be such a large component of neck pain, wisdom is in addressing the muscle tissue to return blood flow, break up scar tissue formation, and realign the connective tissue fibers being laid down by repair cells so that this soft tissue can heal properly, and with least potential for creating an environment of chronicity (scar tissue, poor blood supply, trigger points). Once the neck pain muscle spasms have been reduced, those hyper-contracted muscles need to be relaxed.

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