How do you treat a stiff neck by yourself?

haha, Ahgong got stiff neck ah! Easy la, just chop off your head lor, then will never have stiff neck problem forever and ever. if still want your head, then easy, just buy those oilment, those super hot when apply to skin kind. Sure will cause burning sensation, but you will feel much better after that.

In addition to way2vision's advice, try a heating pad on it. I used to get a stiff neck and shoulders so bad I couldn't function. I learned to do a kind of acupressure which helped a lot. It's really hard to explain, but maybe you could find something on Youtube.

I've been getting stiff neck quite often due to me working for long period of time in front of my desktop. It's also due to the way i handle the mouse, position of hand and height of desk/chair etc Running it under the hot shower do help but the moment i wake up the next day, repeat the same routine, it coems back again. There's a period of time i did recover from it, when i stop using my desktop for a few days, allowing my body to find its balance again.. haha

Hi ahgong, I think you may find my remedy to your problem very unusual, unconventional and unscientific, maybe even absurd but I'll tell you anyway. Whenever I wake up with a stiff or sore neck, my mother would tell me to take my pillow and sun it in the strong sunlight. You know what. It worked. My sore neck would be gone after a short while. And the strange thing is if I fail to do as instructed, my sore neck would persist and I would feel uncomfortable the whole day. This is a true story. I'm not making it up. Try it and see if it works for you! I hope the sun is shining brightly today. Have a nice day.

Gradually moving it towards the stiff area then relaxing to the opposite side and so on. Massages as you mention will help, but stretching it and moving your head (slowly) will help it relax and back in shape much faster. You can also bravely force it towards the stiff area each time then relax. From what I remember in any sore areas, you can always nurse it, icing it or hot compress for a limited time, but the earlier you actually try to make it work like normal, the faster it will get back to normal. I use to wake up with stiff necks after a long time of straining my neck in a weird position while watching television, but now I learned. Perhaps stress can be a reason for stiff necks as well, like staying up at night studying then sleeping in awkward positions. I personally always try to force it back in motion. Yes its painful, but I prefer to have that mobility as early as possible. Cheers!