A Muscle spasm or muscle tightness or a muscle knot can happen at any time; A car accident, a quick unexpected sprint, a sudden turn of the neck or maybe a violent sneeze. Muscle spasm can occur in any muscle and is common in the lower back, neck, mid back, and shoulders. When you do experience a muscle spasm all you want to do is go back to the minute before when you had not pain at all. You just want the pain to go away sooner than later !
BioFreeze is a great topical gel that you can apply to areas of muscle spams or trigger points. Today I am going to talk about using BioFreeze for neck pain relief.
This blog post is specifically for treating the neck and upper back area.Muscle spasms in the neck and upper back can occur in the cervical paraspinals, suboccipitals, and the upper trapezius,and rhomboid muscles.
- BioFreeze Natural Pain Relief Gel
- 6 x 20 Ice Pack**
- 1 towel
- 1 glove (non latex)
**You can get hot and cold packs in different sizes and shapes. Choose the hot and cold pack depending on what area you are treating:
For treatment of the lower back, use a larger ice pack- such as a 10×13. This rectangle shaped hot/cold pack can also be used in the midback or thoracic area. For the neck the 6×20 ice/heat pack works very well and provides coverage to the cervical paraspinals and the suboccipitals. For the neck and the shoulders, use the 9×16 ice pack because it provides great coverage to both areas. This trisectional hot and cold pack is a little heavier, so keep that in mind. For smaller areas such as knees, legs, elbows and arms, you can get smaller hot/cold packs such as 6×10 and 3×5. You can get hot/cold packs with and without a strap.
Here are step by step instructions for treating a muscle spasm in the neck and upper back area.
The hot and cold pack that we have suggested is specifically for the neck and upper back area. Another ice pack that is allows for even more coverage of the back and neck is the trisectional hot and cold pack: with dimensions of 9×16. It has flaps where the shoulders are so you get the ice pack in the neck, upper back and shoulder area.
- Make sure your 6 x 20 ice pack has been in your freezer for at least 4 hours.
- Take your ice pack out of the freezer and wrap your ice pack in the towel
- Apply to your neck. Start from the top of your neck in the back (just under your hairline in the back) and start to massage in small circular strokes. First do the right side, then the left side. From top to the base of the neck. Keep your head in a neutral position.
- After you have a massaged for about 1.5 minutes on each side, apply the ice pack that has been wrapped around the towel. Apply this ice pack right around your neck, allowing the ice pack to hang from your upper shoulders. Relax, sit (or lie down face down) lie down for 10-15 minutes.
More things to remember about treating muscle spasm:
If someone can help you treat the muscle spasm, you can get greater benefit
* It is a good idea to have someone else do this for you, but this is not always possible.
* Biofreeze is odorless, and greaseless but you don’t want your fingers tingling afterwards. Wearing a glove will also save you a step from having to wash your hands (you can concentrate fully on your neck pain)
* It is a good idea to keep your ice pack in a seperate plastic bag so that it does not pick up the freezer smells. You want to get a 6 x 20 ice pack because this will fit nicely around your neck.
