Causes
If you are suffering from a swollen neck, your first attempt should be to figure out why you are faced with this problem. There could be any number of reasons why you have a swelling on your neck. It could be something as obvious or trivial as if you had to have slept badly, or if you injured yourself. On the other hand, it could also be the result of a severe cold, an upper respiratory tract infection, some sort of a powerful viral infection or an infection such as strep throat or syphilis or tuberculosis. Most of the time, this is not as serious as it looks, and the causes are relatively simple compared to the fear and worry of complications that the symptom can generate. Your first and safest bet is to visit a doctor and get an accurate diagnosis. It is practically impossible to suggest a cure for a problem that could come have such a wide variety of possible causes. A medical examination will reveal if this is a basic thing such as a cold or a muscular deviation of some sort or whether it is a problem that requires closer scrutiny. A visit to your family physician should be informative as well as helpful. If you have been suffering from this condition for longer than a couple of weeks you are advised not to delay this visit any further.
Treatment
If this is a common cold, or some sort of a throat infection that has gone awry, you will have to use medicines. Any remedial measures you may employ would have to be complimentary to the course of medication you are taking. Self remedies alone cannot help you to get rid of infections – that would need antibiotics. Using warm compresses on the swollen area can be extremely helpful as well as useful in providing relief. If it is not too painful, you should also try to exercise the neck muscles to keep them supple, though this may be extremely difficult if they are inordinately inflamed. You should also be sleeping without a pillow. If you cannot get sleep this way, you can use your arm beneath your head as a pillow. This is a completely natural posture that can pose no risk at all. Generally, your pillow too should not be much thicker than the thickness of your arm. If you have any sort of complicated condition which requires medical assistance and guidance, please speak to your doctor and do not try to resolve it yourself.