The symptoms you have described are very generic to pains related with neck, shoulder, and back. It is important to find out what is the exact cause of neck and shoulder pain you are experiencing. The pain in neck, shoulder, and back region can occur due to various reasons: muscle strains, worn joints, disk disorder of the neck, injuries, etc. Often, these kinds of pains are temporary and are just an indication of excessive neck and shoulder activity or prolonged posture and strain. If that is the case, the pain should go away on its own after a few days of rest. However, if you experience the pain due to a certain injury, or if there is a shooting pain with numbness and tingling of fingers, or if you experience weakness around neck, shoulder and back region, you should ask for proper medical advice from a physician or physiotherapist. The pain may also be caused by spinal injury or neurological disorders, in which case it must be treated with proper medical procedure.
Try some of the following self-care measures to reduce the pain in your neck, shoulder, and back regions. Apply alternate heat and cold treatment on the affected area. Place an ice pack or ice wrapped in a towel on the area of pain for about 20 minutes several times a day. Alternate the cold treatment with a warm shower or by placing a heating pad on the area of pain. Do some gentle stretching and neck exercises. You can try the 'one shoulder up, one shoulder down' posture. To do this pose, put your right hand up and reach back down behind your shoulder. Put the left hand at the back and try to reach upwards toward the right hand so that the hands are trying to touch each other at the back between the shoulder blades. Also, be careful about the posture when you sleep because incorrect or faulty posture often leads to neck, shoulder, and back pain. Avoid twisting positions while you sleep and also avoid too soft bed. You can use hard Styrofoam rollers as your bed to help reduce the muscle tension and relieve the pain. You can also make a little change in your diet by including some magnesium rich foods like who grains, nuts, seeds, and leafy vegetables. Magnesium is supposed to release contracted muscles and thereby provide much relief to the pain in neck, shoulder, and back region.
answered by M W