A wry neck, or torticollis, is a twisted and tilted neck.
Torticollis can happen to newborn babies which is called congenital muscular torticollis. This happens because the fetus’ head is in a poor position in the womb. However, a wry neck can be acquired because of sleeping in an awkward position at night, or a neck muscle spasm. This article will focus on the symptoms and treatments for a wry neck acquired from sleeping in an awkward position.
The common symptoms of a wry neck are spasming of neck muscles, inability to turn head, titled chin, neck pain, and a headache.
Treatments of a wry neck can include the usage of heat, massage, cervical joint mobilization, stretching.
Using heat and massage can help loosen and soothe the spasming muscles that maybe happening. Furthermore, using heat and massage can also help relieve some of the pain that is being experienced from the neck.
Cervical joint mobilization is used to treat the inability to turn the head. This technique opens up the facet joints, thus creating space between the vertebrae to improve the necks ability to rotate to the side.
Finally, stretching the tight muscles can help release the tension in the neck muscles, therefore preventing the muscle from contracting and spasming.