Every so often I will wake up like this. Why is it that when I turn or tilt my head to one side, I feel like I can’t move it and I experience a lot of pain? Is something getting in the way or is it just muscle that doesn’t want to move anymore?
In: Biology
Sleeping in a bad position can physically strain either muscles or other soft tissue in your neck, causing microscopic damage which in turn causes inflammation which in turn puts pressure on nerves and causes pain. This is working as intended as your body is signalling you to not cause further damage by moving your neck in certain ways while its busy with the repairs.
A latex rubber band serves as a good analogy – stretch it out and keep it stretched for a long period of time, once released from the stretching it is unable to return to its original length because even though nothing visible has happened to it, there is microscopic damage – you sprained your rubber band!
Fortunately our bodies are very good at dealing with light tissue damage like that, it is in fact used as a catalyst for growth in some cases and no cause for concern.
Eating a varied diet with lots of nutrients and keeping active physically make your body more flexible and thus more resistant to this kind of damage.
In my experience, pretty much any time when I “slept on my neck funny” tends to come after an intense shoulder + traps workout.
I had a particularly bad strain in my neck once that persisted for several weeks. I brought it up with my physiotherapist and they told me what should have been obvious; typically it’s not that you strain your neck from sleeping on it wrong, it’s just that the tissues you damaged during the day will set and constrict when you’re lying immobile for a bunch of hours.
For someone like me, I probably didn’t stretch enough and tore a muscle. For someone who doesn’t regularly hit the gym, something as simple as picking up a heavy object or wearing a backpack can put enough strain on your traps/shoulders/neck to cause a minor tear that you won’t feel until the next morning.
Since ive seen other people explain it here, ill just offer up my experience. Get a new pillow. Experiment with which height/softness feels best if you can.
I used a regular cheap pillow most of my life and it was ok. Then I was gifted a bamboo pillow and I started having consistent neck problems after sleeping. I switched to a flat gel pillow and I have been neck pain free for quite some time now.
And why did it last 3 days last time? I’m 29.
The shortest version of it is:
The way you slept stretched or put weight on one of the muscles that hold up your head on your neck. It caused a little damage–not bad damage, but enough that it’s gonna be a little swollen and sore for a day or two.
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