I woke up with a crick in my neck. What causes the muscle to be stiff and why is it usually unidirectional? Is this the same thing that causes “knots” in necks/shoulders/etc?
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As a massage therapist, my experience is that the feeling usually comes from one of the scalene muscles at the side of the neck, often posterior scalene. Trapezius and levator scapula are also common culprits. The muscle is aggravated or in spasm because something happened during the night it didn’t like, like an awkward position or movement that was “the straw that broke the camel’s back” so to speak on top of chronic tension/stress. It will usually work itself out, but massage can certainly help.
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