5yo with a stiff neck from sleeping the wrong way.?

Question

I actually had trouble getting the info I wanted online. Meningitis kept coming up. My 5yo dauhter has a stiff neck and it seems to be getting a little better,she's still in alot of pain when she moves it. Would it help to slowly move her head around and "work it out" or would this make it worse? Maybe a massage?

Answer 1

A stiff neck goes away easily, like the person before me said heat is best to relax a tight muscle. Go with a moist heat from a hot water bottle in this case though I think.
But most importantly you should check her pillow, ask her questions about how she sleeps, try to prevent this from happening again, a stiff neck is fairly unthreatening, but it's certainly not fun for anyone, let alone a little girl.

Moving her head around would really have no effect I don't think.

Also is she just getting over any kind of illness? Sometimes when you've been fighting off infection one of your lymphnodes will get enlarged and cause a kink. This is what happened to me recently. As the illness leaves her body, so will the stiff neck and in this case it's likely not the pillow.

Hope this helps!

Answer 2

I will give you a professional advice (I am a neurosurgery consultant):
- No massage in the acute stage of pain.
Try light pain killers (like tylenol or paracetamol)
Hot foments may help, if she feels happy with it, try it as 4 times daily.
This is a common problem that should resolve in two to three days completely, however if it doesn't, professional help will be mandatory.
Good luck

Answer 3

I would try a heating pad and try to massage her neck. Make sure her pillow is not too thick or her mattress too soft. Give her some children's Tylenol or children's motrin.