7 Tips for Relief From Neck Pain

by Deborah Maragopoulos FNP | Feb 25, 2023 | Blog, Men's Health, Mind/Body, Women's Health | 0 comments

Do you suffer from neck pain? Let me share seven tips to relieve neck pain.

Neck Pain

As a family nurse practitioner, I treat my patients for other issues than hormonal imbalance. Neck pain is very common and needs to be addressed. The main cause of neck pain is mechanical issues meaning that your neck is out of alignment. Your vertebrae are not lined up properly, and you lose lordosis, the natural curve of the cervical spine. Your neck muscles become very tight trying to prevent your misaligned vertebrae from slipping and impinging nerves. Impingement of the nerve roots coming from the spinal cord can cause headaches as well as tingling, numbness and pain in your arms. You can also have neck pain from old injuries, particularly whiplash or compression injuries causing your disc between the vertebrae to be pushed into the nerve roots.

With age, it’s not uncommon to see a lack of vertebral height as the bones in the spinal column start to collapse from osteoporosis and the discs become flattened from dehydration and poor circulation. You can check your cervical alignment by standing up against a wall with your heels up against the baseboard, your bottom up against the wall and let your shoulders touch the wall. If you have to push your head back to touch the wall, you’ve lost the natural curve in the cervical spine, meaning your neck is out of alignment. When you get back into alignment, your head naturally touches the wall when your shoulders do. A lot of the mechanical issues have to do with body mechanics.

Apply Heat

Using moist or dry heat on your neck for ten minutes before stretching or exercising helps relieve tight muscles.

Massage your neck muscles

Massaging your neck can help. One easy way to do it is to take a couple of tennis balls and put them into a sock and tie the sock off so that the tennis balls are just far enough apart that when you lay your neck on then, there’s a space for your vertebrae between the tennis balls. Then roll them along your neck muscles and down in between your scapulas.

Stretch

Gently stretching your neck muscles can help relieve pain and is best after heating up your muscles. Start by rolling your head gently, to the side, forward, other side and back. Then gently let your head drop to your shoulder, then the other shoulder.

Apply Ice

After heat and massage and stretching, you should ice the area to get some of that inflammation down. Apply ice for five to 10 minutes.

Try the Egoscue Method

A great exercise that I personally have used to help with neck pain are the Egoscue method. You can find the neck exercises online. They’re kind of odd and need to be practiced in the recommended order every day to be effective.

Improve body mechanics

If you’re going to prevent your neck pain, you must improve your body mechanics. If you are on your phone and your head is tilted down constantly, you’re going to have neck pain. Same with your computer so pay attention to your body mechanics and adjust your workstation accordingly. Then throughout the day, get out of the offending position and stretch your neck.

Sleep with a cervical pillow

A cervical pillow is a little firmer and has a bit of a bump in it that actually supports the natural curve of your neck. If you’re a side sleeper like me, then the bump needs to be smaller. And you must be sure you get a cervical pillow that fits you. I’ve had the same cervical pillar pillow for like 15 years and using it to sleep every night makes a big difference.

If you have any questions regarding neck pain, please join me in our Hormone Support Group, which you can access by signing up for my free Hormone Reboot Training.

Frequently Asked Questions:

Can your hypothalamus cause weight gain?

Yes. The hypothalamus is the master regulator of metabolism, controlling how your body stores and burns energy through its signaling to the thyroid, adrenals, and pancreas. When the hypothalamus becomes dysregulated by chronic stress, poor sleep, inflammation, or blood sugar instability, it defends a higher weight "set point" — causing the body to hold onto fat regardless of diet or exercise. This makes hypothalamic dysfunction an upstream root cause of stubborn weight gain.

What is a weight set point and why won't mine move?

A weight set point is the body weight your hypothalamus works to defend, calibrated over time by stress, sleep, hormones, and inflammation. When you diet, the hypothalamus perceives scarcity and responds by slowing metabolism, increasing hunger hormones, and suppressing satiety signals to return you to that set point. This is why most people regain lost weight within two to five years of conventional dieting — the set point itself was never recalibrated, only temporarily overridden.

Why do I gain weight under stress even when I'm not eating more?

Chronic stress raises cortisol, which disrupts blood sugar regulation, promotes abdominal fat storage, and signals the hypothalamus that the body is under threat. In survival mode, the hypothalamus defends fat stores and slows metabolism — so weight can increase even without any change in calorie intake. The stress chemistry, not the food, is driving the weight gain, which is why stress reduction is essential to any lasting metabolic reset.

Why do I regain weight after stopping GLP-1 medications?

GLP-1 medications work peripherally on appetite and gastric signaling, but they do not address the underlying hypothalamic dysregulation that sets your defended weight. Because the hypothalamic set point is never recalibrated, the body resumes defending its original weight once the medication stops — leading to significant regain. Long-term success requires restoring hypothalamic regulation so the set point itself lowers, rather than relying on appetite suppression alone.

How long does it take to reset your metabolism?

Genuine metabolic recalibration takes a minimum of 90 days, because the hypothalamus needs consistent signals of safety and sufficiency before it will lower its defended set point. This differs from a diet, which produces temporary suppression the body quickly corrects. A 90-day reset typically moves through three phases: stabilizing stress chemistry (days 1–30), rebuilding metabolic efficiency (days 31–60), and lowering the weight set point (days 61–90).

Why does my thyroid feel slow even though my labs are "normal"?

Under chronic stress, the body converts thyroid hormone into reverse T3, which blocks active thyroid receptors and slows metabolism at the cellular level — even when standard lab values appear normal. This means you can experience genuine symptoms of slow metabolism, such as fatigue, cold intolerance, and brain fog, while your thyroid panel looks unremarkable. Addressing the upstream hypothalamic and stress signaling often improves thyroid conversion and symptoms.

Is stubborn weight gain a willpower problem?

No. Stubborn weight gain is a signaling problem, not a willpower problem. The hypothalamus governs weight through survival mechanisms that operate below conscious control — defending its set point by slowing metabolism and increasing hunger when it perceives threat. No amount of discipline can override this system; lasting change comes from restoring hypothalamic regulation through reduced stress, balanced blood sugar, restorative sleep, and targeted nutritional support.

About the Author - Deborah Maragopoulos FNP

Known as the Hormone Queen®️, I’ve made it my mission to help everyone - no matter their age - balance their hormones, and live the energy and joy their DNA and true destiny desires. See more about me my story here...

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Last Updated: February 9, 2023