Neck braces are sometimes called also neck collar or cervical collar. It should be an support for the neck as well as for your spine and also is great for limiting your head movement after you went through some kind of injury. There is one most common reason of wearing neck braces which is simply a car accident.

Neck collars are great help to relieve neck pain and also are great neck support after any kind of neck injury.

Chronic neck pain

Chronic neck may be a reason of many causes. It can start with your backpack which is to heavy and end with bone spurs or arthritis. Most common causes of chronic pain are:

  • muscle strain,
  • nerve compression.

In those cases your neck brace will help you in pain relief while you have your treatment going.

Neck surgery and what then?

If you went through neck surgery and you are wonderig what comes next here is your answer. Let’s say for example that you had spinal neck surgery you may be needing neck brace so it will help you keep your neck bones in place in time when your neck is going to be in healing process.

Cervical collars are great in helping to prevent any kind of injury after your neck surgery. It will help with limiting rotation but also any kind of movements.

Soft cervical collar vs rigid collar

There are in fact two types of collars that you can find in medical shops. However healthcare provider wil help you in choosing the right brace that will be the best for your health condition. Your collar has to be comfortable for you and has to be your perfect match. Let’s talk about those two and start with soft collars then we will go to rigid cervical collars.

Soft collars are made from thick foam rubber which is simply covered in cotton. They are being used in time when you need some kind of support your neck and you want be in control of pain after some kind of injury for example whiplash.

Rigid braces are made of molded plastic it has got removable padded liner in two pieces (back and front piece). They aren’t soft but indeed are hard collars. This kind of brace is restrict in neck movement while recovery that you are in from a fracture or surgery. Those collars are used mostly after sugeries or trauma patients with some traumatic injury. Those collars extend from the jaw to the collarbone. Rigid collars are used by doctors when they want almost completly stop all the movement.

When should be wearing your brace?

Doctor is checking her patient's neck

You should have your doctor instructions in the back of your head. He must have told you all the instructions on how to wear your cervical collar and when to wear it. Ask about everything you want to know at the fitting, remember that you will be wearing your brace after surgery to the time your spine will heal. Have your time with the collar and give it a little bit of prehospital use. Your collar might have to be worn about 4 weeks to 6 months.

If you are going to fit your barce before the surgery practice taking it off and on to get to know it very well.

Activity with brace

Your brace will restrict your ability to have full possibilities to move. Be read for this that while you will be wearing it you won’t be able to see your feet so watch out your steps. Be careful while walking until you gonna feel comfortable walking. If you will want to change possitions from lying to standing position help yourself with your arm and also leg muscles. This technique will help you to keep your spine in right alignment.

Care of cervical collars

You should remember that there is need of special care while your are wearing this collar. Let’s talk about this a little bit then. If your doctor recommends you to wear neck collar he will for sure give you an specific instructions on how to care of it. Here are some guidelines you should follow:

  • Your collar should be tight enough that you wont be able to move your head but your chin should be not slided inside or be sticking out off the collar itself.
  • If you are about to remove your collar for cleaning always try on checking that there is no signs of skin irritation in any area.
  • You should keep the area of this skin clean but also dry. Don’t think of using any kind of lations or powders because it will destroy pads.

There are many rules you should follow and your doctor recommends to you so just remember to do everything like you were told to.

Interesting informations

There are many interesting informations that you should know about collars. Here are some of them:

  • Most common reason of wearing this collar is to get rid of pain caused by some kind of neck injury. This collar is going to be helping with neck support of the head weight what gives the soft tissues of your neck to heal.
  • Many people are having whiplash injuries which can be caused for example by playing sports or falling. There are whiplash treatments that need neck immobilization, pain killer and bed rest but they can be also treated by therapy but also massage is the way.
  • Recovering from whiplash injury may take some time so it will require you to have long periods of time immobilization of the neck so your nerves and bones gonna heal.
  • The type of your collar is gonna to be choosed based on doctors diagnosis and also treatment that been choosed for you.
  • If you gonna have our neck collar fitted in right way it should be decrease the motion but shouldn’t cause any discomfort.
  • Your doctor might be the one that is going to treat neck pain. He also might tell you to get in touch with for example specialist like orthopedic.

Prevent your neck pain

There are some ways to prevent the neck pain you might have possibity to have. Here are some of them:

  • Try on keeping the right posture (head posture as well as neck posture are also very important). Avoid hunching shoulders and also your neck to be bending too far forward.
  • Avoid using pillows which has got too much of stiffness. Why? Well because it can cause your neck muscles to flex over just one night.
  • If you sleep on your stomach change possition. For example try sleeping on your side or maybe back will work for you.
  • Don’t sleep in some kind of twisting position. Try on keeping your neck aligned with your whole body.

Conclusion

As you can see those neck collars are great with neck pain and also they are wonderful in help when your neck heal. Your doctor might advise you to have a special type of neck collar to help you relieve pain. So if you have any problems with neck pain get in touch with your doctor and find a way to help it with him.