Injury to neck

while i was doing leg press yesterday i was straining quite hard and when i got done with my set my neck felt very tight and stiff and i did not have full range of motion. this morning i woke up and it was worse. i had previously gone to the emergency room a yr ago for somethin resemebling this except it had nothin to do w/ working out (it was diagnosed as an acute cervical myofascial strain). this has happened to me in the past doing leg press but it had never gotten worse the nxt day, if anything my neck was a lil stiff. does anyone know how i can prevent this in the future?

Were you pressing your head into the leg press back pad? I've seen people strain their neck extensors trying to get extra stability.

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Originally Posted by striker93

Where you pressing your head into the leg press back pad? I've seen people strain their neck extensors trying to get extra stability.

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not that i'm aware of, i really dont know. i'm not sure if i was or if i brought my neck of the pad.

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Originally Posted by JNel04

not that i'm aware of, i really dont know. i'm not sure if i was or if i brought my neck of the pad.

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Next time you leg press, check your technique to see if you're using your neck extensors. If this is the problem, strengthening them might be the key.

it happens, and don't ever bother going to the ER for an injury like this.once the muscle is strained and locked up, you are shite out of luck!!! to be honest, same thing happened to me this week after a day of lifting and the painting my house. from monday to thursday, i couldn't move my neck at all!!!when it happens, ice 20 minutes every 2 hours for 5 -7days, (NO HEAT AT ALL) you can use ben-gay or flex all ype of products, motrin/ibueprofen, helps take the inflamation down. 800mgs(take 4 pills instead of two 2-3 times a day)valium , if you can get your hands on it and of course perkocet and vicadin are extremely helpful, but may hinder your alertness and put you in space for an entire day. other adjunctslike, vertebral manipulations, electric stim, mechanical traction, and massage therapy help me tremendously. once it happens, the only thing you can do are do these thigs to make you heal quicker, you cant expect one adjustment of your neck and your better. doesn't work like that. you have a simple sprain strain, to try to prevent stretch before you liftm warm up properly and keep yourfingers crossed it can happen again. some in my profession think that an adjustment of the cervical vertebrae once a month for maintenance care may help prevent this type of injury. my oppinion is it is beneficial but not fool proof. with weightlifting, there are no guarantees, we are all prone to injury due to the incresed risk of our chosen activity.

i have had many off these things. sometimes i get them from shrugs. I just got over one 2 days ago. Sometimes they take 5 days to go away, and sometimes 3 WEEKS. I hurt my neck on the 4 way neck machine by going too heavy and it took 3 weeks.
One time wrestling i thought i broke my neck and lost sensation and SIGNIFICANT motor function in my left arm. It took 8 weeks to normalize, but it did. With necks, they just need time and patiants. ER visits are not needed for most spasms. Youd be suprized the degree of spasm that a wrestler can get. One time i walked around for 3 days with my head crooked cuz the muscled were so strained and spasm. Loss of range of motion is do to spasm. It FEELS like you damaged the spine whey you try to move it but its the muscle that has spasmed from strain and it is locked up. Massaging helps a little. Pain meds can help. Just be patient and avoid straiining your neck muscles hen lifting. It will happen again from time to time. Just one of those things.