Neck pain can be decreased almost totally with muscle stretching exercises.
A doctor or chiropractor will recommend that you correct your posture and stop chronically straining your neck.
If your work station, for example is poorly set up, you could be tensing your neck muscles all day, unnecessarily.
But when someone says to you "stand up straight and relax", what if that doesn't work for you? What if you can't? If you don't understand why standing or sitting the right way feels so bad, learn about some good stretches you can do daily.
You are going to feel better and better if you do this.
Your muscles don't work in isolation.
Poor use of the neck muscles will involve the shoulder, upper back, low back, chest, and arm muscles too.
It is just that you may feel the pain in your neck first.
I hate to say it, but you will most likely feel upper back pain, low back pain and shoulder pain too, at some later time.
But developing chronic neck and back pain can be prevented, by changing your lifestyle a little bit, and including some daily stretches.
Once you have learned a couple of stretching and strengthening routines, you will feel like something is wrong when you don't do them.
If you feel tension when you gently drop your head to each side, after just an inch or so, you definitely need to get your neck back to its normal elastic quality.
Try this, just to see if you are stiff in the chest and shoulders.
Shape your arms like you are holding a beach ball, in front of your waist.
Raise them over your head, and begin to open them wide, pressing backwards gently.
If you feel resistance at any point, then you need to stretch every day.
If you feel pain, don't push into the movement.
Just stop, and resolve to reverse this condition - you can!