so for the last2 days my neck and shoulder have been killing me. I tried ice last night and that seemed to make it angry. 3am I was awake in pain. Can't turn my neck to the right, can't raise my right arm. Sucks. IcyHot ben gay smellin stuff helps, but short periods of time. And I stink.
Someone at work said "Heat for muscles." Is that right? In about 45 minutes I'll find out. Because if not, I'll be liquored up enough to sleep anyway.
Brandy works... lots of brandy 
Liquor for muscles, joints for joints. 
Sounds about right. Ice pack on my lower back helps the swelling and pain from herniated disks and heating pad is my go-to for neck/shoulder spasms.
Liquor of choice, hot tub, some Geisha girls, a lawyer, and plenty of aspirin.
In reply to Dirtydog :
Is the aspirin required before or after the lawyer?
BoxheadCougarTim said:In reply to Dirtydog :
Is the aspirin required before or after the lawyer?
Required for after, but works best if taken before!
I fixed a bunch of recurring neck problems by wearing a shirt to bed. i finished the problem by getting rid of the woman who wouldn't allow me to not sweat all night. Hot in bed, head and neck sweat, create cold neck, knots in muscles.
In reply to Dirtydog : I like the way you think.
Paul
And yes on the heat. A hot tub is has helped me may a time over the year's (none at this time
I've had neck pain and associated headaches off and on for a couple of years now. Heat is a decent short-term helper, and physical therapy has given me some relief. Honestly, the biggest thing is posture and position. Get one of those curvy "neck pillows" that support your neck while you are sleeping. If you sit in front of a computer all day like I do, try to raise your monitor so that you don't have to look down at it. The idea is to keep your head and neck in a "neutral position" where none of the muscles that support your head are doing an undue share of the work of holding it up.
I recommend heat for chronic, cold for acute. Or, "Whatever feels good, do it. Man."
Ice is the treatment of choice during the initial injury (0-24 hours) cold constricts the vessels and reduces inflammation.
. After that heat opens the blood vessels and brings more blood to the site of insult. Chronic back and neck pain usually responds well to heat.
Consider a TENS unit, this is the one I got off amazon https://www.amazon.com/AccuRelief-Channel-Electrotherapy-Relief-Packaging/dp/B00KPLDX3U/ref=sr_1_3_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1509581282&sr=8-3&keywords=accurelief+dual+channel+tens+electrotherapy+pain+relief+system
worked pretty well for helping to calm some stuff down.
Move to Florida. Problem solved.
Not for neck, but I've had good results for lower back and sciatic with the IcyHot lidocaine patches.
As a 32 yr old martial artist, I would highly recommend the switch to Tiger Balm instead of icy hot or Been gay.
for the muscles, you need to stretch and do it three times a day. Stretching in the shower is best as it will limber up, also, stretch before meals too, it’s hard to stretch on a full tummy.
Generally ice is used to control swelling and inflammation. Heat is used to help relax muscles which are sore and/or strained. It's possible/likely that the ice you applied had nothing to do with waking up at 3am in pain, I doubt it made it worse...you probably would have woken up anyway.
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