> 1. Why the hell was my neck stiff in the first place?
> 

There are so many things that can go wrong in this part of the body...

> 2. Why has my shoulder suddenly started hurting when it was getting 
> better before?
> 

Maybe I'm wrong on that, but I generally avoid painkillers in these 
case, because by suppressing the pain signal it's possible that things 
get worse. It allows you to move better, but moving is not necessarily 
the wisest thing to do... And so something else can start to hurt.

> 3. Why does moving parts of my body unrelated to my shoulder make my 
> shoulder hurt?
> 

Because they are related :-)

Seriously, it's possible that some kind of twist in your spine at the 
neck level (or just below) pinched a nerve that goes to the shoulder, so 
that the pain in your shoulder is in fact caused by certain positions or 
forces in your spine.

And the vertebral column works for nearly every move you make...

> 5. What can I do to make it heal faster?

Whith this kind of things giving time to time is a good solution, as 
nemesis said. Try not to rest in a position that puts stress on your 
spine. Try to relax even if it's not easy. Some very limited stretching 
can help in certain cases but it can also be dangerous...

Overall I'm not sure Internet forums are the right place for a medical 
diagnostic ;-) I know there are doctors that specialize in these 
problems and can do wonders if time does not make things better, see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiropractic

-- 
Vincent

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