i began getting bad upper back neck and shoulder pain on 18th september 2022 suddenly, which gradually became worse and worse so i went to see a a chiropractor. after my first session i feel it really helped but then after my second it all went down hill again. i have stopped going now after 5 sessions and feel i am back at square one, if not worse. the pain is 24:7 i am never not in pain.
my spine hurts, my ribs, lower back bones, shoulders, neck, everything. i've also started getting aches in my muscles. my shoulders and neck are extremely hard.
iv been trying to do stretches that were given to me and have a physio appointment soon.
my blood tests came back with slightly elevated results for an autoimmune response so been referred to rhumatology. i also have only slightly low vitamin d levels.
as it's been nearly 2 months does anyone have any pain relief recommendations- and how long do these flare up's last? i take NSAID's, deep heat cream, deep freeze etc, it only helps for a bit and not completely. Also can anyone recommend any supplements that have helped them?
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Amywoodx
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I’m sorry that you are in pain, I have suffered from severe chronic pain in my cervical & lumbar spine for over 18 years but I was injured in a road traffic collision & have had lots of surgeries on my shoulders/spine. Can I suggest that you buy two things which will help you with what sounds like muscular pain, I am not a medic but can give you the benefit of my lengthy experience.
Muscular pain, spasms, cramps, including the hardness you may feel in your neck etc can be helped with a Tens machine - bought for £20 from your pharmacy or online is one of my best ways that I can cope with the severe muscle pain that I have (I also use it for my damaged nerves but I’m not suggesting that you have anything like that), applying the electrodes and allowing the machine to block pain signals to your brain is one of the simplest & often effective ways that we can have dealing with a acute or chronic pain.
Secondly if you can afford a massage gun, mine was £99 from Costco but you can pay far less for them. Using the gun over your body will make the muscles relax but you have to be persistent and use it daily.
If your budget won’t stretch to one of those, there are plenty of microwaveable heat pillows or plug in pads that will warm your muscles & relax them. Otherwise a hot bath is beneficial, I have one every day & can’t do without them.
Good luck, I hope physio helps & may identify what is causing your underlying pain. Please let us know how you get on.
hi thanks for ur response ! I have a massage gun and I use it on my neck and shoulders, have been using it for about a week and a half every day but I’ve not felt much difference yet. What areas do you use it on and will it help over time?
Hi there, sorry for the delay in getting back to you, just had a few even worse days!
I use the gun particularly on my upper arms (bicep & tricep), as I had ACDF’s C5/6 & C6/7, the latter was only a few years ago & shortly after surgery another osteophyte grew compressing the nerve again which has been damaged for a considerable time. The nerve pain from that stops at my upper arm & I have terrible muscle spasms there, so every morning (it doesn’t matter for me how bad the pain is) & I work on those two muscles, eventually relaxing them.
The C5/6 nerve damage affects my whole arm, hand, thumb and first two fingers (all my fingers are affected by nerve pain, as I have extensive arthritis & disc bulges/prolapses throughout my cervical spine). I massage my inner forearm with the gun along with the top of my forearm, as well as relaxing the muscles, the nerves send less burning pain along with pins & needles. Unfortunately my nerves are so damaged now, I have had the C5/6 injury for over 18 years, not that it always needs a long time to affect the sensory element of the nerve, I have intense itching down both arms (& both legs but that’s another matter), so I’m often left with this symptom in my arms which is affected by heat & cold.
Anyway, I wanted to explain how beneficial the gun therapy is to my arms and any reduction in pain is positive when all of your limbs are affected. If you massage directly over the muscles and keep moving the gun along the muscle & back for as long as you can tolerate then it should help, keep at it every day and you should see and feel a benefit. I don’t use the soft attachments but the harder flat ones give a better result, yes I’m sat there with gritted teeth and sometimes swear as the pain is so severe but not as bad as when being woken in the night with them spasming. Don’t forget to stretch your arms to and use them as much as possible, keep your shoulders back & down and not up under your ears.
Also try the other tips that I gave you regarding heat etc.
Firstly, sorry to hear you are in pain. I know from personal experience that it is a miserable existence.
Have you implored your GP this it is a serious matter, affects you in a lot of different ways, and seeking help yourself (private chiropractor) has borne no results? You need to have an MRI to see what is going on in there, as it could be a ‘standard’ slipped disc, it could be a slipped disc where it is impinging the nerves causing you all that bother.
Do you do any work at a desk whether it is on a computer, or merely writing at a desk? As modern humans, our posture goes out of the window when it comes to using computers & can make our necks lean forward so that they are not aligned with the shoulders, and that causes some terrible problems if left to go on for years.
At the very least, tell your GP that are are in chronic pain all the time with it, and be honest & tell them exactly how it is affecting your life. Usually, once they hear a patient is “suffering” then it is enough to spark them into action.
hi yes I do have a desk job and sit there every day and have done for the past few years so I think this may be a contribution to it but not sure if the desk job alone is enough to have caused this much pain. I saw a chiro and she mentioned cervicothoracic dysfunction but I didn’t feel better after the sessions unfortunately
Forgive my lack of vocabulary for this, but have you seen a contraption that looks like a complex bra strap that wraps around your arms, upper back & neck? They really help with posture, which could in turn help with your pain.
At present, you’re in pain, but neither your GP or Chiropractor are offering you any answers 🧐
yep I have bought one recently it hasn’t arrived yet hoping it helps, I get really really bad neck pain that radiates to my arms too so i don’t know if it’ll help with that but I hope so. I have an initial physio appt today so hoping for some help
Hi, am sorry to learn you are in pain. I had chronic hip pain for 10 years, that is until I started taking Green Lipped Mussel. Now my pain is minimal (I am off all medication). Please read the patients' reviews on GLM. I swear by it - life transforming. I pray that it will bring relief to you too.
Hi, within days of taking GLM (unbelievable as it seems). Now of course this could be the placebo effect - but who cares? I certainly don't! Am on a daily dosage of 2000mg GLM. Please find out more about GLM; the Maoris have sworn by GLM for hundreds of years. Give GLM a go; you have nothing to lose, except your pain. Please tell me how you get on.
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