Should I go to a and e?

[LLCoolKay]

I've just been washing my hair and had a really bad pain in my neck. I can't move my head properly. a and e?

It can be agonising OP. One of my vertebrae pops out of alignment and I also have a shoulder that partially comes out of place and when they do it I get a sort of white streak of pain before my eyes (hard to describe). The sheer agony can resolve in a few hours and then be just very painful or it can carry on being hellish for up to a week.

Thing is we can’t assess just how painful your neck is and only you know how you feel and I’d say if it’s truly grim to ring 111 for advice. An appointment would hopefully rule out anything of concern and get you some painkillers that are stronger than OTC ones which might well make the next few days more do-able. It’s utterly horrible and you have my sympathies .

OP if you suffering from muscle spasm the GP can prescribe Valium to relax it (though may not want to!). It can be very effective, but will make you drowsy.

111 said to go gp tomorrow. I can barely move and I'm not a dramatic person

I've had muscle spasm in my neck and it is absolute agony. But it will pass.

Heat pack, painkillers and a scarf. Not a&e.

I've got to go to work tomorrow ffs

Sounds like a wry neck. I had it last year, was absolutely excruciating, I couldn’t get dressed or lie down. DH had to come home from work as I was literally sobbing on the floor.

Codeine helped me. Doctor offered me diazepam as I was meant to be flying to Barcelona for work. I ended up not going on the trip.

Do not go to work! I had this, it's called torticollis or 'wry neck' I went to work and what should of healed in a week became a chronic injury. The only treatment that works is small doses of diazepam and painkillers regularly for about three days. A+E won't see you for hours might as well try get an emergency GP appointment or after hours appointment.

Lie in your bed on your back with no pillows. Use a heat pack to warm your neck muscles up then turn your head slowly to face the left hand wall, put a tiny bit of pressure on cheek and push your face into the mattress a tiny bit, then slowly rotate your head and face the other wall, on the side that hurts apply a little bit of extra force and then hold it as long as tolerable.

Another thing that helped me immensely, do you have a neck travel cushion? Put that on around your neck and place it under your chin quite securely, tape around the ends to turn it into a "soft collar" the goal is to take the weight of your head off your neck...it looks daft but once the weight of your head is supported by the travel pillow you should get some relief. I know its hard to not go to work but honestly, if I could go back in time I would, my neck is so messed up from letting this easily cured problem get worse and worse.

Is there ANY way you can take the rest of the week off OP. I can’t imagine trying to work with this. You won’t be able to think straight in this state. If your GP will prescribe Valium I agree it’s a good muscle relaxant. And they can give you better painkillers. I really hope it starts to ease off soon. It’s grim.

To be fair op you could have rocked up at your GP today instead of posting on here.

Also having to go to work tomorrow isn't a reason to go to a&e 🤷‍♀️🤦‍♀️

Can you imagine being on your way in with a stab wound or a heart attack and waiting in a bay next to somebody who had been sat at home posting online for 6 hours about what to do.

@mangolover why post crap like that? If you've never experienced a wry neck then you don't know what you are talking about. In fact I hope one day you do so you feel like a dickhead.

@Dosmamas I don't feel like a dickhead at all. How very rude?
I have experienced wry neck, the point I was making was the OP when she spent the day posting asking for the advice of many who said not a&e, actually could have gone to the GP at any point for an emergency appointment. Failing that a minor injuries or walk in centre.

I don't think I'm being unreasonable pointing out that there is a bit of a difference between sitting on the Internet all day telling strangers how you feel, wasting the day you could be spending at a GP or minor injury centre, and being sat in A&E with a genuine life changing or life threatening emergency situation.

It is unfortunately these kinds of attitudes that clog up A&E for those that need them, when there are perfectly good community services available until 6.30 pm in most places, often later.

If you have all day to spend on the internet discussing it with strangers, you probably don't need to be in A&E.

To be fair OP, according the law of Mumsnet the only circumstances you should have gone to A&E in your circumstances were if your head was literally hanging off your neck. Anything short of that can be sorted with a nurofen and a GP appointment scheduled in mid-April.