Neck pain help!!!

[Cosmic123]

I've got a terrible pain in my neck and shoulders. I've had physio to no avail and their latest advice is to try to relax (easier said than done). Can anyone recommend a type of massage that can help with this type of problem. It's making me feel very fed up.

Hi, depending on what diagnosis you have had, sometimes acupuncture can help. How long has it been going on for? Have I had any imaging taken e.g. X-rays or MRI's?

I second acupuncture.

Soz have you had any imaging not I

Lie down on the floor on your back. Get a very thick towel and twirl it round so it is very thick. Lie down on your back with this towel behind your head, at your neck. Push right into the towel. Your neck makes clicking sounds and it seems to relieve pain and pressure, well it does for me anyway.

It's been on and off for almost three years and it's really getting me down! I'm currently laying awake unable to sleep and I've got to be up for work in a few hours. I've not had any X-rays or scans. I get the impression the gp thinks I'm a bit of a hypochondriac. I try not to google because i have really bad health anxiety.

I'm going to try the towel thing. Does acupuncture work straight away?

Acupuncture and a good yoga class for me.

Poor you, Cosmic. I'm a veteran of two frozen shoulders & feel your pain . A couple of things that really helped me:
Lie on the floor. Get a tennis ball & place it in the neck/shoulder area & roll gently around, massaging yourself gently. If that is not too painful, you can graduate to a golf ball. Strange but true. Feels fantastic.
Pendulum swings: lean on a table and let painful shoulder / arm swing loosely for a couple of mins.
Wall crawl: Face the wall and slowly crawl your fingers up as far as you can reach. Rest in that postion & repeat.
Massage from an experienced therapist is great but very expensive. So, the home remedies above are the cheapo options Hope you feel better.

Try the Alexander Technique. Amazing for long term neck issues where there is no physical cause. Massage might give temporary relief but the issues causing it won't go away and the pain will return. Pm me if you're in London and interested.

You poor thing. Serious neck pain is just miserable.

An osteopath sorted mine but it sometimes returns and I recently had success with watching a "Yoga with Adriene" video on youtube for neck pain and I see she also has one for "neck and shoulder pain". She has loads of nice videos for relaxation, headaches, sleep etc too if you have a look.

I'm sure you've tried them but for short term relief, those stick-on heat pads/wraps are great. The best are the ones in the red box, think the brand is "Thermacare".

Good luck and I hope you find some relief soon.

Also, just seen you've only tried physio, no criticism of physios at all but for neck pain, they never worked for me or anyone in my family with back pain. If you can afford to see an Osteopath or Chiropractor first, I would recommend it.

I agree. Get it checked out by an osteo or chiropractor first and then if there is no injury or disease try other things.

Have you had a referral to your local pain clinic? If not, ask your gp.

Hi

Thanks so much.

I have heard that osteopaths or chiropractors can help. Does anyone know the difference? I tried a cranial osteopath and found that no help whatsoever.

Alison I can't quite work out how to pm I am in London and I want to try anything.

I'm just about to embark on a two hour journey to work on a few hours sleep. I've taken ibuprofen but it's still agony I could cry

@Flimp my GP is generally pretty crap and just fobs me off with pills. Last time she gave me Valium but I really don't want it as it's addictive and I don't even like taking paracetamol. I might try and ask the physio. I think I'm getting old they all look about 12

Cosmic, that's rubbish? If you've been in pain for three years, you should have been referred ages ago (ex=pain clinic staff here). Provision varies by area, but in my team they would take a holistic approach in that they'd look at getting the meds right for you, physical interventions, physio, acupuncture, lifestyle stuff and psychological support. Coming at it from lots of different angles.

I'd recommend researching what is available in your area and then keep going back to your GP until you are taken seriously.

Living with pain is the shittest thing, you have my utmost sympathies

I'm in an ident

Sorry that should say, 'that's rubbish!' I'm not questioning you

Sorry message fail. Identical problem. Worth asking for an x ray (see a different GP if not approachable). Try heat pad in microwave and neck stretching - slowly mind. Side to side and circles. Look at your posture too as this can cause neck issues. I'm having an x-ray tomorrow to see if that reveals anything. Good luck. Hope it eases up soon.

Watching with interest as the same here. Have had a horrible few days.

I resorted to a chiropractor after 2 years of neck pain. Doctor said it was wear and tear so learn to live with it! I got physio but it didn't help at all. My private health insurance covered £200 at the chiropractor and it cost me a further £300 on top but after 3 months at the chiropractor I was like a different person. It was the best £500 I ever spent. I needed to go to the chiropractor 2 or 3 times a week to begin with then it gradually went down to once a week then once a fortnight. My advice is find a good chiropractor.

@motherstongue that's really interesting. I asked the physio about chriropractors and he said well they go to university like us but I wouldn't recommend. I have no faith in the physio as they have basically done nothing apart from tell me to relax and given me stretches which I've done religiously since May.

Can I ask where you found your chiropractor? I live in London. I wouldn't really know where to start.

I've read a lot about this but I've had to semi ban myself from googling stuff because I find it makes me think I'm dying or will always be in pain (I know that makes me sound ridiculous).

I've booked into acupuncture tomorrow so I will give that a go but I just want to try any and everything. This pain has blighted my life for three years now.

I will definitely come back and update this thread. Thank you so much everyone for your kind words.

@Rainatnight it's so horrible isn't it! I will definitely let you know if anything works. Currently hoping this long day at work will hurry up so I can go and lie on a hot water bottle x

Physio here. I would recommend a craniosacral therapist who also does somato-emotional release, whilst also pursuing the lines suggested by Flimp - pain clinic referral. Unfortunately, some pain clinics are great and some, well, less so. Ditto physios. I wouldn't recommend chiropractors under any circumstances, but steopathy may work for you - if you tried cranial osteopathy, try McTimoney. There is also the Bowen Technique if you can find a practitioner. It's actually pretty crap to be told to relac and not be shown exactly what to do to achieve relaxation. You may wish to address this with the physio who suggested it - they should have lots of techniques to show you, with handouts etc. Relaxation is a skill, so you do need to learn it, but being shown how makes a huge difference. Finally, you may find that a physio who specialises in mental health can help, not because of any mental illness, but because they deal in relaxation and other relevent treatments all the time, as chronic pain is usually part of their remit - due to pain affecting mood, which then affects pain etc. Good luck - the NHS really is a lottery with this sort of thing, and private healthcare not much better :-(

Acupuncture sometimes takes a few sessions to make a difference but I noticed right away. You may get an acupuncture hangover though. I always get a headache and really tired a couple of hours afterwards and feel a little drunk if I don't eat first.

Ice helped me. Plus acupuncture.