Stiff & painful neck - any advice?

[lizardqueenie]

Hello

Wondering if anyone can offer me advice..I am 23 weeks pg and in the middle of Sunday night woke up with a terrible pain in my neck - i was half asleep when I did it and I simply turned and stretched the wrong way.

Stayed at home yesterday and the pain improved and i was able to move my neck a lot more - have just been taking paracetamol as no ibuprofen allowed. Found it really hard to get to sleep during the night in a position that would accommodate both my neck pain and bump and today its just as stiff & painful as it was at the start. Can anyone offer any advice? I am feeling a bit fed up as I have just got over the whole morning sickness thing and now this!

Hey Lizardqueenie! You may have trapped a nerve or pulled a muscle by sleeping in a funny position. I have dreadful problems with my neck (I dislocated 2 vertebrae a few years back and I still have problems which have been massively aggravated by pregnancy!) and I am struggling with similar problems.

My suggestion is this - I know it's warm, but try putting a wheat bag or something warm around your neck and shoulders. Whatever you do, the worst thing for either a pulled muscle or a trapped nerve is immobilising it - the medical advice for both is that you do gentle exercise (moving your head from side to side and back and forward should be more than sufficient. Emphasis on GENTLE!!!). I am not a doctor but this is what I have been told recently by NHS physios and my osteopath. If you immobilise your neck, it will seize up and things will be worse.

I suspect that the relaxin rushing around our bodies isn't helping, and shoulders will ache more with the increased weight we are carrying with enlarged boobs, so if you are still struggling in a couple of days, go and see your doctor and ask for a physio referal.

Hope that helps!!

xx

Oh, and when sleeping, take your pillow and tie a pair of tights around the middle - so it looks like a bow with a narrow middle bit and two big end bits.

When you go to bed, the narrow bit sits at your neck so that your head is not pushed forward into an "unnatural" position. That might help! It's more comfy when lying on your back, which I know that we can't really do now, but it does work on your side too. Just be sure that you don't tie the middle too tight and narrow or it will not be comfy.

x

Oh Balletmoo - you have saved me! Thanks so much. Have got myself a hot water bottle (our microwave is in the garage otherwise i could use a heat pad) so its a bit of a balancing act but sitting here with it tucked around the back of my neck.

Totally know what you mean about immobilizing it - I had whiplash years ago and the physio went nuts that the Dr gave me one of those collar things! I reckon that is why it feels worse today than it did by the end of yesterday as I kept trying to gently move it, although overnight it has obviously frozen up again. Will def try the tights & pillow trick and see a physio if its still not easing up.

Thanks again xx

Ah well if you've had whiplash, I would use exactly the same exercises that you would have been given then, but done with a bit of caution because of the relaxin.

Try wrapping the hot water bottle in a towel - sure, it'll provide a bit less heat (perhaps no bad thing in the heat of summer!) but it will be much easier to balance!

I'm sure you feel worse today because it got less movement overnight. I really sympathise: it's a nightmare having that on top of all the other "fun" pregnancy aches and pains!!

Hope you feel better soon!

xx

Thanks for that - have just made an appointment with the physio for tomorrow morning - can't go through another day like today or take any more time off of work. xx

How did it go, Lizardqueenie? xx

Hey, the physio went well thanks - bless you for asking. She said that the whole of my back was so tense it was literally just waiting to happen. Even the opposite side to where the pain is at the moment was very tight. She spoke about bodies changing during pregnancy and then your back overcompensating for your changing shape & heavy bump. Some of the pain is right at the base of my skull & behind my ear- this is because I have pulled the ligaments (?) that are attached to the vertebrae.

She gave me some exercises to do too-just to stretch it out really. I might go back for another appointment in the next week or so depending on how I feel but it does feel better. Still couldnt sleep properly last night but going in to work today in a sleepy achy fog!

How are you getting on with your back problems? are you due around the same time? xx

I'm due 13 October, so a little while yet. I get the odd day so far when my lower back aches (today, for example!) but my shoulders and neck are generally pretty poor. I can live with it at the moment but I will be waddling down to my GP for a referal pretty soon, methinks!!

But I keep it at bay with gentle movements at the moment and it's got a lot better since I swapped my lovely work shoulder bag for a back-pack and changed my work chair! But then I am a Facilities Manager and a workstation assessor, so the chair change was quite straightforward. I just ordered myself a new one!!

So glad you got a good result from the physio... here's hoping it keeps getting better!! xx