Hi! It is awesome that you are walking! Walking helps with the pain a lot!!! I found that post surgery if I swung my arms it irritated me, but now 2 years later, I have been told I don't swing my arms enough when I walk. At first I got a vest with pockets to put my hands in so I didn't swing my arms and irritate things. I am just NOW considering returning to work at a desk job and was approved for Social Security Disability.

I found a physical therapist that did manual release - basically he rubbed the knots out of my shoulders so that I could otherwise function. This worked really well, because it keep the muscles relaxed and then were able to develop in the proper position as I developed new muscles. Stretching the neck to either side (ear to shoulder using hand to pull on head a bit) will help stretch the middle scalene. But here is what has been the golden ticket for me post op - botox injections of the middle scale. It is sucks because I have to fly to Boston every three months to get it done, but they are awesome there. You might look into getting the botox injections of the middle scalene, but make sure that the doc has done it before and knows what they are doing because it is a difficult muscle to reach - don't be anyones guinea pig.

Also, there is an amino acid that helps with nerve pain more than any RX I have been given, it is called R-alpha lipoic acid - the "R" is important. I tried it after reading a study online about it helping with nerve pain. Anyway, I take 4-6 pills of this a day and it keeps the nerve pain to a tolerable level - what ever that is lol.

Oh, and one more thing, get some Bio-Oil and rub it into your scar, neck, and area around the scar. Massaging like that will help prevent scar tissue from builing up, so it is very important. If you don't have Bio-Oil, you could try olive oil or some other kind of oil, but use it to massage the scar/side of theneck area several times a day.

You may have some inflammation that is causing you to have sympoms, you might look into an anti-inflammatory medication like Advil or OTC something like Mobic, or I actually have a supply of Ketoralic for flare ups.

Anyway, hang in there, and don't go back to work until you are feeling up to it if you can afford it.