I'm sorry, justsad - I somehow missed part of this before, and just caught it in the spine forum. Is anything being done to reduce this swelling (NSAIDS, steroids, arthritis meds)?

I do have arthritis in both my cervical and lumbar areas. Probably the whole cussed spine; they never bothered to look at the T region specifically, but the other two regions showed it continued down & up, so....

Massage, muscle relaxers, TENS (to a lesser extent) and stretching exercises have all helped control it some. Mostly I have to keep the areas lose and flexible, which is a constant battle. There are some foods and herbals that have anti-inflammatory properties. I can't take NSAIDs except for meloxicam w/ ONE aspirin on the really bad days, and that can really make a difference.

Not saying any of this will work for you - I don't know (or remember) what all you've tried.

Doc