I have just been to see a new pain dr after the other one retired.
This one has an entirely different approach to pain compared to the other.
The first one listened to my pain list and said he thought he could help. He prescribed facet joint injections, of which I have now had done on 9 occasions. They all gave relief lasting 6-8 weeks. I still needed pain meds but less frequently, and I was able to recover better from a flare-up.
For the new dr fresh x-rays were taken, and these indicated a reduction in bone density and the growth of spurs-the usual osteoarthritis stuff.
The new dr looked at thse and asked me to show him where my pain areas were.He went through the x-rays with me and said that he couldn't see any really bad narrowing, and that he didn't believe that my pain was nerve related.

He then gave me a physical exam of the neck, found the various muscles within the neck and running down to the shoulders, and remarked on how tight they were. Then he asked which were sore to his touch.
By doing this he was able to highlight my sore spots, and he said that it was muscle pain not nerve pain.
From this he went to a muscle chart and explained to me that my pain areas matched the muscles on the chart.
i had always known that muscle tension was a big problem for me, but i had thought it secondary to the arthritis.
Seems like it may be the other way around.
While I have been to many physios and doctors for my chronic pain, none had ever given me such a physical exam to look a bit deeper and find out what was really going on.
It also worried me that I was doing less and less physical exercise, which isn't good as the muscles just deteriorate rapidly.
So what he said struck a chord with me-it seemed so obvious.
Treatment will be via a Clinical Exercise Physiology Program. From what I can tell it includes full physical and mental function assessment, then exercises, stress reduction, and pain management.
So I am very pleased with the outcome so far.
It takes me off the drug spiral and should give me a good pain management capability.
I was given a booklet on Pain Management, which is very good. It describes the chronic pain cycle, with such things as:
" Existence is reduced to home, the pharmacy and the doctor's offices. As these people withdraw from society they lose their jobs, alienate family and friends and become isolated."
Sound familiar?
So.......it seems that muscle tension is a very big part of the chronic pain cycle.
SOMA or similar may well be a good help temporarily, but you may need to look at a pain management program too, as there is so much more to chronic pain than just trying to medicate it.