[kalimae7371]

Oh NO! I was just diagnosed with ON on my left side a few weeks back, went to the neurologist, he gave me a shot in the back of my head and it eased off. Didn't completely go away . . . I have still been having a few shocks and some pain behind my left eye, but it is tolerable. Nothing like the pain before the shot.

NOW, in the last couple of days I've been having the back shocks in the back right side of my head! Say it ain't so?!?!?!

Can that be? Can you get it on both sides? What are the odds of that?

Amy

[Peter B]

Isn't the body a wondrous thing? Full of little tricks and surprises.
From my scant knowledge of ON the nerves go down both sides.
I was looking into it a short time ago when it seemed that I had it.
Turns out it was just very tight and knotted shoulder muscles pulling the neck muscles down and giving me awful, relentless headaches on the left side.
With remedial massages I have been able to rid myself of these pains.
Not out of the woods, as others have started up, but a bit of progress.
I'd recommend that you get yourself a remedial massage as you are bound to have knotted and tense neck, shoulder and back muscles, which will either cause or aggravate your headaches.
It is wonderful to have a clear, light head after the massage.
As it wears off I forget how good it is, so delay going back!
Will stick to a regular one from now on.

[prairiegirl]

I have bilateral ON from my MS. It does indeed happen. Mine has been on both side since it started. Aren't we lucky?!?

Sorry you're having so much pain. It's not fun, I know.

[charliebubs]

Originally Posted by prairiegirl

I have bilateral ON from my MS. It does indeed happen. Mine has been on both side since it started. Aren't we lucky?!?

Sorry you're having so much pain. It's not fun, I know.

Mine is bilateral too - it's been on both sides since the beginning

I've had my blocks and RFA bilaterally (in both sides) each time.

As Peter says though - everything tends to tense up. Maybe a massage would help. I have tried acupuncture and physiotherapy for the tight muscles which I get in my neck and shoulders, which makes the ON worse.

They help me short term.

Might be worth a try whilst waiting to get back to the doctor.

[prairiegirl]

Originally Posted by charliebubs

Mine is bilateral too - it's been on both sides since the beginning

I've had my blocks and RFA bilaterally (in both sides) each time.

As Peter says though - everything tends to tense up. Maybe a massage would help. I have tried acupuncture and physiotherapy for the tight muscles which I get in my neck and shoulders, which makes the ON worse.

They help me short term.

Might be worth a try whilst waiting to get back to the doctor.

Personally, I can't imagine having that area massaged. Just getting my hair cut is excruciating. So much so that after I had it done, I almost fell down a flight of stairs because I was in so much pain. I managed to make it home okay and then broke a toe smashing it on the foot post of my bed as I walked by. WHen the pain is really bad, I get clumsy.

[Peter B]

Originally Posted by prairiegirl

Personally, I can't imagine having that area massaged.

The good news is that the massage would not need to be done on the sore spot, which would be too tender anyway, but on the muscles that are causing the problem.
In my case, I was getting awful headaches that I thought were ON, but proved to be muscular from the shoulder blade area. Regular massages have stopped them, thank goodness, as nothing got rid of them.
When that had cleared up I started to get bad headaches at the top of the neck, and I assumed it was the arthritis showing up.
But no, a massage of the central back muscles stops it.
The back muscles join the neck muscles. So if they are tight and shrink a bit, they pull down on the neck muscles, hence the pain.
May not be a cure for everyone, but well worth a try. My new pain Dr put me onto it, as he has found that so many pain sufferers have muscle problems as the cause.
As it has turned out, my back muscles are a huge mess and it will take quite a while for the massages to get on top of it. Only then can I begin to stretch and exercise.
If I do it now, other problems arise.

[prairiegirl]

Hmm...well my best friend is an RMT and works on me regularly and my ON is such that it NEVER goes away. Might have something to do with the fact that I have MS and as a result, alot of damage on my C-spine. According to my pain specialist, it's complicated to treat me. *sigh*

Maybe massage will work for other folks though....everyone is different.

[EE03]

I get regular massages and it doesn't help my ON pain. I wish it did. The neurosurgeon who diagnosed me said the muscles are putting pressure on the nerves, but the source is the nerves in the facet joints. When they are angry, they aggravate the muscles, which aggravate the occipital nerves, etc.... Its really a viscious cyle. And my my massage therapist doesn't do my scalp as it would cause too much pain.

[Kathi49]

Agree EE03 and Prairie,

I say to anyone...look to the facets! I think I have said before that I was originally diagnosed with ON but as it turns out it was "Cervicogenic Headaches With Variant Migraines" and all from the cervical spine. The symptoms are pretty much the same though. Anyway, as you all probably know, I have had two fusions. And I have done massage therapy for a long time. The thing is...I ALWAYS tell whoever is doing it...NO OCCIPITAL RELEASE! Just do the trapezius and rhomboids and that's it. Well, one PT, after telling her NOT to touch the area, did it before I could say "boo"! Man I was ! She asked me how in the heck I release it. I told her... I don't! The massage therapy on just the muscle groups I mentioned will usually do the trick. Anyway, because she did the release anyway I ended up in a flare and having to have facet injections at C2/C3 just to calm it all down. So, yep, I would agree...everyone is different.