. Message therapy is out of the question as well as physio therapy, by the end of a few sessions of these kind of treatments I was about to bite the therapist! :winky:

If the massage therapy hurt or distressed you that much, then you need to find a more competent one who is very sensitive to your condition.
Abandon any ordinary masseuse, but look for one that offers remedial massage.
Get them to work on your back and shoulders, as there are very strong muscles there that run alongside the neck and can cause awful headaches.
I was convinced that I had ON but my massage lady, as well as my new pain doctor, said my head pain was muscular in origin, and from the back, particularly the shoulder blades.
I have now almost no headaches at all. I have a remedial massage for 40 mins once a week, later it will be fortnightly, and longer if possible as I get better.
She found lots of knotted shoulder muscles, and very tight and sore neck muscles.
I also do a light stretch/ exercise routine for 30 mins a day, as prescribed by a clinical physio. All of this stemmed from my new pain doctor, and is seen as the latest way to treat chronic pain.
I wasn't diagnosed with ON, but from what I had read it seemed to be what I had.
So much chronic pain is muscular in origin, yet it gets overlooked by suspected spinal conditions.
I am so glad that I changed pain specialists as the facet injections were only some benefit, and there was no future.
Now I am reducing my pain meds by more than half, have lost my chronic headaches and shoulder pain, am back into exercising and getting things done again, and sleeping much better.
It is well worth the effort to find a good remedial massager and get your muscles sorted out.
The chronic pain will have stopped you doing much so your muscles will have deteriorated and will need to be given some TLC to recover.

Hey I am curious: DO you also happen to have MS? I am finding more poeple with MS who also have ON as a symptom. Mine has been in a relapse for 23 months and I am currently doing chemo (it's HELL-I am pretty sick) to try and get my immune system to settle down. THe ON is the worst symptom of my MS.

THere is a thread on the MS boards right now on ON that I am following. I'll report back if I learn anything new.

I am 38 and not liking this a whole lot either. In fact, it really sucks.

I've been getting massaged for more years than I've had ON and the massage hasn't helped the ON at all, for what its worth.

Sorry to hear that EEO3, would be nice if it was so easy to fix.
At least you are looking after your muscles, so that must help.