Could my neck/back affect my face?
 

Hi, I posted the below in the General Conditions forum. Now I am wondering if it should be here:

About 6 weeks ago I noticed a strange feeling on the right side of my face. It felt like my right eye lid was heavy or still half asleep. It went away after a couple of hours but came back periodically. I saw my general physician and he prescribed antibiotics thinking it could be the start of a sinus infection. When there was no change after 5 days of antibiotics, he referred me to a neurologist. My neurologist did what I guess are the standard first visit tests and told me it may be a virus. To be safe, he wants me to get an MRI, which I am doing next week.

I have been trying to track my symptoms. There is no pain, just a numbness/pressure feeling. Usually, I feel it anywhere from different points of my right eye (from the outside corner, to the eye lid), on my right cheek and around my ear, the right side of my head and/or the right side of my neck. Again, there is no pain. It feels like there should be some drooping, but there is none. In the mirror, my face looks normal even when the feeling is most prominent. No vision problems either.

It also seems like lying on my right side brings it on. I usually have it the first few hours after I wake up (especially if I wake up on my right side) and it will come on if I lay on my couch on my right side after about 15 minutes.

I workout with weights pretty regularly and often tweek various parts of my back. I thought it might be the byproduct of a back or nect injury.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

A large percentage of your symtoms may be the result of Myofascial Trigger Points in the muscles of your neck especially the Sternocleidomastoid.
Read the below link and review. Some of these can be self treated. There are many ways to treat trigger points in the muscles. The most important treatment is a home stretch program.

Head and Neck Pain
http://www.round-earth.com/HeadPainIntro.html

Especially read about the Sternocleidomastoid muscle
"It also seems like lying on my right side brings it on. I usually have it the first few hours after I wake up (especially if I wake up on my right side) and it will come on if I lay on my couch on my right side after about 15 minutes."
This will shorten and activate trigger points in the SCM. Read about at:

http://www.round-earth.com/SCM.html

I have no relation to the above web site but find the explanations clear and easy to understand. I am trained as a Myofascial Trigger Point Therapist.

I have treated a numer of clients/patients post neck surg with good long term results.

Best wishes.

Thanks painfree. Great articles. The first really hit home, especially the discussion about the trapezius muscles. The facial points it effects are unbelievably close to where I feel the sensation. The other thing is, I work out a lot and when I saw the neuro, I told him that the symptoms seemed most prominent when I exercised my shoulders, especially my traps.

Anyway, I will have my MRI next week (a catscan didn't reveal any abnormalities). It would be nice if it was something simple like a strained/pulled muscle. Thanks again.