NeuroTalk Support Groups - neck & shoulder pain!

Hi everybody,

Just came accoss this site and thought one of you out there might have been in a simalr situation to mine and might have some advice for me!

I have given a hisory of case case below, hope its not too long a boaring :)

My back/neck problems started over 13 years ago and I do not recall suffering from any similar back/neck problems before. The problems started following a day windsurfing where I felt a stiff neck however ignored it and kept on windsurfing. Earlier on in the day a was sanding the hull of a boat in a crouched upward facing position and this might have possibly also contributed to trigger off the stiff neck. Anyway, after windsurfing I did not feel much pain and it was only when I woke up the next morning that I had a terrible stiff neck and could hardly lift my head off the bed.

As a result I immediately went to hospital where they took an x-ray of my neck and I was told that there was no damage to my spine and prescribed some medication. Over the next days although the severe stiffness and the shock like pain reduced significantly I still had a painful/stiff/uncomfortable neck, however the problem now seemed mainly concentrated on the right hand side only. After a couple of months passed and having seen that the problem persisted, I went to see an Orthopedic Surgeon who carried out some reflex checks, diagnosed me as neurologically intact and gave me some pills (muscle relaxants or pain killers). These might have helped to slightly reduce the stiffness/pain however I remained very uncomfortable and he suggested that I would try wearing a collar for a while. Although it might have relieved me at times the problem persisted and I think my neck only became weaker as a result.

Anyway I was then told to stop using the collar and was sent to physiotherapy that did help me strengthen my neck and restore mobility to a certain extent. However the stiffness and pain in the right hand side of my neck remained. Having seen that the problem still persisted the doctor took a CT scan and then some form of isotope injection scan to further investigate matter. Again, he could find no visible damage and could not pin point the problem. I was therefore referred to another specialist in arthritis who also found no problem following a number of tests.

More time passed, over a couple of years by now, and I was still constantly suffering from the same problems so I was then referred to an English specialist orthopedic surgeon who arranged that I would have an MRI scan taken in England .His diagnosis following the scans was that “the cervical cord appears normal with no evidence of cord compression at any level. The C5/C6 disc is certainly degenerate but there is no evidence of disc herniation either here or at any other level. Normal appearance of cervical vertebral bodies”. I was then again sent for more physiotherapy and since the problem persisted he decided to carry out an MUA (manipulation under anesthetic).

After that another couple of years passed during which I tried going to various other physiotherapists, Chinese masseurs, acupuncturists etc but although some helped reduce the problem for a short while I still remained very bad.

After about 4 years had passed since my injury, I went to see a neurosurgeon who told me I have ‘trapesius tension syndrome’ and prescribed me course of cataflam & deanxit pills and told me to try exercising more which together were certainly the best treatment I have had till now.

Following the above I did get better and although I certainly still suffered with the same problem I was having more ‘good days’ than before. When I felt that I would be getting worse I would take the pills again to try to prevent the build up of the pain that would result in more stiffness and therefore even more pain (a sort of vicious cycle). Careful exercise certainly also helped but the problem is that once I stiffen up it is not easy to exercise.

I spent one or two years feeling a bit better as described above however as I mentioned the problem always remained and it was more like a matter of controlling the build up of the pain and trying to live with it.

However with time the periods where I would feel better started to reduce and for the past couple of years I hardly ever have a few days were I feel well, and I feel that I am slowly slowly only getting worse and not better.

Over the last years I also tried some more physiotherapy and some other treatments such as going to a chiropractor and using a TENS machine. Although pill/massage/TENs etc do sometimes slightly relieve the pain it is only a short term improvement and certainly not a solution to my problem.

I also tried facet joint infiltration but this too did not seem to work & more recently I have taken a number of other scans / x-rays that still show no problem. Iand am currently doing regular pilates exercises and physiotherapy together with taking tryptizol (10 or 25) tablets before sleeping that do seem to help alleviate the pain / stiffness slightly but I am still very much in pain most of the time.

Having said so much on what happened let me explain how I feel today. I feel a constant (although of varying intensity) pulling / soreness / stiffness / pain in the right hand side of my neck, shoulder, around my shoulder blade and sometimes spreading down the right hand side of my back. The soreness/stiffness is not always spread equally around but is sometimes worse in one area or another or all over resulting in knots in the respective muscles. I would like to point out that when I first injured myself I didn’t used to feel pain under my shoulder blade but now it has become just as severe as around my neck. My right hand arm also feels weak due to the pain in my shoulder and when I have a bad day I get flushes of heat and start sweating on my face. Also although at first only the back and side of my neck used to bother me, now also the front feels stiff and sore.

Thanks for your interest. :)