[lilo55]

First of all I'd like to mention that I had a cervical fusion 8 years ago (C6-7). It was a complete success. No pain at all after surgery. Whew!

Now to the present: I went to see my doctor for an extreme stiff neck on right side and weakness in trapezius muscles on both sides. I could barely hold my head up. It felt like a bowling ball. Also shoulder pain and mild tingling in arm.

Doc ordered new MRI of my neck. Results:

Moderately mainly left paracentral disc bulge with unconvertebral hypertrophy at C5-C6 with mild narrowing of the foramina.

Mild disc bulge with unconvertebral hypertrophy at C3-4 and C4-5 level as described above.

Mild central disc bulgeat T1-T2 level (where is that???) without cord impingment.

Anterior fusion of C6-7 vertebral bodies. Alignment is satisfactory.

Interpretations welcome, please!!

My GP (internal medicine) said I had arthritis that I would just have to live with.

Another internal med doc. said that if this current MRI was taken a year ago, the results would be exactly the same. And since I had no pain a year ago, then this new MRI does not show anything that accounts for the current pain I'm having and suggested I had Tension Myositis Syndrome.

A sports medicine Dr. also blew off the MRI as 'nothing' and diagnosed me with TOS and sent me home with various exercises and tennis ball compression work.....which is helping slightly.

Another doc believes it could be Fibro.

Now I am so confused I don't know what to think!!!!

In addition to neck/shoulder/trapezius pain I also have pin-prick sensations EVERYWHERE in my body along with random muscle twitches and shooting nerve pains all over the place and widepread toothache type pain in my upper back. Really scary!

After reading up on TOS, FIbro, Poly M....I don't think I have all the classic symptoms to put me solidly in any box. It's like I have a little bit of everything, including Lyme disease....

.....and I am a bit deficient (27) in Vit. D. SED rate, thyroid and other tests all came back normal.

Interestingly, when this neck pain started, I had just completed a very stressfull project and was typing at my computer for hours on end for several weeks.

I certainly wasn't paying attention to my posture because I have worked for long hours like this for years with no pain.

Could the gargoyle pose (which is what exactly????) or some other bad computer pose have finally caught up with me?

I'm just trying to find some REASON for this sudden onset of pain so that I can at least correct something.

Also....this enitre mystery pain syndrome of mine is way worse at night and especially when I'm sitting still for any length of time.

Sorry for the long post....and all the different questions! But maybe someone here can relate or interpret.

Best wishes to all! And thank you for reading!

[(Broken Wings)]

WELCOME TO NT

You're not alone here. We have lots to share.

So sorry you have found yourself back in the unpleasant TOS world.

There's lots of info here to help you and bring you up to speed with current treatments, doctors and findings. There's so much here to research.

If you want to let us know what your most challenging problems are, maybe we can point you in the right direction.

I pray you find some relief in many ways.

See ya around the board.

[boytos]

sound tos..

[Jomar]

You might ask on our Spinal forum about the moderate & mild bulges.

They may be players in the pain.

But the computer work, posture + the bulges ....could contibute to the spasms (spasms= feeling like not being able to hold head up, very tight /locked up neck muscles)
A really good PT should be able to help with those spasmed muscles.

The gargoyle pose is head forward , shoulders hunched or scrunched orrolled forward.

[[pin-prick sensations EVERYWHERE in my body along with random muscle twitches and shooting nerve pains all over the place]]

those might be Fibro related - I haven't read on it it recently...

Tension Myositis Syndrome - did you do searches on it?
what do you think?

[Diagnosis

Below is a list of criteria for diagnosing TMS, according to Schechter and Sarno:

* Lack of known physical cause: Schechter and Sarno state that a physical examination, tests and imaging studies may be needed to rule out serious conditions, such as tumors.[1][7] Sarno considers spinal disc herniations to generally be harmless, because he says the symptom location does not correlate to the herniation location.[7]
* Tender points:[1] While medical doctors use eleven of eighteen tender points as a diagnostic criteria for fibromyalgia, Sarno states that he uses six main tender points to diagnose TMS: two tender points in the upper trapezius muscles, two in the lumbar paraspinal muscles and two in the lateral upper buttocks. He states that these are found in 99% of TMS patients.[9]
* History of other psychosomatic disorders: Schechter and Sarno consider a prior history of other psychosomatic disorders to be an indication that the patient may have TMS. They list irritable bowel syndrome and tension headache as examples of psychosomatic disorders.[1][9]

Schechter and Sarno state that if a patient is unable to visit a medical doctor who is trained in TMS, then the patient should see a traditional medical doctor to rule out serious disorders, such as fractures, tumors and infections.[15][20]]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tension_myositis_syndrome

[pixified]

Try to take it easy with the PT stretches, overdoing it can sometimes make TOS symptoms worse!

[boytos]

Yeah if it hurt, but you can do them many times i think

Stretching is not traumatic until you got real pain

[lilo55]

Jo*mar asked:
Tension Myositis Syndrome - did you do searches on it?
what do you think?

I read two of Sarno's books on the subject-- very fascinating and many people are or can be cured of their pain with his method.

It's not that I am stubborn or look at his ideas with a jaundiced eye--- but I couldn't begin to 'practice' his method without some serious coaching or psyche 'help' to get to the mental cause of any of the pain I'm having-- if in fact it is, or partially is.... psychosomatic and not from a real physical problem.

Interestingly, last night when the back pain and pin-pricks set in while I was laying around watching TV, I took a tiny bit of Ativan which I only take right before bed (full 1mg.) in order to relax, calm my racing brain so I can fall asleep.

And voila....the pinpricks and pain went right away.

Ergo....it would seem like some of my symptoms just might be psychosomatically induced. There is no way (IMO) such a little bit of Ativan could eliminate real pysical pain caused by something that has a real physical source like a bulging disk that is pinching nerves or some sort of real neuropathy condition.

Since I mostly have pinpricks, muscle twitches and radiating back pain when I'm not doing anything but lying around and am thus thinking about pain or waiting for it to start....

....then maybe a lot of it is all in my head at this point.

My initial-- sudden onset-- stiff neck and resulting pain was very real and excruicating when it started-- bad enough to get an MRI. But after three months of rest, icing, PT for TOS, posture changes, NSAIDs, etc....not to mention the unremarkable MRI....I should be on the road to recovery.

Therefore I find my Ativan 'experiment' of last night quite revealing. It would be great if the pinpricks etc. are all in my head.

Now the question is....what exactly IS in my head? I'm going to work on that and see how it goes.

[finz]

Well, the 'good' news if it is Tension Myositis Syndrome is it's all in your head, so you just have to tell yourself to get over it and "Presto" you are fixed.......

(please note HEAVY sarcasm from someone who wasted a few days readin Dr John Sarno's book on the subject)

The reaction you are getting regarding the MRI being 'typical' is because most of the population over 40 would have similar findings if they had an MRI.....just the joys of living in an aging human body.

If they think it is from arthritis, they should do a facet joint block to see if that helps.

If it is TOS, physical therapy CAN help many cases, but it has to be the right kind of PT and overzealous therapists who aren't familiar with TOS can have you overdue it with weights/strength training which can make everything soooo much worse. Please be cautious with that.....TOS is not to be dealt with with the 'typical' "no pain, no gain" strength training program. Stretching should be the focus for TOS'ers. If you can find a therapist who does myofascial release, that can be very helpful. If you are having symptoms of venous TOS with your affected arm turning blue/purple and swelling, insist on seeing a vascular surgeon quickly.

[lilo55]

Finz... I totally 'get' the sarcasm! LOL .... I really don't think any of my pains are in my head after all.

I'm not doing any weight training-- I can 'feel' how that would be a bad way to go at the moment--- just several exercises that sports medicine doc prescribed.

However, they aren't really helping all that much and the one where I invert my hands, clasp them, straighten my arms and then raise them over my head is actually increasing my rotator cuff pain---although I have gained more range of motion in my shoulders.

At any rate, my stiff neck is still nagging me after two months! Very localized in the L region spanning from lower neck into a portion of trapezius. It never gets better and it never worsens---it's just THERE.

What is helping with the upper back pain that radiates from this, is rolling around on a tennis ball and finding all the severely painful spots. Trigger points I suppose. Then I just press in with the tennis ball for as long as I can stand it.

Unfortuntately, the relief is very temporary but it gets me through the day.

Thankfully no venous TOS.

[Jomar]

You could have other latent TrPs that are getting missed.
Or possibly not getting them fully resolved, but they will come back if whatever the main stress/tension that caused the TrP returns.

Posture is one of those stressors for me - if I slouch and let head forward and let shoulder roll forward I get many aches & pains fast.

For me laying on the big exercise ball or the foam roll really helps to correct and repair when I get lazy with my posture & stretches.
The worse you feel the more you need to do it, many x's a day.

sketches of "how to" for both of those on my profile album and in the useful sticky thread.