Dizziness is a huge prob so need to try everything I can to relieve it NATURALLY!!! I'm sick of pain killers. I've managed to ween myself off the paracetamol and ibuprofen combination that I have been on since my op 25 days ago. What awful side effects... Nausea, even more headachy, dizzy, gassy and bloated YUCK! Believe it or not, the pain from my surgery I am very pleased to say is tolerable its just the muscle tightness and head/dizzy issue that concerns me at the moment.
Nice tips Chroma AGAIN!!!!... gonna give them a go along with your suggestion of the Muscle Relaxation Meditation for the rest of next week as I'm still signed off from work until at least 3/10/11 and will let you know how it goes.
Hope that the SCM release keeps up for you.... Like you suspect its probably triggered by an unconscious mental tension???? I'm beginning to think that there is alot more to MEDITATION and self healing. POSITIVE THINKING. It sounds like you have found a successful release technique, just make sure that you dedicate that time to yourself to continue working on them. All the best SD38

thanks for the great link Jo*mar - those really seem helpful.I will try to look in to trigger points

@ Boytos: unfortunately, that didn't work, but it is good exercise if you really stressed.

I also think that the nerve twitches, are due to a change in compression-just seems strange that even though I am trying to do all the right things, the pressure on the nerves somehow gets worse.

I've been thinking about this lately and wonder if maybe I had/have a cycle of dysfunction. I'm thinking something like:
-- TOS contributes to neck tension
-- stress contributes to neck tension
-- neck tension contributes to vessel impingement
-- vessel impingement contributes to dizziness contributes to stress
-- vessel impingement contributes to neck tension
... and repeat. :-(
I'm speculating on these cycles because by itself, the problem was not resolving. So it made be think that something had to be keeping it going.

Or maybe it's something simpler. One chiro diagnosed me with head/neck misalignment. Another chiro got huge pops on both sides setting my skull/C1. Maybe it's just compressed nerve --> muscle tension --> vessel impingement and that's it.

In any case, thank goodness I've improved! :-)

Hi Chroma, I'm so happy for you. Great news!
ALWAYS keep in mind that time for relaxation (meditation)/stretches/exercises is key and without fail be determined enough to stick to a regime where you can dedicate undisturbed attention to YOURSELF!!!!! Sometimes you just have to say NO to the outside world and announce, I'm having "ME-TIME" .
I think we are all in an age of inevitable STRESS-->PAIN. Everything moves too damn fast and we are all trying to keep up with the rat race. Of course that will cause too much muscle tension ( even though we don't want to admit that to ourselves..... because in this day and age we are supposed to be SUPERHUMAN and juggle all thats thrown at us).
Just sometimes afew deep breathes ( of that marvellous stuff called oxygen) and positive thoughts does wonders. At times just working on my breathing technique to improve my circulation probs is taxing enough! Let's face it, how much time do we actually give ourselves to focus on self-healing???? NOT ENOUGH..... It's time to take back some time!
Keep up the good work Chroma. You have inspired me to totally alter my daily routine to incorporate " ME-TIME".
Best wishes SD38

Thanks. I obviously agree with you about the stress and taking time out.

How many people have problems with C1? I do and I know another person with TOS who has similar misalignment problems. C1 innervates the following: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suboccipital_nerve

Hi MarcS,
good video. I often experience muscle twitching myself but tend to not let it bother me.They don't hurt so I don't care - well try not to anyway! I've had it happen on my shoulder, tricep, thumb, side of my face.... even in a totally different region of my body (and quite frequently, my left thigh muscle). The one that does bother me is on my upper (right) eyelid which has been happening almost daily for the past year..... in saying that- since my op for VTOS (on the same side) I've experienced it only occasionally. Whether theres a connection and the op has released nerves or something I don't know? Watch this space!
Try to relax yourself as much as possible through what ever method works for you... Meditation/ exercise/ stretches/ Belly breathing/music????? I'm even going as far as listening to Tibetan Singing Bowls. There are lots of vids on YouTube..... very soothing!!!!!!!!! Relaxed mind---->relaxed body---->less tension ---->less pain.
Just to let you know that Jo*mar and Chroma on this forum have some excellent tips for relaxation.
SD38

Hi Chroma, glad to see that your dizziness has come down.
I tested myself yesterday with a short trip to my supermarket. Not very successful. After about 25 minutes I started to get dizzy and my hearing became muffled???? Anyway with this and still tender from op I decided that I'm not ready to return to work yet. I have only just returned from my doctors this morning, he has extended my sick certificate for another 2 weeks plus given me a prescription for anti dizziness. A medication called PROCHLORPERAZINE MALEATE tabs 5mg to be taken three times a day. Have you ever tried anything like this yourself? I have a 9 day course so will let you know if it makes a difference or not once completed.

I've also gotten dizzy just going to the supermarket for a short period of time. Grrr.

I'm not on any meds for dizziness at this time. I'll be interested in your outcome.

Today I have headache, brainfog and my neck is popping and cracking all the time. The last two have been common for me recently, but not the headache. Usually, I have dizziness instead. Maybe something is changing...?

I will definately let you know how it goes. Oh by the way..... "brainfog", yep, thats one for sure!