@LiveLoveandTrust, when my neck tension was at its worse, I used to have all kinds of crazy problems with feeling warped, having trouble thinking, being insanely exhausted, etc. My neck became super tight after a few severe episodes of VTOS symptoms. Not that it was loose before, but it became ridiculous afterwards. It's as if trauma put it into hyper-guard mode.

So based on that experience and reading your description, I get the impression that most of what you are experiencing are secondary effects of extreme neck tension. Remember the neck is full of blood vessels that feed the head and nerves that go freaking everywhere.

So... anything you can do to get the tension down is going to be helpful. On my list is:

-- hot shower on the neck. need an hour? take an hour.
-- bed-buddy wrap on the neck
-- chiro adjustments. Personally, I need these, can't go too long without.
-- massage
-- *gentle* neck stretches
-- haven't tried it yet, but acupuncture has really helped a lot of people
-- topical ointments like penetrex and "muscle relief lotion" (both on amazon)
-- somatics
-- muscle relaxation meditation

If I was limited to only a couple of the above, I would choose the chiro and the muscle relaxation meditation (MRM) above all others.

For MRM, some key points:

-- To get the neck to relax, I have to really be able to give it up to gravity. That means lying in bed or on a recliner. Not sitting upright which means I have to engage the neck muscles.

-- Take note of the muscle you want to relax when you inhale. Then on the exhale, imagine it and/or will it to relax. You can see this is deliberate rather than general like "taking a nap" or "generic meditation". Repeat.

-- Sometimes you have to repeat and repeat. I had a bad night with a taut left SCM and I had to do the above over and over for 20 mins with no results when suddenly the SCM released. I could feel it suddenly lengthen and my pulse came into the left side of my head. It gave me a little headache at first, but suddenly instead of feeling woozy, I felt "all there". And the headache subsided after 5 mins.

The nice thing about MRM is that you can do it at home. You don't have to wait for your next medical appointment. Another nice thing is that you get better/faster/deeper at it over time.

The downside is that I do have days where MRM doesn't reduce the muscle tension as much as I want. But then the neck adjustment from the chiro does the trick. And man do I get some epic cracks when I go in with a neck I couldn't get to relax. I presume that all adds up to mean that I had a pinched nerve.

I can't get away from the idea that some of us have "post traumatic neck syndrome" whether from surgery or other insults to the body.

Let us know how it goes.

Got in to see a bunch of doctors this week. Ugh. What a drag that is!

First I got over to the dentist who said I have TMJD. Fun.
Then saw my Vascular Surgeon who told me that I have about another 3 months of healing to go but I've pretty much got what I've got at this point. He's going to keep an eye on the remaining compression but doesn't seem too worried about it at this point.
Then today, I saw a rheumatologist who diagnosed me with Ehler Danlos Syndrome type III. Apparently, EDS can cause nerve compression issues so perhaps what was my main issue all along. Who knows. I'm so tired I'm not sure that I even care at the moment!!!

I got rid of 85%+ of my TMJD symptoms using "The Quieting Reflex" by Charles Stroebel. This was critical for me as TMJD was a major source of dizziness and therefore quality of life issues. It has helped with neck tension some as well, but not as thoroughly.

Good luck.

Welcome to our glorious club

If you find out anything about nerve compression and eds let me know!!! Mine has driven me insane. I worry about compression vs stretching, when i complain aobut my sx to drs they all look at me completely confused

i dont know what kind of shape youre in, but id keep an eye on ALL of your joints, especially the spine. just a little bit of pilates majorly helped my spine and breathing and calming my nervous system down. id make friends with a good pt, at the very least they can give you a nice massage. a lot of people with eds swear by dry needling/acupuncture but to me it seems like such a temporary thing that im afraid to try it. but i would if i could somehow get ins to cover


link to chromas book
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_no...eting%20Reflex

started reading

http://www.amazon.com/The-TMJ-Healin...4&keywords=tmj

ITS AWESOME, has a chapter on hypermobility

something i realized, my tongue is always smashed up against my bottom teeth, i thought that was normal but apparently its not

By chance, I met a guy today who had a transternal dual first rib resection from Dr. Lowe about a year ago. He has chronic pain and some chest deformation. This approach sounds like abject idiocy. I can't believe that anyone would think it a good idea to crack your chest open to get access to your first rib. Ya, I'm sure the recovery from that will be a breeze. And cutting through your pec major. Great idea. No long term complications with that. . . . WTF. Stay away from this fool.