I'll be the first to admit that I'm fairly luck to still be working. For the 1st time today tho, I had to leave early b/c of the pain - I don't know WHAT i did but my entire left side flared up - neck/head hurts, traps are tight as could be, arm is swollen, yada yada. - all MUCH more than usual. Any/all help is appreciated.... thanks y'all

Hi Dabbo;

I have had the nasty upper trap spasm since the onset of my TOS. I hoped that surgery would correct the problem but it didn't. I take muscle relaxers and pain meds for this--and the heating pad is a really good friend of mine. I have also had numerous botox injections in my upper trap that helped the first time, but were short lived with no benefit the next couple of times. PT can help you to train the other muscles around to take the load off--but I have not had a whole lot of success with it. Sit in a chair and prop your arm up to unload your shoulder --that can help to. Hope your feeling better soon!

Hi Dabbo, ouch, that sounds just miserable, I'm sure you really didn't need this today.

The only thing that truly helps me when my traps/neck/head flare like that is a good trigger point/deep tissue massage. Other than that the next best thing for me is an ice pack around the shoulders (ice works better than heat for me - I know others prefer heat), and muscle relaxants as BarnBurn said.

These won't help tonight, but for future flares here are some of my favorite products/tricks to help:

1. ElastoGel Ice/Heat packs - http://www.elastogel.com/hand,_wrist,_shoulder.htm - i have 3 or 4 different kinds, the shoulder one, hand mits, etc - love them!

2. Trigger Point Massage Ball - http://www.tpmassageball.com/products.php - use this to work out tight spots on your traps and elsewhere by leaning up against a wall with the ball between yourself and a wall. You can also use a tennis ball but this works better.

3. www.massageenvy.com - membership-based massage franchise - $39 per massage! best investment i made for myself this year - has really decreased my chronically tight traps/neck muscles & decreased my headaches. According to the website they are opening one in Memphis soon - if it's near where you live, maybe it would be worth checking out.

4. Posture , Posture, Posture - i know you're working on improving this but this one's absolutely essential. Make sure you:
- Sit all the way back in the chair
- shoulders back, but relaxed (not hunched)
- if you have to, set a timer at your desk for every 10 minutes to force you to "check in" with yourself and check your posture, breathing,etc. Sorry to nag.......

Hope you feel better in the morning. If you need to, STAY HOME and rest....
And if you ignore us here for awhile because you're resting & staying off the PC that's actually a good thing ........we'll understand

Get Better!
Nolina

Thank you for the help! My wife had choir practice and other stuff yest, so my MIL watched our daughter - i got home from work and took my pain meds, klonopin, and grabbed the heating pad. I'm going to look into that Trigger point massage ball, and ask my PM doc about muscle relaxants when I see him in 2 weeks. I like the timer set for 10 minute intervals - i already have reminders pop up every 2 hrs to get up and stretch. Feeling better this morning - hopefully I'll avoid an episode like that for a while hope y'all are having a good day

Some more added ideas, some are aggressive. I have trigger point injections, with working it is longer term then my attachment to the tennis ball and wall. I also use Toradol as an anti inflamatory, and valium, as the truest muscle relaxant.

If you can cam the nerve, the muscles should follow to relax. They try to make a splint around the inflamed nerve.

Every year or so I have an epidural spine injection in the C-5, it totally calms down the areas of my flare ups. It is a surgical procedure that uses a florascope to identfy the right place to inject. The doc uses Depo medrol.

My first one was ok, not florascope, the last two he used it and got the right spot. Travels across the traps, into the arms to finger tips. Feels like a ballon filling up fast. But the relief is the most long erm I had.

I only work part time, I do have my grandson often and he is 18 months old 30 lbs now, so I often go to his level instead of lifting him to mine.

The support of your arm is a big benefit! Do you ahve problems with your palms and top of the hands. My computer work is killing me lately.

I also use the gel ice bag or bag of peas, sit back in the recliner. My trigger points for Dec 27th have been rescheduled...I am not happy about that! I was just counting the days so I wouldnt have to go in early. But, my left is flaring too tight. I want more relief then hot tub and toradol.

I hope some of the advice all have given can help,
Di