Hi y'all,

I've been doing a lot better. I'm back to school and work full time without any problems, and I've even been back to my social life!

That said, whenever my neck starts to hurt, my headaches come back. I've been seeing a physical therapist once a week. He manually puts things back in place, and has me do stretches. While I feel better afterwards, the pain starts to come back a few days later. Do y'all think it would be worthwhile to see someone else?

While I have no suggestions for the neck issue, I just wanted to say I'm so happy to hear you are feeling so much better! I guess you were one of the lucky 3 months people. Do you have any particular things you can attribute your recovery to or was it just time?

I hope you continue to see great improvements!!

CC

Thanks, it means a lot! I can only hope that the rest of y'all have recoveries soon. While my journey was short, living with it was pretty agonizing. So I sympathize with everyone. I'm not back to all of my activities yet (mainly exercise) but I feel loads better.

Staying away from stress helped me the most. I know this isn't possible for everyone, but I basically became a hermit. I cut off communication with my mother for a few weeks (she is a major source of stress) and spent a lot of time unwinding by myself.

The free trial games on lumosity helped restore my confidence (which lessened anxiety), as I improved each time I played.

So, just lots of baby steps back into my routine. The break from school was nice (we have a two month winter break), as I got to work on campus without so many people around.

Have you had an evaluation by an upper cervical chiropractor?
A spine specific phys therapist may be helpful.

If it is mainly neck pain bothering you now, and xray/MRI show no issues in the c spine & neck it probably is soft tissue injury.

But if c spine is misaligned that can cause ongoing circle of discomfort.
It does take time for soft tissue to heal, but therapies can be helpful.

Like ultrasound, low level laser or LED light therapy, heating pad or cold if that helps, massage , as well as maintaining good upper body postures.

The head can weigh 8+ lbs, so be sure it is balanced on the spine and not forward of the body.

great to hear!!!!

I think you must be at about teh same stage as me I have shown a heap of improvement the last few weeks, I have nearly had 2 good weeks in a row back into exercise, seeing friends a little more etc.. But yes, every now and then, or should i say most of the time my neck hurts! and then this often brings on a headache !!!!!!

I have had an MRI and X ray of my neck and it showns nothing abnormal, so thats a relief, I guess its still just recovering. I ice and heat fairly often and this helps.... wishing you continued improvememnt!!!!!!

Rugger,

Are you icing your neck? You should not wait for pain or stiffness as a prompt to ice your neck. You should be icing your neck frequently until is has been symptoms free for a few weeks. If the PT can get your neck back into shape, go home and start icing it to keep it that way. Inflammation is often a cause for a return of symptoms.

btw, With the decades of experience I have with PT's and such, I do not find the stretching worthwhile until the injury has healed. Stretching and range of motion exercises often work against recovery, especially with spinal issues. The ligaments need to strengthen and tighten before range of motion can be restored. PT's tend to focus on ROM because that is how they chart 'progress.' You want vertebral stability first. I do not try to move my neck to extremes. It is usually counterproductive.