muscle pain and body warm 4 months after acdf surgery

Hi Frank & welcome to the forum. You mentioned waiting on worker's comp insurance approving a swallow test. Is this to be seen by an ENT? This is the dr that you should be seeing for these issues. Swallowing problems at first are common & generally subside in a matter of weeks. With this being a work related issue, everything falls in the hands of the insurance authorizing treatment.

What has your daily activities been like since surgery? People often over do things too soon & too often. This can cause many setbacks with healing. Listening to ones body after surgery is a must, it will tell you when it's to much. Time is the best friend when healing.

Are you using ice packs. Members here rely on their ice packs more than anything. Things inside are irritated & inflamed. Heat can cause more harm than good because it keeps the inflammation triggered. Has the dr given you any muscle relaxers? A good muscle relaxer will help with tight muscles.

Let us hear back from you.

There are a variety of muscle relaxers available. The one I will caution you on is Flexeril. Most people find it too sedating & cannot function well during the waking hours. You need something that you can take on a schedule to help get things calmed down. For whatever reason, drs use Flexeril, it's been around fo a long time & cheap. It sounds like your care has not been the best. I will have to think a bit on muscle relaxers, an old good one is Robaxin & Zanaflex, both available in generic. I am on Baclofen which works well for me.

You can look at the top of the page here at CP101. Towards the very end is a list of tips compiled by members here that has had both neck & back surgery. Look there to see if you see something that may help you out.

Pay close attention to your posture sit & stand straight. Do not lay in bed or on a couch during the day. Do you have a recliner? Many found a recliner much more comfortable to sit in. You do need to walk, go outside in the fresh air & walk around some. This will help more ways than one.

Again, use ice, it may take you a bit to get use to it, but it really will help. You might ask the physical therapist to try ice packs instead of heat. Their theory is the heat will help loosen your tight muscles. This holds true, but for someone after surgery the heat can have an opposite effect.

Keep us posted.

Franco58, this forum is one of the best things I know of when I need advice, or just to vent to knowledgable supportive people who are in the same situation. Many people take their health for granted, I being one of those people until I became sick. I would give anything now to have the energy and pain free body I once had. Unless you are going thru these situations you never realize how much it can effect your life. I hope things get better for you.