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Neck Strain Lasting for Weeks

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Posted 4/17/2024 12:06 PM (GMT -5)
Hey All,

I recently strained my neck (April 5th - I woke up and couldn't move my head and had pain shooting down my arm). I've gone to Instacare (x-rays and pain meds - xray normal), PT, chiropractor, and had a massage and have even had craniosacral therapy. I am still in a good deal of pain. The only things that have really helped have been the CST and ketorolac from Instacare (that you can't take longer than 5 days). I have two large knots in my shoulders on both sides, and it just hurts, and nothing I've tried has made them fully go away. Have any of you dealt with this, and what have you done to fix it? Also, how long did it last? My thyroid is also very inflamed, and I know it is causing some of the issues. We've also had some major stress at home as we had a very sick cat (only 7 years old) that we had to abruptly put down.

Thank you all for your help!
Posted 4/17/2024 12:37 PM (GMT -5)
i have had this with Lyme

the worst one was so bad i could hardly walk - every step felt like it was jarring it and send waves of pain up my spine - it feels truly awful - but is likley just a muscle spasm of some sort -
mine was typically on one side mainly at a time - sometimes first one side then as that eased the other side would flare up

it typically got gradually better over the course of a couple of weeks - perhaps a bit longer for the really bad ones

massage seemed to help - hot balms like deep heat helped a little perhaps - and ibuprofen gels perhaps a bit
the main thing seemed to not to aggravate it too much and time

pain down the arm sounds more like radiculitis - inflammation of a nerve in the neck that feeds the arm -
these can be super painful - my partner had them relatively early in her lyme journey - x-rays and cat scans completely perfect - only the nerve is inflamed
they are typically caused by infection and resolve in a few weeks to a few months

i hope its of some help
Posted 4/17/2024 2:22 PM (GMT -5)
Most likely your shoulder knots are playing tug-o-war with your neck. And the tension is probably resulting in nerve compression. If so, the nerve compression, and source of muscle tension are rarely in the same location, but it is connected/related.

Gently move your or someone else's thumb around your shoulder placing medium thumb pressure on and around the knot and also on your upper back to find the most sensitive to touch/pain area(s). This is the source. The front upper chest (collar bone) attachment areas can also be responsible.

Once found, apply medium to hard thumb pressure for ten seconds at a time, then let up. Repeat several times. This manually draws in new blood into the tissue "vacuume" you just created.

Then solemons seal tincture, topically. In this case, it works better than DMSO.

If you find the most sensitive pressure point, then the above directions will improve your pain.

No regular Drs will know about this.

Let us know your findings.
Posted 4/17/2024 7:03 PM (GMT -5)
I have had this happen, as have lots of people I know - usually tweaking something in the neck while sleeping or right after waking up.

It's awful and painful, but it resolves. Try gentle stretching, massaging the area, essential oils (especially frankincense), Penetrex or Topricin, CBD, CBD balm, arnica oil, more craniosacral therapy if you can manage it, yoga for the neck and shoulders, heat packs, and lying on tennis balls or some other practice that provides gentle traction. Dry needling, trigger point release, and acupuncture also might help.

But really it will go away with time. It's just really obnoxious in the mean time!
Posted 4/21/2024 4:41 PM (GMT -5)
Have you tried using something like the therabody theragun? Which is a percussion massage device

Or topicals like CBD oil, arnica etc
Posted 4/22/2024 6:24 AM (GMT -5)
rolling on two tennis balls in a sock or wrapped in clingfilm helped me massage the area in the top of my shoulders bottom of my neck to help speed up the healing process

ibuprofen gel helped take the edge off a little in the early stages

mostly it just seemed to take time to resolve - but it does get better
Posted 4/22/2024 7:18 AM (GMT -5)
Hi, I’m sorry to hear about your neck stain…I usually get that on my right side of my neck with a big knot pulling my vertebrae out of alignment…either stress or working with my hands overhead for long periods of time cause it for me.

I use something like this massager below relaxing on this for about 15 minutes or so gives me relief:

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRUjFnJx5pGbFirIck64YH2r-ZSh5lIYtHE5w&usqp=CAU
Posted 4/22/2024 7:04 PM (GMT -5)
I literally am back on the board after 3 years away because of similar super painful neck ache/strain, that was one of my first lyme symptoms back in 2016. I think my lyme (or babs/bart) has returned bc the neck/shoulder/pain radiating down to thumb just started again along with increase in fatigue. My left knee ache, which was also an original symptom also came back same time. It seems like its based on inflammation making everything so tight on rt shoulder/neck. And i have a big knot on rt trap area as well. painful, and just depressing

i am using Mckenzie stretches to at least loosen things up some
https://www.spine-health.com/wellness/exercise/7-mckenzie-method-exercises-neck-pain-and-arm-pain
Posted 4/26/2024 10:32 AM (GMT -5)
Thank you all for your help. After multiple visits with the Chiro, PT, a massage and CST my neck is finally feeling better. Fairly certain it’s Lyme in my neck causing most the issues. It seems to really be agitating my thyroid too. Very difficult to balance it and with the inflammation it seems to be hurting my neck. Lyme has moved mostly out of my chest up to my neck.

Thankful for all your help!!
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