Abnormal Shoulder Tension & Pain

For nearly a week, I've been dealing with muscle pain in my shoulders and neck. The tension is often so bad it makes my head hurt severely and can't move my eyes without making them hurt too. I have alternated heat and ice, but both of those seem to be making the spasms / pain worse. Sometimes the pressure of anything 'sitting' on my shoulders flares it up more. I've also done arnica cream and menthol gel, which are soothing but do not get rid of the pain or ease the tension. I'm trying to avoid taking NSAIDS. I've done the tennis ball trick before and I ended up being in the most horrific pain the next day, so I'm hoping to avoid trying that again. I've been walking everyday and that's not loosening anything up.

Muscle tension in my shoulders is pretty common for me, but this is a lot more extreme and the duration of it is longer. I haven't changed sleeping or sitting positions, how I walk, how I lay down, etc. I've read that the muscle pain / spasms can be related to herxing. I haven't changed anything I'm doing for Lyme treatment - on the Cowden protocol and have been back on Banderol (Otoba bark) for about three days now. Does anyone experience muscle pain when herxing or just as a Lyme or co-infection symptom?

If anyone has ideas or a favorite pain cream you recommend, I'm all ears. The muscles are knotted up and I can feel tiny painful spasms here and there. But also if I press on the actual shoulder bones and not muscles, that hurts too.

Neck and shoulder spasms can be a major Lyme and confection symptom. Those who do not have those symptoms don’t realize how lucky they are.

In addition to the topicals mentioned above, I and others here in the past have used DMSO to drive it in deeper.

Also the ones mentioned above in my experience- Penetrex worked the best prob since it has a lot of ingredients in it.

There’s also liquid magnesium spray, it’s more like a brine. That works pretty good on your shoulders. However initial application stings slightly and then you’re left with someone of a dry salt solution on you which you have to wipe off with a damp washcloth after the majority of it is absorbed in your skin.

There is also one that I have not tried that comes in various forms called Medistick.

Something else I’ve used which is a bit of a surprise; Solomon seal tincture used topically.

Post Edited (astroman) : 3/12/2023 7:24:12 AM (GMT-8)

i've had neck pain so severe that i could barely walk as every tiny step sent jarring pain through my neck

it was a reoccurring thing for me in the first few years of my illness

it was caused by muscle spasms in the neck and upper back muscles

not much seemed to help once i had them - just rest and maybe gentle massage to aid blood flow

i tried ibrobrufen gel a few times when it was very severe - and that seemed to take the edge off

getting my electrolytes better balanced seemed to help a bit in the long term - so i got less muscle spasms in general - i needed more sodium / salt - or i would get sudden painful muscle caps in my calves also - more magnesium seemed to help somewhat too