Diagnose my neck injury

[IronWing]

I woke up yesterday to a very stiff neck. Things went down hill ever since. All muscles on back of neck hurt with any head movement. Tilting head forward is particularly bad. As dumb as it sounds, using my hand to push my head back upright works better than just lifting with my neck muscles. Turning side to side is greatly reduced.

 

[sandorski]

Lupus or a sore neck. Careful stretching and self massage will help. Take it easy and make sure you sleep in a comfortable position. Within a few days you should notice improvement.

Not a Dr, just my experience.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

I woke up yesterday to a very stiff neck. Things went down hill ever since. All muscles on back of neck hurt with any head movement. Tilting head forward is particularly bad. As dumb as it sounds, using my hand to push my head back upright works better than just lifting with my neck muscles. Turning side to side is greatly reduced.

If you can't touch your chin to your chest, head to urgent care ASAP.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Lupus or a sore neck. Careful stretching and self massage will help. Take it easy and make sure you sleep in a comfortable position. Within a few days you should notice improvement.

Not a Dr, just my experience.

Had to be done; you knew it was coming.

 

[Iron Woode]

I woke up yesterday to a very stiff neck. Things went down hill ever since. All muscles on back of neck hurt with any head movement. Tilting head forward is particularly bad. As dumb as it sounds, using my hand to push my head back upright works better than just lifting with my neck muscles. Turning side to side is greatly reduced.

try the old treatment of a heating pad to relax the muscles.

 

[mindless1]

Accept the downtime. Try to minimize activities moving your neck and consider a neck brace. Gather an array of pillows to find what works best for sleeping. Use an ice pack if there's inflammation.

None of this is diagnosis, you need a doc for that but failing any other cause you probably just slept in a funny position.

 

[Torn Mind]

This kind of tension can stem from hip flexors or from anywhere in your whole back, not just the muscles in your neck.

Tight shoulder muscles like the rhomboids can be a culprit. So are the erector spinae and quadratus lumborum.

Addressing Neck, Shoulder and Back Pain with a Scalenes Trigger Point Release at Home - Park Sports Physical Therapy

Addressing Neck, Shoulder and Back Pain with a Scalenes Trigger Point Release at Home - Park Sports Physical Therapy - Abigail Smul - In the context of physical therapy, massage therapy, orthopedics and other clinical settings, you may have heard the term Trigger Point being used to

parksportspt.com

.

At this point, you pretty much have to trigger point massage yourself. Hands and fingers for the neck. Might need tennis balls or a fist for the major back muscles(rhomboids can be a real bitch).

Addressing Neck, Shoulder and Back Pain with a Scalenes Trigger Point Release at Home - Park Sports Physical Therapy

Addressing Neck, Shoulder and Back Pain with a Scalenes Trigger Point Release at Home - Park Sports Physical Therapy - Abigail Smul - In the context of physical therapy, massage therapy, orthopedics and other clinical settings, you may have heard the term Trigger Point being used to

parksportspt.com

.

[Figure, Posterior neck muscles Image courtesy S Bhimji MD] - StatPearls - NCBI Bookshelf

You'll basically teach yourself anatomy in pursuit of releasing the culprit muscles, probing around every minutiae of your body(hip flexor starts in your pelvis right near the twig and berries).

There is the option of finding a massage specialist in trigger point. These are not the easiest to find nor will you necessarily find the right one the first time. But it could be a decent crash course in how muscles mess people up and specific areas that are causing trouble. They can only do so much in an hour or hour and a half.

 

[IronWing]

It got to the point where I couldn't turn or tilt my head without excruciating pain so I went to urgent care (I'm not a pain wimp, btw). A solid five second assessment by the Nurse Practitioner yielded three anti-inflammatory drugs and one muscle relaxer with two shots to the butt for the anti-inflammatory drugs (I asked the nurse if it would make my butt smaller ). The drugs kicked after an hour and, as skeptical as I was about the quick assessment, I must say the anti-inflammatory drugs worked wonders. Still a bit of tenderness in the neck muscles but things are way more better. I'll have to see how things go when the shots wear off and the pills take over.

Side note: check your chart. The clinic still showed me taking an opioid for a smashed finger from 2013. I took exactly one pill the first night after smashing the finger and threw away the rest.

 

[mindless1]

^ Should have saved the pills for an occasion like this, unless there's some fiend issue where it's not safe to leave them around.

Regardless, this pain reduction still depends on Not Doing Things that aggravate it. Take it easy. Pretend you have no neck for the time being.

 

[Torn Mind]

^ Should have saved the pills for an occasion like this, unless there's some fiend issue where it's not safe to leave them around.

Regardless, this pain reduction still depends on Not Doing Things that aggravate it. Take it easy. Pretend you have no neck for the time being.

Now that the muscles are tightened up, they will stay tight until "released". A combination of pressure on the muscle and manipulating the muscle in the opposite manner of it getting tightened is the only permanent solution.

 

[mindless1]

^ I'm not a doctor and never had pain quite as bad as IronWing, but never had any time I "had" to have massage to release them, just time, taking it easy, and aspirin or other NSAIDs.

 

[igor_kavinski]

Knotted up muscles play a significant part in back / neck pain. I would feel immense relief every time I got a rigorous back massage from my physiotherapist. He would keep saying, your muscles are so stiff. It's some neurological mix-up where the muscles get the wrong signals due to some disc issue and that causes them to contract, making the pain worse.

Muscle Knots: Treatment, Causes, and When to Seek Help

Muscle knots can be painful, but they are treatable. We explain your treatment options and when you should see a doctor.

www.healthline.com

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Sounds like a cattle call and treating you like a drug seeker? Any discussion about potential mechanism of injury, or other reason for the pain and stiffness?

 

[Torn Mind]

^ I'm not a doctor and never had pain quite as bad as IronWing, but never had any time I "had" to have massage to release them, just time, taking it easy, and aspirin or other NSAIDs.

I've had a few time where my neck felt like it was being yanked and had limited flexibility(nothing overt recently though). That cost me money as I did have pay a pro who actually knew his stuff really well with trigger point.

Everything can be a culprit. Heck, I've been focusing on my right knee(I posted about the popliteus muscle, one of the ones passed over in my pro sessions) and just started dealing the deep calf and hammys. Woke up feeling much better. The mass of hip muscles also can contribute to imbalances.

Self-massage can be taxing on the fingers.

I've had to DIY on my triceps and posterior forearms. The right triceps was a real pain(literally). It took weeks of repeat pressure before it finally had a real substantial and "violent" release of muscle. I had a laceration in 2019 and at least a month of awkward positioning screwed up the arm muscles and the right shoulder(can still feel the rhomboids being rock hard to the touch). Trying to do push-ups to build strength exposed the sensitivities in those muscles. Can't build strength if the muscles start screaming just a few reps in.

The "press-and-stretch" is more effective than a stretch alone. If the muscle allows it, I'll get it in a stretched position and then apply pressure with fingers to the sore area.

 

[IronWing]

Sounds like a cattle call and treating you like a drug seeker? Any discussion about potential mechanism of injury, or other reason for the pain and stiffness?

Nope, and being considered a drug seeker was a concern for me going in. I told the nurse practitioner upfront that I wasn't interested in pain killers for that very reason. It didn't help having the opioid on my chart as the chart didn't mention that it was a four day prescription from 2013. I'm just glad that what he prescribed is working.

 

[mindless1]

Huh?. Despite their abuse potential, opioids exist for good reason and having been prescribed them once NINE years ago, is not a pattern at all. They had to have more on your chart that included the date of prescription or date of treatment that prescription was for.

The healthcare industry really needs to get a grip on their reaction to the opioid epidemic, stop witholding pain meds unless they have a suspicion of abuse that is verified by a drug test. I'd have no problem submitting to one if the correct pain killer for the situation was an opioid. Yes there's the potential for abuse, but there's also plenty of legitimate scripts written, it just needs tracked so abusers are identified.

Having stated this, I have only been prescribed opioid pain meds once and couldn't even get the script filled because a pharmacy SJW left me in pain in a parking lot for an hour and a half before my complaint caused them to inform me that they didn't carry that. Why didn't she state that in the first place when I checked in an hour and a half earlier with the script? Playing god I suppose. I should've later complained to a mgr or corporate.

I'd very much like for that SJW idiot to suffer for a few minutes, what I went through for over two hours till it was reduced a bit by OTC pain meds. Even the level of pain after the OTC, would have made her understand, what a **** she was and that a responsible doctor does not do things without reason.

To this day I have still never taken any opioid painkillers, so don't think I advocate them for an intoxication effect.

 

[IronWing]

Huh?. Despite their abuse potential, opioids exist for good reason and having been prescribed them once NINE years ago, is not a pattern at all. They had to have more on your chart that included the date of prescription or date of treatment that prescription was for.

The chart showed that I was still using the opioid plus a couple antibiotics from long past infections. No prescription dates were shown on the chart though the reason for the prescriptions were. My guess is that when they imported the paper charts into electronic form, nuances were missed,

 

[mindless1]

^ I've edited my past post, but, you need to complain and get your chart sorted out as that is ridiculous.

How can it even show you are still using the opioids if there are not scripts logged? If there was ONE, that is no evidence of even a single refill. Someone was very incompetent (or an idiot/SJW, example mentioned in my prior post), in recent years I've been appalled by the low standards people have to meet to be in the industry, people I wouldn't normally let Shine My Shoes!!

Problem is, it's a lottery. There are good docs and nurses, but you take it on faith in the system that they can do their job, until you've got a medical issue that can't wait for a 2nd diagnosis, and then you're at their mercy.

 

[igor_kavinski]

that a responsible doctor does not do things without reason.

To this day I have still never taken any opioid painkillers, so don't think I advocate them for an intoxication effect.

How is a doctor supposed to know that you won't become an abuser? There is no test to guarantee that. Once you are hooked, that's it. Your life is not the same anymore. Opioids damage the brain's frontal lobe. They work at first but then you crave for more and more to get the same effect.

What is called abuse in the context of opioid addiction is mostly the patient not knowing how dangerous the pain meds are so they just pop a pill the moment they feel any discomfort. Doctors do a bad job of educating their patients. If they told them how dangerous the meds being prescribed for them are, they might elect to not risk it in the first place. Watch the series Dopesick.

 

[mindless1]

How is a doctor supposed to know that you won't become an abuser?

How is a doctor supposed to know that I would become one, if my affliction coming in wasn't substance abuse and I had no history of it?

There is no test to guarantee that.

Few things in life have true guarantees, except it is guaranteed that opioids help to manage substantial pain. The key here is two words: Short Term

Once you are hooked, that's it. Your life is not the same anymore. Opioids damage the brain's frontal lobe. They work at first but then you crave for more and more to get the same effect.

That's why they are not suitable for long term pain relief. All the doctor has to do is limit the amount prescribed to an appropriate amount and make him/herself available if the pain has not subsided.

What is called abuse in the context of opioid addiction is mostly the patient not knowing how dangerous the pain meds are so they just pop a pill the moment they feel any discomfort. Doctors do a bad job of educating their patients.

I don't buy into that. You have a prescription including a dosage and instructions how often to take it. You finish the prescription and then a responsible doctor does not keep prescribing more, and you are not so engrossed in popping pills yet that you'd turn to the street to supply a habit.

There is a difference between irresponsible application and end use, and responsible, appropriate use. I don't advocate opioids for a little "discomfort" but at the same time it is ridiculous that a legitimate short term need should be denied because some Karen can't follow directions.

Don't punish one person in true need, for what some other did wrong. I do feel that "some" doctors over-prescribe them but that's not a valid reason to resist doing so where they are called for.

 

[igor_kavinski]

Suppose the doctor refuses after a few refills. What's to stop that person from getting it on the streets? My point is, if you are never introduced to something that's horribly bad for you without you realizing it, you won't later go out looking for it. A lot of innocent people got dragged into the opioid epidemic out of sheer ignorance. If their doctors had never prescribed an opioid to them, their lives could have turned out differently. Instead, a lot of them ended up dead or homeless.

 

[mindless1]

Suppose the doctor refuses after a few refills.

What is this "a few refills"? No. A responsible doctor prescribes the proper amount till the next consultation, if needed, then adjusts meds, not just keeps prescribing more.

What's to stop that person from getting it on the streets?

What's to stop them from getting it on the streets either way? Even so, one thing in particular, that we don't all live lives where we have street contacts or feel comfortable rolling up on some random stranger and asking for drugs. This is an excuse I often see and is far more about trying to blame a doctor for being an addict when the addict was already in that lifestyle.

Regular people who don't seek to become an addict, do not jump so quickly towards looking for street dealers for drugs if it was only a Short Term prescription. That is the key thing, that the pain killer was only for initial pain, not taken so long that it altered the user's lifestyle.

My point is, if you are never introduced to something that's horribly bad for you without you realizing it, you won't later go out looking for it.

I don't see that as a point, more like making nonsense out of propaganda. It's NOT HORRIBLE BAD FOR YOU, if taken appropriately for the condition it was prescribed for, by a responsible doctor.

How in this day and age can anyone pretend that there's some kind of "without you realizing it" factor? Sorry no, that's nonsense. Everyone realizes that opioids are addictive if taken long term.

Now about "later go out looking for it", that is clearly a sign the user knows they are in the wrong and seeking to do harm to themselves. THEY KNOW THEY ARE MAKING A BAD CHOICE. I am so sick and tired of Karen idiots who know they are making a bad choice but do something anyway then later, try to find someone else to blame.

That is a bad choice but never the less a personal choice and that bad choice should never be an excuse for SJW idiots to try to prevent RESPONSIBLE people from having access to drugs that are appropriate to treat their condition.

A lot of innocent people got dragged into the opioid epidemic out of sheer ignorance. If their doctors had never prescribed an opioid to them, their lives could have turned out differently. Instead, a lot of them ended up dead or homeless.

BS. If you don't research the drugs you take, you are living a century ago, if if you die using more that you got off the streets after your prescription has ended, is darwinism.

Anyone who chooses to keep doing opioids in this day and age (after their responsibly prescribed script ended), made their choice to become dead or homeless. It is really horrific that you would actually (seem to) argue against appropriate treatment for severe pain because of a few weak junkies that can't follow directions. A prescription is what it is, it is take this dose for this long until finished. It is NOT, "take this then go to the street to buy illegal drugs".

It's kind of like cleaning out the gene pool, killing people too stupid to do something this simple. In that case, it's a positive thing.

Sorry but no, if someone uses excuses to kill themselves, that's all on them. On the other hand the worst thing possible is to cause those who are not so mentally weak, to have to suffer without opioid painkillers because we're trying to save people who would have found a way to kill themselves anyway because you can't fix stupid.

At the same time, mankind does need a better alternative to pain meds but let's put it in perspective. Either the patient does really need a strong pain med or they don't. If they do, they should not suffer because of some SJW Karen, I'd rather see the SJW Karen shot dead for inflicting pain on others, but on the other hand, opioids are only appropriate for short term pain management for severe trauma.

No. You have been brainwashed by people making excuses for bad life choices.

IT IS NOT SOMEONE ELSE'S FAULT.

 

[igor_kavinski]

To this day I have still never taken any opioid painkillers, so don't think I advocate them for an intoxication effect.

You keep talking about "responsible" people but that's the thing you are not aware of since you haven't taken any opioid painkillers. I haven't either but from what I've heard, it's not something you take and just shrug off. It changes your brain chemistry. The responsible part of the brain is overridden by the impulsive part. People aren't themselves anymore when they crave the feeling of euphoria. Check this:

Official Site for Patients & Caregivers

OxyContin carries a Boxed Warning and contains oxycodone, a Schedule II controlled substance with an abuse potential similar to other Schedule II opioids.

oxycontin.com

OxyContin contains oxycodone, a Schedule II controlled substance. OxyContin exposes users to the risks of opioid addiction, abuse, and misuse. Because extended-release products such as OxyContin deliver the opioid over an extended period of time, there is a greater risk for overdose and death due to the larger amount of oxycodone present.

Although the risk of addiction in any individual is unknown, it can occur in patients appropriately prescribed OxyContin. Addiction can occur at recommended doses and if the drug is misused or abused.

Let's not talk about you since you care more about your pain than the risk of death or end of life as you know it. After reading that, would you let a loved one be treated with that?

You said yourself that your pain subsided a bit with OTCs. Is that not better than taking a risk that could turn out to be the worse thing ever? In cases where movement is restricted due to pain, what do you think happens when a strong painkiller is taken? The pain goes away, you move freely but the root cause, the damage, isn't healed yet. The nerves are just numbed so you don't feel anything. Free movement in such cases will only make matters worse by interfering with the body's ability to heal the damage and even make the damage worse. That's why when the painkiller wears off, the pain will come back with even more intensity.

Nature has plenty of other plant based anti-inflammatory compounds in various herbs and veggies. Why not be on the safe side and use those? Yes, it will take longer to get pain free but it will also be more responsible since you aren't taking a risk that can't even be calculated by a trained medical professional.

 

[mindless1]

^ I don't disagree with the page you linked. I'll state it one more time: Short Term

No, it's not better that my pain subsided a little bit from an OTC when I only needed a day's worth.

I'm well aware that they are over-prescribed, but that does not change that they have appropriate uses too.

Clearly we are going to disagree, nothing will change that.