Hi all,
Wanted to ask your advice on what to do or where to seek treatment for a sharp, constant pain on the left side of my neck. This pain started around October 5 and at first could be controlled by Advil.
I believe that the pain was caused by my visit (first time ever) to a chiropractor. I went to 3 sessions. On the last session on Sept 26, I had a headache after treatment and then 5 days later experienced the sharp constant pain on the left side of my neck.
I attempted to swim through the pain and just take Advil. However, one week later, the pain is so intense that I now cannot swim at all. As of yesterday, my shoulder and left arm are numb. It hurts to inhale deeply on land or in the water.
I've alerted the chiropractor (although I will not go in for another session!) and am making an appointment with my general doctor. Advil, Tylenol and Aleve no longer work.
Do you guys have other recommendations like:
See a Physical Therapist
Get deep tissue massages
Apply heat and/ or cold
Get X Ray
CAT Scan
Something else?
Sux to not swim! :cry: Any advice is greatly appreciated!
You should definitely see a doctor. Your symptoms sound a lot like what I experienced after breaking a rib playing football a few years back. That is one painful injury and it lasted about 6 weeks.
That's real football, not that Daisy Duke wearing man touching brand of flop sport they play in Euro land.
I would suggest strongly that you see your doctor. Your doctor will probably order an x-ray and if s/he doesn't immediately pipe up with that recommendation I think you should ask for it. Based on the x-ray, your doctor may refer you to a spinal specialist who may well order further diagnostics such as an MRI. I would not go back to the chiro again until I had pursued these diagnostics.
The nerves that serve your arms come out of your spinal cord at your neck. So if you have some injury to the C4-C5 or C5-C6 joints, the pressure on those nerves will make your arm numb.
I had symptoms much like you have described that started rather suddenly after some fly in practice. In my personal case, it turned out that the cause was a "block vertebra": my C5 and C6 (or maybe it's C4 and C5; I can't remember) are fused, and probably have been since I was a wee embryo. The lack of a proper joint between them makes the joints above and below take more stress, and eventually the joints and the discs in them rebelled. I didn't have any trouble with it until I was in my late 30s but then I had a long period of activity limitation, not to mention a really weak grip, until I sorted it out with PT and Pilates. (My doctor's first recommendation was muscle relaxants. In hindsight, I wish I had rejected this advice and insisted on an xray right away.)
My understanding is that a good chiro could diagnose this defect with manual examination of the neck. OTOH, a bad chiro might well try to achieve mobility in the fused joint with potentially disastrous results.
Having been both an auto claims adjuster and a medical malpractice adjuster I've seen the worst of both chiros and doctors, although we defended the doctors, who were usually falsely accused about 95% of the time, at least. The other 4.9% the jury was clueless. Our family recently had a great result with a chiro after a leg fracture, which was first resolved with an MD, of course.
It is my opinion that both professions have a place in the overall wellness of folks, with the MD community serving the most important role and the other areas supplementing a healthly lifestyle, encouraging injury and illness prevention, etc. A good massage from a massage therapist can do wonders for well-being.
(S)he man - I would say based on your story I wouldn't go back to that chiro on a bet or dare. Take Stud and have that guy work on him instead, starting with his mouth and fingers, where most of his issues seem to flow from.
So so sorry for your pain and endorphin withdrawl, Kristina. Don't know what it could be, but it sounds like something acute. I'm glad you've got an appointment. Sometimes it's hard to tell where the injury is from where the pain is. You could have sclerotogenous, or referred, pain. When my neck and trap hurt, it was labrum issue. But I've also killed my neck from sleeping on my side. I hope you get better fast and that it's something minor and fixable!!
Docs good.
Some chiros good. Some bad. I love my ART doc.
Ah Kristina.
I am so sorry to hear that you are having a problem with your neck and that you are not able to swim. Worst of all the pain. I think until you see the Dr it is hard to tell you what to do. I am a huge believer in massage therapy but I would hate to tell you do that and perhaps do more harm than good.
When do you see your Dr? If you cannot get in soon and you still have numbing pain and it hurts to inhale, then perhaps a very quick visit to a walk in clinic or ER is in order.
I have never been to chiropractor.
Anyway I know this is not really helping you much. But I wanted you to know that I am thinking of you. Get help sooner than later seriously.
Keep us posted
Katie
Pain in the neck. It may be simple it may not. Don't do anything that causes you pain. See a doctor and let him refer you to a specialist.
I love chiropractors but I never let them manipulate my neck. Just recently in our area, two deaths after neck manipulation.
Hmm sorry to hear you are in pain...were there any cute guys walking on the pool deck on October 4th?..I'm keeping all options open here... ;)
You can probably ice the area to reduce swelling...
Been to a chiropractor once and I will never go back. After that visit I did some research on their methods as well as their training..neither made me feel comfortable about what was done. My general family physician is a DO and he will do some back adjustment stuff for back pain but that is where I draw the line. Hope your problem is short lived and quickly forgotten.
