I'm so frustrated!! I've had neck (trap)and upper back pain for almost a year now. It would come and go. Now it is "going" almost constantly. I went the medical route first....muscle relaxers, anti-inflammatory drugs and rest....for about 2 weeks. It helped temporarily. (I HATE taking muscle relaxers....they make me feel tired and lazy!)The minute I stopped taking them and tried to swim, it came back.
I went to a chiropractor. He did X-rays and said my neck was straight. It is supposed to have a slight backward curve...sort of a natural "shock absorber" for your spine. He also said my neck (cervical spine) is shifted big time to the left.....explains why it hurts on the right! :doh: He said my trap muscles have been doing all the "shock absorbing" and had many knots in them on both sides. He also said my pec muscles were too tight and pulling my traps I've been going THREE times a week to get adjusted by the chiropractor. I've been stretching, icing and not swimming. The only thing that has helped is massage...and that's not in my budget! It doesn't seem to be getting better.:shakeshead: :cry: I finally went "swimming" Thursday to try to stretch it out. The doctor said it was ok as long as I didn't push it! I thought I would just kick a lot. I did try to swim some EASY strokes. It tightend up real fast! I ended up kicking on my back and doing a lot of vertical kicking in deep water. Any advice?
Hi -
I do not have experience with neck pain. I do have a major experience with a chiropractor. They do not have the tools to make a correct diagnosis in the event of an actual injury. They do not necessarily know how to read X-rays. (And don't necessarily believe a word he says about whether your neck is straight or not, or whether it should be.) I would see a chiropractor again only if the individual was in joint practice with an MD and working with the MD on the same patient.
In your situation I would try an MD and a physical therapist. You might have something like a slowly degenerating disk problem. Pain that is slowly increasing is a signal staring you in the face. Insist on imaging studies: CT, MRI. The first medical treatment is almost always rest, anti-inflammatories, etc. I was BED-RIDDEN and the first treatment was "rest." ("Can we skip that part?" I asked.) In part, insurance agencies like to see the cheap, noninvasive modalities tried first. And docs use them to rule out or bridge over temporary situations. A PT can help you with exercises that you can do at home (to replace massage), if that is the appropriate course.
You have seen chiro several times and you are not getting better. You are getting worse.
Free advice from strangers on bbs is worth what you pay for it, but your original post has quite a lot of info that you may not be seeing. (I am not talking about pecs, traps, or straight necks.)
Good luck, VB
Hi -
I do not have experience with neck pain. I do have a major experience with a chiropractor. They do not have the tools to make a correct diagnosis in the event of an actual injury. They do not necessarily know how to read X-rays. (And don't necessarily believe a word he says about whether your neck is straight or not, or whether it should be.) I would see a chiropractor again only if the individual was in joint practice with an MD and working with the MD on the same patient.
In your situation I would try an MD and a physical therapist. You might have something like a slowly degenerating disk problem. Pain that is slowly increasing is a signal staring you in the face. Insist on imaging studies: CT, MRI. The first medical treatment is almost always rest, anti-inflammatories, etc. I was BED-RIDDEN and the first treatment was "rest." ("Can we skip that part?" I asked.) In part, insurance agencies like to see the cheap, noninvasive modalities tried first. And docs use them to rule out or bridge over temporary situations. A PT can help you with exercises that you can do at home (to replace massage), if that is the appropriate course.
You have seen chiro several times and you are not getting better. You are getting worse.
Free advice from strangers on bbs is worth what you pay for it, but your original post has quite a lot of info that you may not be seeing. (I am not talking about pecs, traps, or straight necks.)
Good luck, VB
