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?
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?
Beth:
As you know, I've had neck, trap, shoulder pain off and on since I started masters swimming. PT did not help me initially and my first orthopod appeared to misdiagnose my injury, which an arthrogram showed to be a frayed left labrum. I'm dealing with that with prolo/ART.
As for the neck/trap items, I think some of my issues are caused by (1) way too much driving, although I do use a roll for my back; (2) sleeping on my stomach -- worst thing for the neck. It's much better to sleep on your back. Some people use neck rolls for that too. I wish I could do it, but I have a hard enough time sleeping; and (3) swimming intensely seems to exacerbate the condition.
For me, my ART/chiro guy can work wonders, as does massage. But I agree, the time and money for constant massages? Also my ART doc says it's essential for neck health to keep the pec muscles loose. So he recommends a lot of door stretches and corner stretches for the purpose. There are some other neck/trap stretches you can do as well.
I don't use any NSAIDs or muscle relaxants either. Allen is right about the rebound headache possibility. Plus, NSAIDs retard the healing process.
I would make sure you chiro is working with an MD to read the x-rays right. But given your profession, I'm assuming you're getting good care.
Hang in there sis! Getting old sucks. I think it's just difficult to train hard without doing a lot of things to keep your body intact and healthy.
Hang in there!! :wave: :bighug:
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?
Beth:
As you know, I've had neck, trap, shoulder pain off and on since I started masters swimming. PT did not help me initially and my first orthopod appeared to misdiagnose my injury, which an arthrogram showed to be a frayed left labrum. I'm dealing with that with prolo/ART.
As for the neck/trap items, I think some of my issues are caused by (1) way too much driving, although I do use a roll for my back; (2) sleeping on my stomach -- worst thing for the neck. It's much better to sleep on your back. Some people use neck rolls for that too. I wish I could do it, but I have a hard enough time sleeping; and (3) swimming intensely seems to exacerbate the condition.
For me, my ART/chiro guy can work wonders, as does massage. But I agree, the time and money for constant massages? Also my ART doc says it's essential for neck health to keep the pec muscles loose. So he recommends a lot of door stretches and corner stretches for the purpose. There are some other neck/trap stretches you can do as well.
I don't use any NSAIDs or muscle relaxants either. Allen is right about the rebound headache possibility. Plus, NSAIDs retard the healing process.
I would make sure you chiro is working with an MD to read the x-rays right. But given your profession, I'm assuming you're getting good care.
Hang in there sis! Getting old sucks. I think it's just difficult to train hard without doing a lot of things to keep your body intact and healthy.
Hang in there!! :wave: :bighug:
