Pain in the neck - pinched nerve

Sometimes my head feels so heavy I can barely hold it up. My neck cracks and pops constantly. I get this nerve pain that runs from my (right) shoulder down to my fingers and/or my arm suddenly goes numb. I'm thinking I've got a neck disc thing going on - like a nerves being pinched. Various muscles in my neck, trapezoid and even my upper chest, around my right collar bone, feels like I've torn up muscle whenever I work out the kink. I have to stretch constantly to keep any range of motion and when I lean my head back it hurts like hell, makes my arm go numb but the pain improves for a short period of time. Ice and Heat both seem to help, but only temporarily. This has been going on for a month or more. I'd like to resolve this myself, because I'm affraid I'll get a bad chiropractor who will make it worse. Anyone ever have this problem or know of any specific stretches/movements I can do to get over this?

 

I respectfully disagree with the mama. If it wasn't for chiros,I'd be fit for a paper weight only. The docs will treat the symptoms and not the cause. You need x-rays to determine what is out of line and where. The chiro SHOULD absolutely do that before adjusting you. I've been to plenty of them from Florida to Oregon and some are better than others. Too bad you're not out here--I could turn you on to a chiro that has been a saviour(sp?) to me. Good luck man--I KNOW what back and neck pain do to you.

 

You need to have an MRI. I have basically the same thing happening and I had an MRI and it shows a bulging disc in my neck. The pain can be lessened using Melaxicam which is what I am perscribed until I decide what to do about the disc.

 

See a chiro. The x-rays will show---ah hell with it. If you've already had an MRI,you're on your way to being cut open instead of adjusted. So it goes.

 

I have been getting pinched nerves since my teens.I first got them from sleeping on my stomach, every time you turn your head you pinch a nerve, if you sleep w/ your head turned to the side your nerves are being pinched for however long you sleep that way. But there are lots of ways to get them and its pretty irrelevant, the important thing is to get rid of it. I have learned that if you do not wish to go to a chiropractor try to take a loratab or percocet and the muscles in your neck will begin to loosen up,I like this method best and it really works great, the only meds that will even touch it. If these are unavailable then a trip to the chiropractor is the way to go, but I cannot stress enough go once!!! They will yank you around and crack your neck for you, then they will tell you to come back all the time, dont do it!!! Once is enough, just go when your nerves pinch the rest is a scam that will do more damage than good. Either way you go it will take a day or two to be normal again, good luck.

 

hang upside down..

 

chiropractors are notorious quacks. see a real doctor before that.

 

Bullshit!!!! You don't know what you're talking about. Hope you were joking.

 

well, science says i'm right. i'm sure there are chiropractors that can help some people, especially if they use massage as well, but for the most part chiropractic does nothing to help the majority of conditions.

 

I had some problems similar to what you described and swimming totally fixed my numb arm

Ill admit your neck sounds worse than what i had but exercise in water was definitely what helped me (i have a bad back)

i hate winter i want to swim again so bad

 

Anyone that doesn't understand chiropractic should look at the chart the chiros have in their offices to understand that the nerves to all parts of the body pass thru the spine and out from between the vertebrae. When a nerve gets pinched by a slipped vertabrae or disc,symptems follow whether it's a nerve to the liver,the kidneys ,the arms, the neck,the legs--whatever nerve it may be. Relief can be gotten by re-aligning the vertebrae to relieve the pinched nerve. Symptoms(pain) go away.However,MDs and surgeons do not adjust-they prescribe or cut. It's easy to understand once you look at a chart of the spine/nerve system. It took a loooong time for the American Medical Society to recognize chiropractic, I'm guessing because an adjustment by a chiro CAN preclude an operation, thusly taking the huge bucks away from the medical establishment. The money. Always the money.

I had an operation on my lower back because I actually broke a disc. It just got worse and worse until it broke and was EXTREMELY painfull,so I had no choice. I was 34 and had never been to a chiro because of the "quack" reputation that my family held. I thought I had lost my trade at that point because I still had pain after the operation. OK. At that point,a friend of mine talked me into seeing her cousin, who was a chiro in Portland.

I didn't think he could do me any good,but after he took x-rays and figured out what to do--he said "I think I can have you back on the roof with about 12 visits. He did just what he said he would and I've been working roofing ever since,with visits to a chiro a couple times a year.

So I don't take it kindly when people STILL maintain that chiros are quacks. Makes no sense.

 

I would go to a chiro long before I would let a medical doctor go anywhere near my back. I have two friends who made the mistake of letting a doctor do surgery on their backs, one is no longer with us, checked out at 35 because some idiot doctor removed the wrong disk from his back. After the surgery he was pretty much bedridden, had to use a walker and shit, not so before the surgery. They had him strung out on morphine for several years before he just had enough, not much of a life laying in bed having your parents have to take care of you when your a grown man. My other friend is at least alive still but his surgery also left him no better off, his back bothers him more than ever. If the second guy would have gone for a good cracking when he first threw his back out surgery could have been avoided.

 

Thanks for everyone's take on this. I'm still trying to resolve on my own. My sister-in-law is a physical therapist and she worked out some knots, which helped a little. She suggested I see a massage therapist because she said I had some serious problems with myofascial trigger points, some of the worst knots she's encountered. She also suggested I get one of those inflatable ball thingies and she showed me some stretches. I did and it has helped, a little. I know that if I see a doctor around here that they'll just want me to prescribe some pills that I won't take, MRI and/or try to push some kind of surgery on me. I'm definitely not going under the knife for this - I've seen too many bad outcomes myself with fused vertebrae and crap, not too mention some of the horror stories I've read on this thread . Sounds like a massage therapist and if that doesn't work, a chiropractor would be the most sensible course of action to take. Thanks all!

 

I guess that's where I disagree,mama. Because once you get tied up with MDs,you're on the way to surgery and lots 'o bucks. The chiro should,I believe be the first stop. If a chiro sees that he/she cannot help because the pain is due to irreparable damage(as in my case) then it's on to the surgeons. Had I gone to chiros to begin with,I possibly could have precluded surgery.
The person that raised me was my gramma who was a practicing christian scientist and consequently never took me to doctors or dentists until I had,for example-106 degree temp or a bad toothache.

 

That sounds reasonable. # 2 son went to chiropractor for a couple of years and then saw someone advertised as a massage therapist and started going to her. He doesn't have to go much at all anymore and she did him some real good. I'm not sure what she did but he said I wouldn't like it because she was very gentle and had some odd ways of doing things. Wouldn't have worked for me--one of my bottom vertabrae pops straight out away from my back and my chiro has to massage,stretch and then use a LOT of force to pop it back in. I only have to go once a year or so when it acts up. That pain will sure alter my personality 'till it's fixed.

 

in my humble opinion...


See an MD. You don't have to take any drugs that they give you. Just get an opinion.

It's ok for you to say that you won't do certain kinds of treatment. You may get a referral to a PT

Massage and acupuncture both sound good, especially if you don't want to do chiro

 

ooooooo ---I was wrong about the lady my son saw. Not only is she a massage therapist,she is a yoga instructor and a Doctor of Chiropractic. So what she does then is a very gentle form of chiro and I'm sure her other interests help with what she does. Interesting to know that a chiro can get results with a gentle method. Next time I need some back work,I'll try her out.