Neck and Shoulder Pain

[logicallefty]

First off, I am a pig headed bruit who hates going to the doctor.

About a month ago I got a nasty cold and headache. One night I took some Nyquil and Ibuprofen and passed out really good. I woke up the next morning to some nasty neck and shoulder pain on only my left side. Not a bit on the right side. It's been a freakin month and it has gone down a little bit I still have it. It moves around. Like sometimes its upper rear neck near the skill. Sometimes its rear shoulder blade area. Sometimes its mid shoulder. And sometimes its everywhere. Sometimes its sharp. And sometimes it's more of an ache than a pain.

If I take 4 x Ibuprofen it stops for 24 hours for the most part, enough that I can work out and do other stuff in my day. But then in it will come back and start killing me again if I don't take more IBP.

I've never had anything like this in my life. Anytime I get pains from something it lasts a week at most.

Anything I can do short of going to a doctor? Or am I just getting too damn old (42 almost 43) and this is a sign of my life to come?

 

[Bible_Belt]

It sounds muscular. I don't think a doc is going to do much.

I suspect you are re-injuring it each day when you take ibuprofen to mask the pain. I think you should stop doing that, and give it a chance to heal. If something hurts, don't do it.

 

[logicallefty]

Thank you I will try skipping them for several nights and see what happens. I'm open for any ideas. I'm also going to start sleeping on a bean bag as it is much more comfortable than my regular pillows. Throughout my life I've been through police training, played hockey, lifted, ran, biked. Any pains I have got from past activities have always gone away and not lingered on for this long. This really blows.

 

[sazc]

Fill a sock with rice, tie it at the end, and heat it in the microwave, then wrap that sucker around your neck or drape it wherever you need it. Or use a heating pad.
You can alternate an ice pack with a rice sock/heating pad but I bet the heat will help.
Roll a towel up and place it under your neck and sleep on your back (not on that pillow) the towel roll needs to 'just support' your neck - not too big, not too small. it will keep the curve in your neck/spine 'just right' all night.
Magnesium (it relaxes muscles)
Ben gay/Icy hot
Massage.
Chiropractor.

 

[BlueAlpha1]

Deep tissue massage?

I get one every month religiously, sometimes twice a month. The girl I go gives me a great rate ($40 an hour, I give her $50 because she's good fun) and I go to her place to avoid her losing 50% commission to her spa. She tells me everybody has their spots. I always have a very stiff neck and a knot in my right shoulder blade.

It is definitely an optional luxury but is very beneficial. We don't even realize bad posture, stress positions, not breathing properly that can cause us to tense up, and bad sleeping positions we regularly put ourselves through during the hustle of everyday life.

Having worked a lot of office jobs (tough on the back) and retail jobs (tough on the feet), I feel genuinely good as new for a week after I've had a massage. It's a great option to mitigate normal wear and tear and doing it in my 20's I hope to avoid chronic problems later.

Standard pricing will be $40-50 for 30 minutes or $60-75 an hour plus tip.

 

[speed dawg]

Just my opinion here (no one get offended please), but I say don't do any of the above. Do to a doctor and get an MRI. I've had surgery on a lower back disc, which was pressing on a nerve and sending pain down my leg into my foot. You may have a bulging neck disc or similar. MRI can tell you that. And those things don't heal on their own. Surgery often times is the only option. Sometimes you can get it under control with yoga or something, but that's only if it's not significant.

Only reason I say this is because I have experience with it, and I wasted a lot of time and money on chiropractic/massage/pain blocks/etc. that didn't work.

 

[BlueAlpha1]

Just my opinion here (no one get offended please), but I say don't do any of the above. Do to a doctor and get an MRI. I've had surgery on a lower back disc, which was pressing on a nerve and sending pain down my leg into my foot. You may have a bulging neck disc or similar. MRI can tell you that. And those things don't heal on their own. Surgery often times is the only option. Sometimes you can get it under control with yoga or something, but that's only if it's not significant.

Only reason I say this is because I have experience with it, and I wasted a lot of time and money on chiropractic/massage/pain blocks/etc. that didn't work.

I'M SO OFFENDED YOU BIG SEXIST ISLAMOPHOBIC RACIST! STOP WHITESPLAINING!

Just kidding. Maybe you're right. Massages can help to totally heal "normal wear and tear" and mitigate chronic aches and pains. It obviously does not heal broken bones or dislocated/torn muscles.

Maybe he should get just one quality massage or one week of yoga and see if that does the trick? If it does, it'll end up being a lot cheaper than doctor visits or surgery.

 

[speed dawg]

Maybe he should get just one quality massage or one week of yoga and see if that does the trick? If it does, it'll end up being a lot cheaper than doctor visits or surgery.

Probably. The MRI will probably be $2,000 through insurance, maybe less if out of pocket. But at least you'll know. If that disc is torn and that jelly crap is coming out, surgery is the only fix. If it's just bulging, decompression/stretching/chiro/massage can help. Massage really messed me up though, got all my muscles twitching and caused a ton of pain.

I asked some (what I assume to be) knowledgeable people about how folks cured disc problems back in the old days, when surgery wasn't an option. They were all unanimous in saying that they usually got hooked on morphine or opium and became addicts. WTF

I guess it's up to LL to really diagnose his 'pain'. Hopefully it is just muscle pain and not disc/nerve. The thing that scares me is that it's not going away, muscle pain will subside. I remember thinking I had sore hamstrings for like 2 months, didn't make sense.