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| Neck,Shoulderand Arm Pain |
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Question:
I have had chronic neck problems for a number of years,along with
significant CFS/FM symptoms.The symptoms associated with my neck
became acute on 11-29-96.I have had moderate to severe pain in left
shoulder,left arm, and near neck.Two fingers in my left hand have
shown considerable numbness since that time.
Doctors have xrayed,run
MRI,and run CATSCAN.There appears to be some damage near C4-C5disc
and some spur development.The doctors have not been able to prescribe
anything giving true relief nor has a plan been formulated to deal
with my suffering.
I would like to hear from others with similar neck,etc. problems.
What has worked for others?
Is surgery the only answer?
Is surgery truly effective?
Answer:
I have had a lot of pain in neck, shoulder and arm for a number of years. My
case may be entirely different from yours, but I find that physical therapy
and, especially fibro massage, to be very helpful. It's certainly less
drastic than surgery. I just wonder if you've tried that route?
I've had recurring bouts of neck and joint pain for years. Knee
and hip pain goes back at least 18 years. It's gotten worse lately.
The shoulder pain comes and goes and doesn't seem to have much of a
pattern (other than a tendency to be worse around my period).
I'll have pains waking me up every hour or so some nights and then
go a long time with relatively no pain. The neck pain has gotten
much worse lately. One doc put me on Naproxen 375 and that didn't
touch it and I started getting headaches, to boot. I usually take
Bayer before bed now. (Tried Feldene years ago and that didn't
work, either.)
A chiropractor sent me to a rheumatologist years ago. His only
conclusion was that it was "growing pains" - yet he couldn't tell
me why I'd have growing pains after being the same size for about 10
years. He also said I have hyperextensive joints.
As for what works - I take alfalfa daily. I don't notice much,
but my body lets me know if I miss a day - have much more pain.
Yoga helped. I should get back into it. I now do my own chiropractic
by simple stretching, based on yoga techniques. Works better than a
chiro.
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