Wednesday, February 17, 2010

A Pain in the Neck



....and head! OMG (am I too old to say this because it REALLY applies??), my head and neck have been killing me off and on for almost two weeks. After the last two sleepless nights I called the doctor FIRST thing this morning to get an appointment. This week I was taking 3 ibuprofen in the a.m. and 2 in the afternoon and still in pain!! Like major "crick" in the neck pain and ache. Now I am armed with muscle relaxers and an anti-inflammatory prescription to nip this agony. And why am I in this pain? Because I take one pilates class and two muscle classes a week (strength conditioning) and I seem to be using my neck when I shouldn't be! I lowered my weights yesterday (3 ibuprofen had kicked in so I was good to go) and will continue to do so until I'm back to normal. I love taking my classes and won't give them up, but man some days I feel every bit of my 39 years! Wish me restful sleep tonight! And due to the horrible sleep of late, suggest an under eye circle cream while you're at it.

5 comments:

Seersucker Scrapper said...

So sorry to hear you are in pain. There is nothing worse!

Hope you feel better soon!

Unknown said...

In my experience as a physical therapist, most headaches and neck pain are due to the shoulder blades sitting too low on the trunk. I know this may sound odd but, to put it simply, there are muscles attaching from the shoulder blade directly to the first four neck vertebrae and skull. When the shoulders sit too low, these muscles then pull on the neck bones and skull causing neck pain and headaches.
Here's a quick, simple test to see if this is a contributing cause of your headaches. If you're having right-sided neck pain or headaches, raise your right hand and place it flat on top of your head for 20 seconds. Make sure your head doesn't side-bend or rotate to achieve this. If your pain diminished after this test, then your scapula may be sitting too low causing your discomfort. This is easily correctable. This is also the culprit in diagnoses such as thoracic outlet syndrome and carpal tunnel syndrome. I've just written a book about fixing neck pain and headaches using an approach based on this mechanical connection to the shoulder and neck. It has been very effective over the last few years and I think is worth a try if you haven’t found the answers you are seeking.
I’ve also posted this and another test on YouTube, if you’re interested.

Rick Olderman

Pink in a sea of blue said...

Thanks Rick. The pain is excrutiating all over the back of my head and neck. The doctor did say that if these meds do not bring relief soon, she wants the physical therapist to see me. It's only started in the last 2 weeks so I think it was one particular exercise class I took.

The Mrs. said...

OMG. Terrible. I did pilates and threw my back out! Had to do physical therapy!!!! Hope you feel better fast!

Marilyn *Pink Martinis and Pearls* said...

So sorry to hear you weren't feeling well. I always knew exercise was bad! ;) I hope you get relief soon. Take care. xoxo