muscle spasams

[marie975]

I have  suffered muscle spasams in my neck and upper back area for 4 years now . My doctor has tryed all medication bt nothing is working /when these spasams accor i am paralised and am bed ridden as it is too sore to move .I have been ad mitted into hospital twice and attend the phisio theripy at glagow royal infirmary.can these spasams cause me permanant damage cause i am worried . am in the middle of these spasams at the moment i woke up on friday morning and couldnt lift my head from my pillow .it is now tuesday ave had little help from anyone and its driving me crazy.am still in extreem pain .i take allot of medication to and that worries me also . can you help?

[mamaboulet]

Sometimes (actually quite often) muscle problems have nothing to do with spine/bones/joints. The autonomic nervous system controls muscles. It doesn't have to consult with the spine. When I have a charlie horse in my calf, it's just a charlie horse. Same thing with a lot of upper back muscle pain. Don't automatically assume the spine is involved or that it's something "serious." That doesn't mean ignore it. I just mean don't jump to worse conclusions than are warranted just because people are conditioned to automatically assume their backs are falling apart. And no, muscle spasms don't do permanent damage.

[manpt]

Have you had a head or neck injury or a car accident in the past 10 years? Muscle spasms don't occur for no reason. You must have a movement dysfunction of some joints in your neck. However, the problems you discuss (especially inability to lift the head) indicate that some specialized imaging (preferably MRI) would be helpful to rule out ligamentous instability if you've ever had significant neck trauma. I think a physical therapist could help you greatly, but you need to find someone who's a spine specialist, not just anyone down the street. Chiropractic would be next best, but beware, they use certain techniques that can be downright dangerous. Ideally you're looking for a manual/manipulative physical therapist, maybe with the initials COMT, CMPT, OMT, or FAAOMPT by their name. Look for a physical therapy clinic with the word spine in the name. This is a good start. Acupuncture will only offer temporary relief. Also, someone said "it's nothing serious" just get acupuncture, without ever heard anything else about you or doing detailed examination. This is someone who doesn't know the first thing about the human body and should not be trusted. Try to find an Osteopath before a chiropractor or accupuncturist.

[mamaboulet]

You might try a chiro. I had severe upper back spasms for a couple of years. Did acupuncture. Went to two chiros. One said my shoulder was "frozen." I went to a pt analysis. They said muscle atrophy and don't bend or pull (oh, please, eye roll). Finally I tried another chiropractor. After poking and prodding me for a few minutes he said, "oh, it's your first rib. Let me fix that." He did a rather simple chiro move on my upper chest and collarbone area and the pain went away. I have never had another muscle spasm. I occasionally get tight and sore in the same area (the chiro repeated his same move about 3 times over 2 years) but it is minor and brief. I haven't had to go back to him for several years.

[898]

I had those following the car accident.
Had massage and heat pad therapy in the local chiropractic  office. The spasms disappeared in 4 weeks.

[katrat000]

It could be TMJ. TMJ can affect the neck and shoulder region and not the actual jaw area where it states it does. Read up on TMJ and see if that sounds like you.

[Zak_Han]

I suggest you see acupuncturist,don't worry,nothing permanant damage.