neck -back and arm pain

hi
i get an extreme back pain a few times a year ,i now nearly know when i get it approx' september /november and then again in janurary/february...
it all started about five years ago when i woke up with what i thought was a creek in my neck it slowly got worse and worked its way down into my upper back just below my shoulder blade, i battled on my own thinking it would go away but it moved into my arm and became so sever that i could hardly move my left side, the pain was all consuming... and draining.
when i lay down it helps and it never is as bad in the morning, its like a dull ache then but as the day goes on it gets worse and worse.
i went to the doctor several times and at one stage he was treating me for tennis elbow , i go to the physo and they relieve it by massage but i am out a fortune on them and each one tells me a different thing
one says its a trapped nerve when pops in and out
another says its a disc
and another says its the weather
massage really helps but it is really really painful, i feel like i have been burned when they are massaging it.
my husband says that as it gets worse he can feel a mass in my back and as he rubs it the mass breaks down and becomes smaller broke up lumps
if left untreated it gets bigger and bigger
i really want to get rid of it because twice a year i become a basket case and am fit to to nothing for weeks.
again
the pain starts with a stiff neck
then it goes into my back, i get a mass here which goes down with massage
it then moves into my arm, where the pain is so sever that it out does the pain in my neck and back..
this pain moves down the top of my arm on the outside and then changes when it gets to my elbow and moves down my forearm into my index finger