thank you for your suggestions I will look in to them.
I would also suggest going to see a PT. I'm in school right now for it and we have discussed a lot of causes for these symptoms. No doubt that your bulging disc could be the problem causing these symptoms, but there could be other things going on. There is a really good probability that your posture could be causing these symptoms. There is a syndrome called Thoracic outlet syndrome which causes all the nerves coming out of your neck to be squished (for the lack of a better word). Even if it is coming from your bulging disc, a physical therapist could do a lot for you as far as postural stability and good exercises for supporting your neck. Hope this helps!
Have you tried chiropractic intervention? My husband was experiencing something similar to you and our Active Release chiropractor worked on his hips and got the muscles back into shape.
Also - I think you need to ice, not heat. Heat will bring blood to the area and further aggravate an already inflamed situation - ice will reduce inflammation. Aleve will also help.
If you have a bulging disk in your neck, that could be the source of all your problems. Stretches recommended by your physiotherapist or chiropractor should help a lot. Relaxation of the muscles is very important - so talk to a physio person. Also look into TMJ as a possible "culprit".
Hope that helps - and I hope you feel better very soon!