After seeing my personal doctor, a chiropractor, a physical therapist, and an orthopedic surgeon, I still don't have answers to the chronic pain I have in my neck/shoulder area. (Bottom of my neck/trapezius area) It started out as just a sore neck, but over the years, it has worsened into feeling almost like a pinched nerve
I am 19 years old and have had the same pain in my neck for the past 5 or so years. It started when I was working in a restaurant and was on my feet for 6+ hours a night. The pain started off bearable, but over the years it has gotten worse and worse. I went to my personal doctor when it first started, and she said I should try seeing a chiropractor. I had regular appointments 3 times a week for about a year with a chiropractor. He took x-rays of my neck and back and said that nothing looked out of the ordinary. He started off adjusting my neck and back, but when that didn't help, he started a treatment using electricity. I'm not completely sure what it's called, but he would hook me up to a machine that would send electrical waves through the muscles in my neck. It did help, but if I didn't set up another appointment within a week or so, the pain would come back. The chiropractor said I had neck pain because I have bad posture (I'm a sloucher, I will admit that) but I didn't understand why it would only be on one side of my neck. I have NEVER had this pain on the other side. My health insurance eventually said they were going to start making my family do a copay so I stopped going. The pain was manageable with ibuprofen and a heating pad for a while, but then it got worse again. My doctor said try physical therapy. I did physical therapy for about 6 months, where I would do exercises in the appointments and at home. The therapist also used an ultrasound machine (I think that's what it was) to try to loosen up the muscles in my neck/back. It did help, but it was another situation where it was just a temporary fix. Last spring, my doctor sent me to an orthopedic surgeon for cortisone injections. And it helped! For a while, at least. I had little-to-no neck pain for the past 8 months.
Recently, though, it has come back and it is worse than ever. My doctor has said that it could be the muscles pinching a nerve in the trapezius area, because in addition to the pain, I also have numbness and a "tingly" feeling in the area. The physical therapist I saw said it could be scar tissue built up from a previous injury, but as far as I know, I have had no injuries. The pain is in the left side of my neck only, and I'm right handed, so I can't think of anything I could have done to cause the pain. I have noticed that the only time when it really bothers me is when I'm standing in one spot for an extended amount of time (I work as a cashier so this is a problem) or when I sit in one spot with my head positioned pointing slightly down (like sitting in class taking notes). Driving also makes the pain flare up. Laying down, especially on my back, makes it feel a bit better. Ibuprofen, ice, and heating pads don't help anymore. I don't do anything strenuous, like lifting weights or carrying heavy objects.
I just don't know what to do anymore. I'm tired of constantly being in pain. When my neck doesn't actually hurt enough to make me notice it, it's constantly an annoying sore feeling. Massaging it helps a little, but only during the massaging.
To date, I haven't been given a straight answer as to what is causing my pain, or what I can do to make it stop. I'm just wondering if anyone else has experienced anything like this, or if anyone knows of ANYthing I can do to make it go away. I'm only 19 and I feel like I'm falling apart!
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