Physical or Psychological pain? PAIN IN THE NECK!!!

[cnote]

This seems to be ongoing.

I'm 32 male. Not a stranger here, but luckily not on here as much as I used to in the past years.

About a month ago, I was having issues with neck and head tension. My head felt like it was in a vise 24/7.
Thankfully that left!!

I've been pain free from that for about 2 weeks maybe?

Now the past week my neck has been hurting AGAIN. But this time JUST my neck and shoulders area.

My neck muscles feel as if they are took weak to hold up my head. That's what it feels like, and also I feel that the muscles on the base of my skull/neck are TIGHT.

When I turn my head left and right slowly, I can hear a sound that I can only describe like "grains of sand" or "muscle fiber noises".

Is this just tension?? It's causing daily headaches too.

Aleve, ibuprofen etc. does not touch it. :(

I'm starting to get anxiety over this, but I KNOW DEEP DOWN IT'S NOTHING SERIOUS.

I just don't feel anxious though, that's the thing.

With my history though of Generalized Anxiety, can it really be anxiety without feeling anxious??

Will this eventually go away on its own?? I believe it will. I just need to take it easy I guess.

It's just starting to depress me, b/c I feel like I've been dealing with this for TOO LONG.

My brother is a massage therapist and worked on me a few days ago, and it felt wonderful, but didnt cure it. I know it can take a few sessions. Also, I have started working out again the past 2 days hoping it will help build muscles back up and help anxiety or depression if THAT's what this is.

Thanks.

(32 male, no medication for 4 years)

[sk121]

Exactly same thing happened to me when I had severe episodes of anxiety. The back of the head and shoulder would get tensed and stiff and if felt like the neck couldn't hold the weight of the head anymore. It all was due to anxiety. It took me a while before I learned to overcome this. I used to get the massage on the pressure points on the back of skull in occipital area which helped a lot. one of the example is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7nQJzmOoUY.

Also, you might wanna check with your doctor for the spine/neck workup. Sometimes it happens due to a medical condition.

[anxiety860]

I get the EXACT same thing man. I tense my shoulder muscles so much without realizing it. I actually just went to the doctors last week for the first time in a long time because it hurt so bad. (Turns out I pinched a nerve) I was in so much pain I can't describe it. But my anxiety causes me to tense my shoulders and neck. and the "grains of sand" I know exactly what you're talking about. ... I was told a pinched nerve can be caused from tension. Which I do all the time. Or poor posture what I also have. I am not saying you have a pinched nerve. In fact I doubt you do. But anxiety can certainly cause tension and weakness exactly like you're saying. It's also funny you mention the base of your skull. I had this happen to me about a year ago... I of course jumped to brain tumors.... Nope. Just me being hypochondriac!

[cnote]

Thanks for commenting. I had an episode of this back in 2010, and it lasted over a month, but it DID get better. Therefor "the past is a good indicator of the future". Right? :)

This just stinks. I feel like an 80 year old man in a 32 year old body. haha.

The strange thing is that I DO NOT feel like I am going through a bout of anxiety. But my Dr. has told me before that YOU CAN have anxiety symptoms without being anxious. So maybe that's all this is?

And YES, the occipital muscles are what feels so TENSE, and feel like that is where the majority of the pain/headaches are starting from.

Thankfully last night I got relief, and slept REALLY GOOD. So, I know it's nothing SERIOUS like a brain tumor or anything. HAHA.

If I go to my Dr. he will just tell me to wait it out. He won't do an x-ray or anything. Which I can respect. Because that would mean giving in to my anxiety.

He would tell me it's one of these things:

1. Anxiety

2. Tension from anxiety

3. Nerves

4. Bad posture etc.

So what is the answer to those? Reducing anxiety, exercise, rest, icy hot, ibuprofen etc. until it goes away.

Let's say it is a pinched nerve. He's not going to do surgery, he's not going to give me pain killers or muscle relaxers (i do not want them anyway). So I'd only be going for a peace of mind. And I have to stop that, bc he can be my crutch sometimes with anxiety.

Thanks for writing. :)

[cnote]

Yup! I don't think this is a pinched nerve, but it very well could be. Pinched nerves, don't they usually cause extreme pain? Like if you move a certain way it almost takes your breath away, type pain?

And yes, the grains of sand sound, it's gotta be from those muscles being stretched, that are so tensed up.

I also have poor posture a lot of the time from my job. I film a lot and edit a lot.

You said you had this a few years ago? How long did yours last? Thanks so much! :)

[anxiety860]

Oh ya. The pinched nerve woke me up in the middle of night and the pain was INTENSE. I almost had my fiancée drive me to the ER. It was terrible. I aggravate it from sleeping in weird positions. And the base of the skull pain lasted around a week or 2 if I remember correctly.

[brice1967]

Men seem to carry tension in the neck and shoulder area.  With that being said, I experience some of what you describe as well.  I have had a previous neck injury and I am sure that some of what I am experiencing is arthritis.  Other times, its stress.

Right now for instance, the last 3 weeks I've had a pain in the neck.  Comes and goes but if I look down and to my right, the pain runs down my neck on the left side and then to the middle of my left shoulder blade.

Sometimes I experience headaches from this injury and if I can pop my neck, it normally goes away in a minute if not an instant.

Have you ever damaged your neck?  Been in a car wreck?  Have you seen a doctor about this?  Might be worth having some xrays or something to see if there is structural damage.  If so, that would explain everything.

[cnote]

I have had no injuries to my neck.

I just went to the Dr. about my neck about a month ago or more, and he said it's probably all from stress. He was not concerned one bit.

So, now that it has came back, in a different form, I feel like it would be a waste of money to go.

I had an x-ray this June on my lower back, and it showed nothing but an extra vertebrae (which is more common than you think), and with insurance it cost me $300.

I just don't want to waste money ya know?

But, if it doesn't get better in the next week or so, I will go back for reassurance.

[cnote]

I'm fixing to get a massage by my brother in a few minutes.  Hes a licensed massage therapist. Hope it helps.

What I've noticed is that when I'm doing something physical,  I don't feel pain or discomfort.

But when I'm doing nothing, like sitting or just standing up it comes back.

Sounds just like muscle tension? Shortened muscles maybe?

[cnote]

I'm still battling this tension stuff in my shoulders and neck. I don't even know if its tension or muscles spasms.

I went to the Dr. the other day, and told him I do NOT feel anxious.

He thinks it could be just getting older. I'm 32. But that's not OLD!!! C'mon! lol.

He said it could be a little bit of arthritis, but my sister things it's NOT arthritis, b/c she said typically patients with arthritis that she sees are older and it's usually starts in their knees, elbos, feet, hands etc. Not just the back, neck and shoulder blades.

I hate it. =/

[Paxiled]

Obviously I don't know what this is and I'm nearly twice your age, but I have this problem all the time from disc problems.  They probably came from an auto accident many years ago.  You might want to see someone who specializes in sports medicine who can watch how you move and see if your described poor posture is creating strain on your neck or if something in the way you move or lift weights is causing this.  As humans age, the discs always get worn down, but most people don't notice.  Some do.  The reason I'm thinking this is the sound your neck is making.  Because you're young, this can be fixed with something like physical therapy, but something better that teaches you how to move in a way that doesn't stress the cervical spine.  Prevention is the best medicine, and what I've learned as I've gotten old is that exercise is great but also causes a lot of injuries, so it's best to learn while young how to move and stretch properly.  Peace, C.

[cnote]

Thanks for writing Paxiled.

I don't believe i have any disc issues. But, I really believe this is some sort of anxiety response?

I have had a history of bad posture you could say. I slouch all the time when on the computer editing.

I'm also a filmmaker, professionally, so 4 times a week at least I'm operating a video camera.

So, it could be some wear and tear from this, but I point more to the bad posture than anything.

However, the reason why I think it's anxiety and not arthritis, A. my sister who's a nurse says I'm too young to have arthritis, and usually the neck and shoulders is the last place to get arthritis. I'd usually get it in my knees, elbows, hands or feet first. That is at least her experience with her patients.

I've ready some online forums where people with GAD can get these pains for weeks, months etc.

One guy was told by many Doctors that it was either anxiety, arthritis, or fibromyalgia. Come to find out, it was all GAD. He took lexapro and xanax and it all went away.

His symptoms sounded a lot like mine. Mine feels a lot like strain. As I'm typing this, holding my arms up to the keyboard, both shoulder blades are feeling sore, like I'm working it out the muscles too much.

When I do a slow shoulder shrug to stretch, I get relief after hearing havoc in there. lol. But it sounds more like muscles that are tight crunching and expanding. B/c if I shoulder shrug a second time, it doesnt make that noise again for a while.

I think muscles are constantly just tightening and not releasing.

I can say that in the past 2 months I've had this issue, it started mostly in the base of my skull/top of neck and into my actual head, wrapping around my entire head, even effecting my nasal muscle areas.

Now it's just moved down to my shoulders mostly and some lower neck.

To me, that just tells me it's muscle spasms moving around, and not arthritis or anything serious.

I just have to stop worrying about it. I keep having nightmares at night about it. Last night I had a dream that I had these gross boils all over my upper back, it was an awful dream. lol.

Then the other night I had a dream that I was urinating blood.

You can't tell me this is NOT anxiety related? lol. What came first though, the chicken or the egg... that is the million dollar question. ;)

[cnote]

Well, I went to my buddy who's a chiropractor today. He helped my lower back pain pretty much disappear a few months ago. Amen! He thinks my pain is from tension and posture. He said he can treat me ans feeling good in a few visits. :)

[Paxiled]

I didn't say it was arthritis, C.  But I know that sound you say your neck makes.  I ignored it for years.  Not everything is anxiety, but anxiety does cause muscle tightness and sometimes makes sleep not very sound, and it sure messed me up good.  Hope it all goes away, but I stick by my opinion that this is just normal wear and tear and it's a good time to learn how to prevent it from getting worse.  Wish I had.  Peace, C.

[cnote]

You are so right! My chiro said that "grainy sand" type sound I was having was from tight muscles and crepitus, which is a common wear and tear sound.

He doesnt think it's arthritis either, but like YOU said, normal wear and tear, and I'm sure that anxiety over the years has not helped, from being tensed up and stressed.

I think he'll help me out. I slept better last night. Taking ibuprofen every 6 hours, and REALLY working on my posture.

Once I'm feeling better, it's time to hit the gym again, but I will be careful on how much weight I'm lifting.

My chiro is very sensitive with me and my anxiety, he really helps give me a peace of mind about it "not being a forever pain", and he can help it for the time being.

I know that having anxiety can make symptoms worse than what they are.

Have a blessed day buddy! I know good days are ahead!! I should count my blessings, as I am able to still LIVE, WORK, etc. :)

[cnote]

So, and update.

I think this is ALL anxiety. Ugh...

I'm having periods of feeling fine, with just some upper back and neck pain, but also now I'm having random feelings of feeling "not right" visually. Can't explain it in writing, but it's obviously anxiety!

Feels like a ghost coming over me, everything looks and feels odd, but then it leaves.

I also have not been sleeping well the past couple of weeks, always having weird dreams, tossing and turning, CONSTANTLY thinking about my back and neck.

I'm CONSTANTLY ruminating about my muscle aches and pains...

THAT RIGHT THERE PROVES to me that this is all anxiety.

Especially that the muscle spasms seem to move around. But they are still pretty constant. =/

[anxiety860]

Hey there. My anxiety has caused muscle pain/spasms/knots/ for years now I almost forget they are there until I finally relax and can feel the pain/how tense I am. Muscle pain is so common for me it actually causes me no anxiety. Which is very weird for me being how I have health anxiety. I have a feeling you truly know this is anxiety related, but he even when we KNOW it's anxiety a lot of time we can't help but think the worst of the worst.

[cnote]

Thanks for writing anxiety860.

I think I have FINALLY accepted this as ANXIETY. FINALLY. It has taken me a while.

My Dr. scared me when he said it could be "arthritis". That made anxiety worse. I dwelled on the word arthritis and started using Dr. Google. etc. That is ANXIETY.

My chiropractor is awesome, and told me that I do NOT have arthritis b/c the way my muscle pain moves around. He said arthritis pain is pretty localized and I would know it.

However, my chiropractor said to me "all you have is myofascial pain". As in "nothing serious at all". He found some knots and stuff and worked on me.

I then got back to my office, and used Dr. Google once again (I know, dumb idea) and I googled Myofascial Pain, and when I hit Enter, every search result came up as "Mayofascial Pain SYNDROME".

I read up on it, and freaked out ONCE AGAIN. I immediately called my chiropractor and asked if that's what he meant that he thought I had.

He responded "OF COURSE NOT. Myofacial pain is just a term, nothing else. It means muscle pain. Also just b/c something is a syndrome doesnt mean it's forever."

At this point, my anxiety was so bad, I broke down CRYING. I was ruminating SO MUCH over these muscle aches and pains.

That's when I KNEW "this has all got to be anxiety... all of it."

We CAN indeed have physical symptoms of anxiety without necessarily feeling anxious!!!

[Paxiled]

Just for any general reader out there, chiropractors have no way of knowing if you have arthritis or not.  They say a lot of thing they're not qualified to say.  I have been seeing chiropractors for years off and on, and one has to take them with a grain of salt.  One example is the supplements many of them recommend and sell, but none of them have really studied this stuff in the detail required to truly know how to do it properly. It's just a way to make more money off you.  The only thing chiropractors are qualified to do is make adjustments and some have learned some massage techniques and hopefully this mitigates pain.  Some really have gone a long way further to learn more and more about how to mitigate pain.  But the only way to tell if you have arthritis or not is to get tests for it.  That being said, I don't think it makes much difference if you have it or not -- what you want to do is just keep the pain at bay that comes from life.  Anxiety is often blamed for everything, but it doesn't cause everything, it just makes whatever you have feel worse.  This is especially true if you're on medication for it or have been on medication for it, because these medications interfere with the absorption of magnesium, essential for relaxing the muscles and nerves.  Not disagreeing with C and his self-diagnosis, because I have no clue what's going on with him, just giving general information here.  Peace all.

[Paxiled]

Oh, and I also believe if you don't feel anxious you're not anxious.  But C, you're clearly feeling anxious or you wouldn't be obsessing over this very common pain that happens to active people.  You're obviously feeling very anxious over it.  Me, I'm just angry as all get out at the level of pain I have after being active all my life.  But I'm in my sixties, and it hit me in my fifties because medication destroyed my brain's ability to deal.  I don't think you have anything other than a little wear and tear that needs, and is getting, tending.  

[anxiety860]

Hey paxiled. Do you mind me asking how long you were on medication?... I'm assuming you were on Paxil.... I ask because I'm in mid 20s.. Debating about getting off medication all together. You don't need to answer. Just curious.

[cnote]

My chiropractor is a good friend of mine. He's a sports chiropractor.  So he also does massage, training and other things for injured athletes or just regular people. Sports medicine pretty much.

While my doctor nor my chiropractor did an xray, I do believe my chiro when he says he doesn't believe its arthritis. There are key factors with arthritis,  and mine didn't match up.

What we have finally found out is, is that I have a TON of trigger points, they hurt to the touch. Nasty buggers.

They are sending referred pain to my neck sometimes and other areas. You can feel the pain pathway when these are pressed on.

I'm still working on them with exercises, massage therapy,  posture correction,  and some old fashioned at home trigger point therapy with a tennis ball.

Yes anxiety makes this worse. Because I am dwelling.

My anxiety is getting better now that I know the cause and that these knots/trigger points are treatable. :)

[Paxiled]

My experience is so rare that it's not something that really corresponds to what most people are going through, but I also spent a lot of time on medication before Paxil withdrawal pretty much ended my useful life.  It just never stopped, and that doesn't happen often and only really happens if you have a quack for a psychiatrist like I had.  But my view of medication is this:  you should only take it if you absolutely need it, not just because it's the easiest way out or the only one your doctor knows how to do.  But if therapy and relaxation techniques and milder medicine don't work and your life is miserable, that's when medication becomes the best thing we know how to do to keep going.  That's how you determine if you're a candidate for going off meds -- have you worked on your problem in therapy and feel you've made enough progress to stop?  Did you need them in the first place, or did you have the kind of doctors who just dole out meds to get you out of their hair?  And do you have the patience to take the time necessary to safely stop taking the meds?  A good book to read on this is the Anti-Depressant Solution, which talks about when it's time to stop your meds and how to do it safely.  

[Paxiled]

I started seeing a sports chiropractor recently to see if he can put me back together again.  Unlike you, I do have disc problems and plantar fasciitis and all kinds of problems, but they really were made bad by my bad medicine experience and trying to exercise my way out of it on too little sleep.  I don't think you have arthritis and I think you're doing all the right things.  My only concern is you tend to freak out every time something goes wrong with your body, and as you age this is going to keep happening, so it's not doing you any good.  You do the right things, but you make yourself miserable anyway.  Exercise isn't really good for everything -- it's good for the organs but very hard on the joints and the discs and connective tissue.  People who live the longest healthiest lives tend to live in societies where they don't do all this odd exercise but who are very active in their daily lives, including walking a lot to get where they're going.  I love to do athletic stuff and it didn't catch up to me until my fifties, but it does catch up to you.  That's why I say you need to take care of your body maintenance now and learn to move properly so you don't end up injured when you're older.  That's the part that I don't think is an anxiety issue.  It's a life issue that affects everyone.