Advice for neck pain

[angie343]

Hey everyone, hope everyone is doing good.
My DD has been having bad neck pain with a (what she discribes) as a gel feeling in her neck.
The swelling has gone down a bit but still a lot of pain. Can any zipperheads out there give us
some recommendations to help out with the pain? It would be greatly appreciated any suggestions:)
God bless
Angie

[chadry]

Hey i am glad to help but you don't cook the rice. You use uncooked rice. When you heat it up in the microwave it stays dry so the rice never really cooks. It just gives off the smell of rice. I just wanted to make sure that you got that part right.
If you wanted to you could make a few of them in different sizes especially if she needs something for her lower back. A nice square does good for the low back and a longer rectangular one does good for the neck area.I experimented with different sizes. That is the part I like about these. You custom make them. You can use any material you like and all you need to spend money on is the rice.
My 3 year old granddaughter loves my rice pack. Especially in the winter. I would use it on the couch and i would lay on one side with it behind my back and she would be on the other side and tuck her feet up under it and when I would get up she would grab it and use it.
When my daughter gets a bad headache and her necks hurts she will use the rice pack also.
You know now that I think about it my daughter never liked the fireworks. She would scream when she was little and she said that they really bothered her. We didn't take her for a few years because she reacted so bad the first few times she saw them. I will have to ask her about them now that you brought that up.
I hope you have a nice holiday yourself. Enjoy the fireworks. Just think you don't have to worry about the bugs when you are inside. That is always a plus.
God bless you also.
Christina

[angie343]

Hello, thank you for the recipe:) I have asked my seven year old to help me make it.
He wants to do the cooking part:D
I'm off tomorrow so we will be cooking a rice pack:) maybe two he wants one made for himself cause he says he needs to relax after his play time:D
My daughter says she can't wait to try it out cause the one we use the therma something cool to quick. She says thank you so so much. She says she may get hungry to:)
Me and her will watch the fireworks from inside this year because of her noise sensitivity.
I hope you have a safe and happy fourth:)
God bless
Angie

[angie343]

Hey:)
how are you doing? I'm not affended not at all:-)
That is the exact reason I won't pressure her for anything. I can't even imagine
the pain (maybe labor pain;) if those count but probily not cause they last for a few hours although at the time it seems like forever and u just want the doctors to get it out... sorry little carried away:)
I know she definetly needs pain management and I thought of the same thing you and your mom did, after a couple of weeks cutting them in half. Good thing is she does not have the two blood clots in her legs. The seroma she has in her lower back does
worry me. I hope it goes away.
How is your back doing? I pray that you won't need the surgery. God bless and thank you always.
Angie

[chadry]

The rice pack is very easy to make. I used a soft towel and you sew it like a pillow case. The good thing is you can make it any size you want so when you are doing it you can make it to fit the space you want near her neck.
Sew up the three sides and halfway across the top and then fill it with uncooked rice. Then sew the top closed. Do not over fill though because it will get too hard. You want the rice to be able to move around so you can fit it in the spot you want. I used some dried lavender one time in one I made and it gave off such a nice relaxing smell. that is if you like lavender.
You just heat it up in the microwave to whatever temp you want. The one I made I usually only do about a minute to a minute and a half for my neck. The lower back I like warmer.
They stay nice and warm for a long time. I use mine for months before I have to make a new one. At first I used to get hungry when I used it because I could smell the rice. LOL.
Hope it helps.
Chadry

[Zipperhead0609]

hey!

her neck pain could be the muscles tightening up in her neck.  if she doesn't move it enough, and the pain persists, she could heal with the muscles still tight, and be stuck in that pain forever...i was having that same issue until i saw my NS last week...i've been moving my neck up and down more, working out the kinks, and i feel sooo much better.

having met your DD when i was in the hospital, and knowing we are about the same age, i don't recommend you NOT asking her to stop taking the meds.  my mom did the same thing and it made me REALLY upset.  please take this with all the respect in the WORLD!  you don't know how much pain we are in.  my mother and i did reach a compromise, and went to the drug store and got a pill cutter, and i started halfing the dosages.  plus, she needs to taper off of the drugs, otherwise she can have withdrawls and get pretty sick.

i hope i didn't offend you!

[angie343]

Thanks for the advice. I don't know what a rice pack is so please let us know. She willing to try anything. Her back hurts at times to from the tethered cord surgeries. Her arms and shoulders hurt. She didn't have any problems with them and coordnation before the surgery. Now she has to like real think about what wants to grab or do with her hands and things like that. At times she says they feel heavy. I hope with continuing her pt this will improve. She does not want to go thru another surgery for a long time, god willing. They are sending her home with the same meds she taking now, then she has to follow up with her regular doctor and NS.
I do not want her addicted to these hard meds either. I want to ask her to try and not take them unless she really needs them and maybe that may help her learn her pain tolerance. I think I sound crazy because I see when she is in pain and not feeling good and I don't know how she deals with the pain. Chiarians are very very brave.  

[selmaS]

Good news on her homecoming!!

The valium works , but I only take as needed....not on a regular basis.

And the heating pad is great, like Chadry said it can help with those tight muscles.

I also need to remind u her poor body has been thru more than most in this time frame...so , he whole body is reacting......once she is home she may be able to relax more.

Keep us posted
"selma"

[chadry]

I am happy to hear your daughter is coming home. I will keep your family in my thoughts.
I have DDD in my neck and I know that it can be very painful. I use a heat pad on my shoulder area to help with the muscles when they tighten up. I am not sure if you ever heard of a rice pack? That that is what i made for myself. I made it to fit nicely in the curve of my neck. If you are familiar with it than you know what I am talking about but if you don't let me know and I will tell you  how to make one. I use it every day either on my neck or my low back. I have DDD there too.
I also take Valium but I try not to take it every night. I do not want to become addicted to it. It really does help me to sleep at night when I can't find a comfortable position for my neck, shoulder,arm or my low back.
How are her arms and shoulders? Any severe pains in them?
I wish you the best on her homecoming.
Chadry

[angie343]

Hi Selma & Shane99:)
thanks for the advice. Selma she is on Valium and Ox-cotin(not sure how to spell it) she requested not to take the dilaudid anymore, she been on that for over four months now. She feels other things going on to but she trying to live with them. The nausea is one of the bad things, she loses her appetite and she threw up yesterday so poor thing had to walk around with a plastic bag.
Shane99 she's been doing hard PT and OT for two weeks now the hospital will discharge her tomorrow. She is sooooooooo excited to be going home. They wanted her to stay a bit longer but she worked out enough for them to have her do out patient therapy and a nurse will come over and monitor her blood pressur and vitals and do some home PT also. They even gave her a wheel chair.
She ready to be home, I hope that will contribute to helping her heal.
God bless you.
Angie

[Shane99]

I recommend doing physical therapy as soon as you feel up to it. It helped me a lot and I have a 22 inch neck.

[selmaS]

Hi Angie,

May I ask what meds is she still on?

I have been using a heating pad ...Dr I said the muscles in the shoulders and neck will be sore for a while after surgery....mine r still sore, but I can deal with it.

In the meds I was given when I came home......Dilaudid I stopped as soon as I could and only if  needed basis.

The dr also told me that the other med I was rx'd was Valium...he said this was to help relax all the tight muscles and the feeling that I can only describe as a ping pong ball bouncing back and forth inside my head....

it is almost a week since I took the valium......and even then it was one week prior to that, that  I had one......but will if I find myself in the position where OTC meds r not helping.


The heating pad does help me quite a bit.

"selma"