pain in neck

[alice28]

My Mum had a face lift over a year ago.  About 9 months after the operation she was massaging her neck and felt a pain in the back of her neck.  Since this time things have got worse for her.  She had a crackling noise everytime she moves her head which can either be mild or quite bad depending on what she has been doing.  She says it is particularly worse when she is looking up i.e hanging out the washing etc.  She also has crackling in her jaw which has been diagnosed as tmj and numbness both sides of her face, although no paralysis..  She has seen our local gp who seems to dismiss it as nothing more than old age.  (she is only 58!!) she did get refered to a neurologist but he couldn t find anything wrong either.  Basically she belives she has done something to her neck which no one seems to be able to explain to her she knows there is something wrong but feels like she is going mad as no one seems to believe her.  She is at the end of her tether as this has been ongoing for almost a year now. Any help would be MUCH appreciated

Thanks
Alison

[alice28]

Hi

Thanks for your advice, the only way i can explain it is that mum hears the crackling and every movement in her head, i find this hard to explain, i guess its like when you have an ear infection and everything sounds "loud" in your head, im convinced she has damaged some nerves as i ve looked up nerve damage and a nerve runs into and around the ear i believe, and i ve read that if this is damaged in any way it can cause this, why oh why can t the doctors explain to her what it is??

Alison

[DrNoopurMD]

Hi,

Thanks for writing in.
Neck cracking occurs due to build up of tension in the neck muscles. It is important that your mother maintains a good posture while lying down, watching TV or sitting.
Neck massage and ice packs will also help. Also she can get a neck X ray done to rule out disc prolapse or cervical spondylitis.
Take care!