Excruciating pain in my neck/shoulder

[Toddzilla]

I went camping back on labor day weekend and didn't drink as much water as I should have. As a result, I got a muscle cramp from dehydration in my back along mt left shoulder blade. All week long I've been pounding water like a madman - even giving up my beloved Diet Mt Dew for the cause. The cramp never totally went away, and my wife could massage out the knot in my back somewhat. Yesterday the cramp got a little worse and this morning I woke up in blinding pain. I couldn't lift me head off the pillow because it sent shooting pain down my left arm in to my thumb, down by back into my arse, and up by neck into the left side of my head. I can't turn my head more than 15-degrees in either direction w/o a lot of pain, nor look up or down much at all.

I have a small stash of Vicodin left over from a freak ear-infection a few months ago, so I've broken into that, but it's only taken away the pain around my shoulder. It still feels like there is a knife dug neatly into my back under my left shoulder, and the knots in the muscles around my shoulder and neck are visible.

I *really* don't want to spend $900 to go to the urgent care facility (my insurance does not cover urgent care visits nor ER visits that are non-emergency), so does anyone have any suggestions? It's 5PM here - at 7 I'm gonna switch from Vicodin to Budweiser so I've got "Drink heavily" taken care of ;)

[DaddyTorgo]

make an appointment with your primary care doc for monday first-thing?

[cartman]

Check and make sure Pumpy isn't playing around with the voodoo dolls again.

[JeeberD]

I couldn't lift me head off the pillow because it sent shooting pain down my left arm in to my thumb, down by back into my arse, and up by neck into the left side of my head.

As my dad, the doc, would always say when I told him that something I did caused me pain...


"Don't do that, then."

:)

[damnMikeBrown]

It might be a tumor. . .

[Desmond]

It's Not a tumor.

[Icy]

Don't know what to tell you sorry, but couldn't avoid to think that no matter how overcrowded our free health system is in Spain, it's 1 Million times better to wait 2 or 3 hours in the hospital to be to be taking care of than to need to avoid to go to the doctors when you really need it because it costs $900, that is crazy.

[highfiveoh]

It's Not a tumor.

http://www.quirkcollective.com/images/KindergardenCop.jpg

[StarBuck]

I'd see a chiropractor and a massage therapist. Sounds like a nerve is pinched for some reason, could be muscle intrapment caused by tight muscles.

Tell them how much pain your in and get in asap. They will take xrays. I'd look for a chiro who has a massage therapist working in his office with him. Many do, and usually those are the one's who know their stuff. This way they can both work on you.

[JimboJ]

Blinding pain is not an emergency? Go to the fucking ER. If the pain is that bad its probably worth the $900 to fix it.

[Ironhead]

I am miles away from being a doctor but this sounds like a herniated disk. Did you do any heavy lifting or physical activity on your camping trip? I would definitely get this checked out.

[EagleFan]

A massage could help. While you are there you should spring the extra few bucks for that happy ending as well.

If it gets too bad overnight I would seriously consider at least a call to the doctor (the answering service should be able to get him in contact with you, or at least an on call physician) to see if there us anything recommended. If the doctor feels you should go get looked at then I would go with that. In the end it's better to spend the money and have it not be anything serious than not spend the money and find out that it is serious (worse yet if it becomes more serious in the time it takes to finally get looked at).

[Chief Rum]

I'd see a chiropractor and a massage therapist. Sounds like a nerve is pinched for some reason, could be muscle intrapment caused by tight muscles.

Tell them how much pain your in and get in asap. They will take xrays. I'd look for a chiro who has a massage therapist working in his office with him. Many do, and usually those are the one's who know their stuff. This way they can both work on you.

This is almost certainly what it is, because I suffered from almost the exact thing earlier this year.

I went to my PC doc and he gave me muscle relaxers, pain pills, a six-day vacation from work and instructions to drink tons of water. Yeah, didn't do a thing. Thanks, doc.

No, what ended up working was going to a chiropractor/massage therapist and getting the muscle worked out. It didn't go right back to normal, but it went a long way, and my body did the rest.

Like with you, the muscle (same location, BTW, left shoulder blade, probably exact same muscle) was constricting the nerve from my neck to my left shoulder, and causing sharp pain that went all the way to the base of my hand. It was awful--could barely sleep and only in fits--so I really feel for you (sounds like your pain is even worse, too :( ).

Anyway, definitely make an appointment with a chiropractor/massage therapist. And if you see your primary, too, and he gives you a whole ton of drugs and nothing else, tell him to go to hell. ;)

Good luck.

[Cringer]

Cut it off.

[stevew]

ActivOn, Apply directly where it hurts.


good luck, being in pain sucks.

[Toddzilla]

This is almost certainly what it is, because I suffered from almost the exact thing earlier this year.

I went to my PC doc and he gave me muscle relaxers, pain pills, a six-day vacation from work and instructions to drink tons of water. Yeah, didn't do a thing. Thanks, doc.

No, what ended up working was going to a chiropractor/massage therapist and getting the muscle worked out. It didn't go right back to normal, but it went a long way, and my body did the rest.

Like with you, the muscle (same location, BTW, left shoulder blade, probably exact same muscle) was constricting the nerve from my neck to my left shoulder, and causing sharp pain that went all the way to the base of my hand. It was awful--could barely sleep and only in fits--so I really feel for you (sounds like your pain is even worse, too :( ).

Anyway, definitely make an appointment with a chiropractor/massage therapist. And if you see your primary, too, and he gives you a whole ton of drugs and nothing else, tell him to go to hell. ;)

Good luck.I'm all over it - gonna get an appointment first thing Monday morning.

And if that doesn't work, I'm going to try the lop-off.

[Cringer]

I'm all over it - gonna get an appointment first thing Monday morning.

And if that doesn't work, I'm going to try the lop-off.

Good deal. If you need to cut it off, ask for the Allen Park PD in Michigan, and see if they can give you the plans for that guillotine.

[Chief Rum]

I'm all over it - gonna get an appointment first thing Monday morning.

And if that doesn't work, I'm going to try the lop-off.

I am definitely hoping this works for you, but I can't stress enough that I am not a doctor, nor have I examined you. This worked for me, but you should see your PC at the very least. You can also get a referral from him for a massage therapist.

Good luck.

[StarBuck]

Hope it helps. Without xrays and exams, (and the fact we are not MD's) no one really knows what you've got, but if you do go this route, defo do the chiro-massage combination though. I'm a licensed massage therapist and for someone with nerve issues it's very important to have both. Also, whatever you do, don't go to just any massage therapist or spa. Get a referral for someone who does NMT or medical massage. Very important or you'll waste your time and money. Most people out there being churned out by these ho-ho schools won't be able to help you.

[Chief Rum]

Hope it helps. Without xrays and exams, (and the fact we are not MD's) no one really knows what you've got, but if you do go this route, defo do the chiro-massage combination though. I'm a licensed massage therapist and for someone with nerve issues it's very important to have both. Also, whatever you do, don't go to just any massage therapist or spa. Get a referral for someone who does NMT or medical massage. Very important or you'll waste your time and money. Most people out there being churned out by these ho-ho schools won't be able to help you.

Definitely chiro-massage. That's where I went. He definitely asked me all sorts of questions about where the pain was and explained to me what was happening there. I'm certain his knowledge of that helped him with my problem.

[StarBuck]

Totally agree with you. I've been there myself!

And hopefully the MT at the Chiro's will be covered under your insurance. If not, expect to pay a lot for someone who knows their stuff. You can always ask for a "series discount". Meaning you pre- pay for 4-5 visits (or whatever) at a discounted price, because I'm sure the chiro and the MT will need to see you more than once.