Shoulder Muscle and neck pain

Wow! I had no idea that was a requirement! Thank you for telling me.

Try sleeping with a towel rolled up under your neck. I did that for 6 months and found it helpful. Make sure you are aligned properly at night. Get a cheap foam neck brace and wear for part of the day. That used to help me tons! Also Deep Myofascial Tissue Release therapy. Good luck I had surgery last year. It didn't get rid of all the pain. So be careful and be sure you have a great surgeon. I did. It didn't go well and had to have another immediately after. Even with the great surgeon things don't always go as planned.

After the doctors appointment today she thinks it's just a huge knot in the muscles 🙃
Try heat & ice and Tylenol. She also referred me to a kinesiologist.
Fingers crossed

@windyshores maybe you need to consider a new PT? If all they do is massage without giving you exercises at home and in office you won’t get better. I have similar symptoms due to OA and stenosis of C-spine. My home exercise program keeps my upper back a den neck in check.
If you watch TV, sit at a device typing or just reading a book can set off your shoulders and neck from keeping your head still. I get up every 30 minutes and break the cycle.

Thanks @jenatsky. My PT and others in the past have tried exercises but they increase inflammation and pain, possibly due to my lupus. I am a hardy soul but physically fragile with 7 spinal fractures and stenosis in both cervical and lumbar regions. Massage helped a lot though short term.

Tai chi has helped me over the last 15 years.

Hi Norma,

Sounds like we have similar issues. I use a pillow from Sutera for side sleeping. It's pretty good. It has an indentation in the middle so my cervical spine doesn't have to bend at an angle.

I have very tight neck, trap, and rhomboid muscles. I found a great masseuse who starts me on my back. He has very strong hands and really digs into my neck muscles first. It's amazing how tight they can get. From there he works down to the traps and eventually the rhomboids.

I thought the problem was with my upper back muscles (rhomboids). And while that's true, this masseuse told me the order in which muscles are "unknotted" is important. It allows for better blood flow. I've had massages for just my rhomboids, and if the neck muscles don't get unknotted, the benefits of the massage are short-lived.

I hope that helps. I don't know about a water pillow, but hopefully someone else can help.

Final note: While I like the Sutera pillow, I also sleep with a firm pillow between my knees to keep my spine aligned. I also use a bolster against my back (again, I'm a side sleeper) and a pillow in front of me to rest my arm. This isn';t a lot of work once you get used to it. And I can't sleep without these pillows/bolsters.

All the best from a fellow duck/upper back pain sufferer!

Joe

I just started using Head and neck wrap that uses beads not water
Warm in Microwave I like that it extends to cover from above collar line and down below neck muscle AND across shoulders. Fri I was given rehab doc apt for Dec !!! for a Pain clinic! Just hold on til we can see you !
Waiting to restart PT. Recent PT at a rehab for this neck muscle problem helped.
Found neck /shoulder wrap at Target made for Sharper Image.
Not referred by any PT or neuro docs. Avoids pain pills with negative side effects like sleepiness in AM or fatigue.
Lidocaine has prevented severe recurrence but wrap relaxes to help sleep.

Wow, you got what I've got, almost to the last detail. I have severe spondylosis and stenosis from injuries in the military and I have almost constant pain with vertigo. I've found that wearing a cervical collar while working on the computer helped me a lot. For what it's worth.