Ten years after throat radiation and ongoing damage

Have seen a neurologist yet? I have extensive radiation damage to my neck which causes pain throughout my shoulders.
I am on Botox injections for my chronic migraine but my last visit she put my entire amount of Botox in my neck in hopes of calming the muscles. I still have the migraine but my neck is WAY better!
MOJO

I'm just a year and a half out from my radiation following tongue cancer surgery. I'm currently seeing an OT for Myofacial Release Massage. I had scar tissue that refused to budge as well as fibrosis from radiation. I have an hour of this massage once a week. I have regained a lot of range of motion and flexibility. Maybe you could see a Myofacial Release Massage therapist in your area and see if that is something that will help you, too.

Thank you.

Thank you. I have managed without professional massage, but do have hardened neck muscle that causes me to be unable to hold my head upright like normal or to turn my head to the left or right full range. Pain is a constant but it is controllable so far. Thanks for sharing

@thefarmer . I’m also on baclofen muscle relaxer to loosen my jaw so I can open my mouth better.
My neurologist had me purchase a Shiatsu neck massager from Amazon for $26.00 and I’ve been using that every other day.
My neck was in the same condition as yours before the Botox injections. But it’s only been a couple weeks so not sure how long I will have relief? I don’t have full range of motion but I have a lot less pain!
MOJO

Very helpful .. thank you

Hello and welcome to the head and neck group. Interesting that pain started up so many years out. Then again I was recently reminded of my own onset of osteoradionecrosis, bone death in my case the mandible. This can also happen in the shoulder, collar bone, and neck vertebrae from radiation of these areas.
Not a doctor but a very involved patient so I might suggest a CT or MRI to rule out a dying bone giving you all this grief.

I'll be seeing our family doctor on Monday and will discuss what I'm learning with him. Thanks for your input.

I really feel for everyone going through long-term effects. The hard part for me is no one understands that this is a possibility. I had radiation to the right side of my face and throat for a Stage II parotid gland tumor. My radiation oncologist was great but after a year, I didn't see him again. I've had to enlist the skills of a neurologist, an ENT, pain management. My cancer treatment was 25 years ago but I didn't have neck and shoulder pain, muscle spasms until the last 5 years. It helps to know that I'm not the only one going through this.

I was told that radiation side effects present new challenges because people are living longer now after treatment. They are also learning to manage dosages better, so there's less damage to surrounding tissue while still killing the cancer.