@dstone501957

I came across this while trying to figure out which symptoms are coming from my C5 injury & what is coming from systemic issues - I wanted to highlight a few things that I have learned in the last 3 years from trying to heal. I am a personal trainer & I would highly recommend you go see a good physical therapist! The Vagus nerve runs through the neck - the thyroid regulates body temp, which sits inbetween SCM & vagus nerve. These can all be affected by structural skeletal pressure, causing inflammation, and muscles holding tension to stabilize, that brings me to the insane ear pain! If you have never released and stretched your SCM muscle, holy guacamole - when I do it, It feels like an electrical burning charge fire is going to burn thru my neck and ear junction behind the jaw - with most cervical instability/injury it becomes nearly impossible to stabilize the head from the deep cervical flexors that sit at the top of spine/base of skull, and we end up using the cervical flexors at the front of the neck which are the SCM muscles, which the vagus “wandering” nerve innervates with SCM. I also get lots of neuropathy, anytime my arms are at rest for more than 20 minutes, numbness, tingly cold hands. I recently had a PT release mine & my body went into uncontrollable shakes from where my vagus nerve was physically releasing tension! I was sooo stressed leading up to that session & I felt so calm & collected after! The neck is so so complicated - find a good PT that can educate you on how to move safely so you can keep any strength & flexibility you can! They can help you properly progress movements AND they should be willing to advocate on your behalf when communicating with your doctor so you do not feel like you are being dismissed and gaslighted, because that has to be the worst feeling of them all, like you’re making it all up. You are not!