@fififefe Thank you Lori for inviting me into this discussion. Fififefe, please let me introduce myself. I am a spine surgery patient because of an old injury from a whiplash, and ultimately that caused spinal cord compression and it did cause electric shocks down my body. I can tell you that figuring all this out and having some one level surgery really changed my life for the better. I had been through several years of doctors missing the problem before I came to Mayo and found the right doctor. I am so glad I did that.

I understand how scary this is, and I was a terrified patient. Fear is very powerful, but more powerful than fear is the patient who takes charge and advocates for themselves to find the answers. You have control over your decisions if you do this instead of letting fear control you.

Where did you make a connection that copper was causing a problem? Is this a problem of being in physical contact with something? Can you tell me about how holding the phone is causing your pain? Are you bending your neck to hold a phone against your shoulder or is it bending your arm to hold the phone that is causing pain? Can you tell me what happened in your accident? Was this a whiplash? Do you feel different is you have good posture compared to slouching posture? Is it better or worse if you are sitting or standing? Is the pain worse at night when you lay down?

I know I had so many questions, and I bet that you do too, so ask away. I can tell you all kinds of details about my journey and how I discovered something that a bunch of doctors missed. Cervical spine issues cause big headaches too and muscle spasms from spine problems can start pulling the neck out of its normal curvature and that stretches muscles that connect the head and neck. It causes dizziness too, and possible pains elsewhere.

Have you tried a heat wrap to try to ease the pain?