Pain in neck, collarbones, shoulders, upper back and arms. Ideas?
I am hoping someone here might have some insight or can point me in the right direction, because I am feeling really desperate and losing my mind a bit.
I am a 24 years old female. One morning about four months ago, I woke up with crazy pain in my neck, sides of my neck, around my collarbones, shoulders, upper back, and the top half of both my arms. It felt like it came completely out of nowhere, and the pain has been intense and daily ever since. For some background, I’ve had mild neck tension in the past, but I've never had any serious pain in my shoulders, or upper arms before this. For about a year, I've had a habit of (shrugging my shoulders slightly) and letting my head tilt backward in a controlled way, which produces a clicking sound. Additionally, around January for 2 months, I developed a habit of manually cracking my neck to the sides to relieve tension (sometimes pulling my hair a bit to get leverage).
I still have now these super tense knots, especially right in the back corner where my neck meets my shoulders. The base of my neck at the back where c7 (around that big bone that sticks out) was, when this first started, sensitive to touch, and it honestly felt a little swollen to me. On top of that, I keep getting these weird, hot/burning sensations in all these same areas, and I've been getting headaches pretty much every day.
There are some other weird symptoms too. My arms feel weaker, which is really strange to me since im usually somewhat strong. Also, on top of the shoulders and neck clicking, I hear and feel a click when I swallow, and it constantly feels like I have a lump or something stuck in my throat (globus sensation, the feeling was more prominent around January for probably 2 months, now not so much, but still there).
I had neck MRI done, but the doctor said it didn't really show anything abnormal. I took a muscle relaxant (Orphenadrine citrate/paracetamol) for 10 days and a NSAID (Diclofenac sodium) for 14 days, and I did physical therapy for about 2-3 months (including dry needling), but none of it did much. I even went to an orthopedic doctor and a neurologist, but they honestly weren't helpful at all.
Now, after 4 months, the pain is slightly better than day one, but it is still super painful, and the burning sensations and weakness are still there. Dealing with this intense pain every single day is becoming completely unbearable.
Has anyone experienced anything like this? I really need to get my life back.. it doesn’t make sense to me to have this for so long suddenly after waking up one morning… Thank you so much in advance.
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I'd see a chiropractor, even if you don't accept an adjustment, you'll find out things you didn't know about your thoracic spine.