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Looking for help with radiation fibrosis; Tips?

Posted by Ellen2007 @nnurse, Jan 29, 2023

Looking for help with radiation fibrosis following radiation of head and neck and a modified neck dissection . I have had PT and do daily exercises at home for neck fibrosis and trismus. I also have a mouth stretching device called a therabite. Is there anything else besides physical therapy that I can do to help with this worsening condition? I am also experiencing occasional muscle spams in the back of my neck and have read that Botox injections may help with that. Any suggestions would be much appreciated. Thank you.

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sandy8043 | @sandy8043 | 15 hours ago
In reply to @steve1947s "Almost a year since joining this "blog thread"..... so far, no good. 2015 radiation to my..." + (show)
Profile picture for steve1947s @steve1947s

Almost a year since joining this "blog thread"..... so far, no good. 2015 radiation to my neck and the effects are getting worse. Change in voice and trouble swallowing, I live with. Fluctuating BP and carotid artery blockage, I'm doing my best to deal with. Thyroid, so far, so good. Back of neck fibrosis is getting worse as time goes by.
Physical therapy seems a no brainer for range of motion and posture work. Chiropractor is working to break up the muscle tissue and feels great. I even tried acupuncture to no avail. Pain management center started with trigger point injections followed by injection into the "neck joint" followed by steroid trigger point injections and now on to botox injections. It's only been two months and I'm told to wait six months. I've still got to investigate fat grafting technique. Good luck to us all.

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@steve1947s I fell your pain. I've had two different OTs perform Myofascial Release Therapy/Massage. The first one used firm pressure and that worked very well. She retired.😥 My second OT used light pressure and that didn't help much. But the idea is that the connective tissue between the skin and muscle needs to move hence the " release". My fibrosis is worsening as well. Not sure what to do about it. Stretches and self massage don't seem to work anymore.

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