I injured my shoulder lifting a patient at work around November time. I ignored it and thought it was a sprain until it got worse and i started physio in January.
I get pain going from my c7 vertebre into my shoulder blade and down my upper arm. I did have numbness to my right had for around a month but deep tissue massage seems to have mostly relieved this.

I have had around 12 physio sessions now. No diagnosis and no onward referrals for further investigation. The physio exercises don’t seem to provide much relief. I have had some deep tissue massages which give me a couple days pain relief. However i have been told i am hypermobile and that too much deep tissue would be bad for me.

I have booked a GP appointment but the next available one is in a month’s time. Just wondering if anyone could advise on anything else I could do or what the GP may be able to do for me as i will refuse to be sent away with pain relief and more physio. I need a diagnosis. Its starting to effect my work due to the amount of pain i am in.

Hello everybody!

Recently, I had my 30th birthday (30M). I've been having a lovely life, working for myself, making films, living in a beautiful part of Australia in a national park. But then, there is my neck... My neck pain has gotten so out of hand, I realised finally, surely now, I need to do something about it. I had spent years hoping one day it would go away, perhaps one day, I would feel better, but that day didn't come, and as the story goes, it got worse. Despite the neck and back pain, I would consider myself fit and active - 180cm, 80kg, exercise 5 days a week, no medications, mostly a good unprocessed diet, low stress lifestyle. I do, however, sit down for long periods of time in my work (5-10 hours a day)

My symptoms have included:

• Dull pain in the base of the neck after being active
• Nerve-like pain while sleeping, sneezing, jolting, short, sharp pains
• Episodes of neck stiffness and flare-ups, where I can't move my neck much
• Neck cramps while looking down
• Dizziness while looking up when the neck is having a flare-up (not always)
• Headaches and severe pain and discomfort when sitting down for a long period - felt the worst when on a plane and trying to sleep, it flares everything up terribly
• Extremely tight upper back and shoulders.
• Very tight hips, quads and top of lower body - cramping with simple stretching.
• etc etc

My doctor ordered a CT scan that revealed some issues, and then I got an MRI of my lumbar spine and cervical spine to get the best picture of what's going on.

I am reaching out to the Reddit community because I feel quite alone in the situation and want to hear from people who have been through similar things and hear what their journey has been like. For me, I know this is the beginning of a huge shift in how I live. I will not let myself be in chronic pain anymore.

Here's the MRI report of my cervical and lumbar spine:

__

MRI CERVICAL SPINE

Findings:

There is moderate midcervical disc desiccation (C3-6) with reduced upper cervical lordosis. No vertebral fracture or bone marrow oedema including the facet margins.

The cerebellar tonsils appear normal within the views of the posterior fossa.

No intrinsic cord signal abnormality or syrinx.

Appropriate vertebral artery flow voids are identified.

No abnormality identified through the skull base or atlantoaxial interval.

At C2/C3, no disc protrusion or foraminal narrowing. The facet joints are intact.

At C3/C4, there is a right paracentral disc osteophyte ridge contacting the anterior cord measuring 3mm in thickness. Mild right uncovertebral ridging and foraminal narrowing can impinge on the right C4 root. The left side is clear. The facet joints remain intact.

At C4/C5, a central disc protrusion 2.5mm in thickness contacts the anterior cord with mild uncovertebral ridging on the right leading to mild foraminal narrowing. The left side is clear and the facet joints are intact.

At C5/C6, a shallow disc osteophyte ridge 1.5mm in thickness indents the thecal sac but not the cord. Uncovertebral hypertrophy leads to moderate right and mild left foraminal narrowing which can impinge on the right and contact the left C6 nerve roots. Intact facet joints.

At C6/C7, minimal annular convexity 0.5mm in thickness. No foraminal narrowing or any demonstrated C7 impingement.

C7/T1, no disc protrusion or foraminal narrowing. The facet joints are intact.

Comment: There is uncovertebral ridging at C5/6, slightly greater on the right that can contact the C6 roots. No C7 impingement identified. Prominent upper cervical disc osteophyte ridging C3/4, C4/5 contacts the anterior cord, but on the right-hand side.

MRI LUMBAR SPINE

Findings:

No vertebral marrow oedema or wedge compression. The conus terminates at L1 and there is normal configuration of the cauda equina and thecal sac. L5 is sacralised. A rudimentary L5/S1 disc is present.

At L1/2, no disc protrusion. The facet joints are mildly degenerative, with mild thickening of ligament flavum. No facet effusion. No foraminal narrowing or impingement.

At L2/3, subtle annular convexity, no annular fissure or focal protrusion to give nerve root contact. The facet joints are intact.

At L3/4, no disc protrusion. Mild facet and ligament flavum hypertrophy. No nerve root impingement.

At L4/5, moderate disc height reduction, a small central protrusion indents the thecal sac and measures 1.7mm in thickness. The adjacent L5 epidural roots are not compressed, no foraminal narrowing. Moderate facet and ligament flavum hypertrophy with a sliver of fluid on the left.

At L5/S1, transitional segment, no protrusion or facet arthropathy.

Comment:

Sacralised L5 with disc degeneration at L4/5, a shallow central protrusion is present and moderate facet arthropathy.

Hi everyone, I’m 21 years old.

About 7 months ago (around November), I think I misplaced the bar while squatting and started having shoulder/neck pain afterward. I stopped going to the gym for about a month.

When I returned, I noticed pain during pull-ups and push exercises, and I also couldn’t sleep on my left side because of the pain.

In January, the symptoms got worse. I started feeling tingling and pain throughout my left forearm along with pain in my left shoulder/neck area.

I went to a physiotherapist, and the exercises helped for a while. After taking another 1-month break from the gym, the pain was mostly gone at first when I restarted training, but now the symptoms have started again.

Has anyone experienced something similar or have any idea what this could be? Any suggestions would help.

My sister had an accident recently and injured her neck and shoulder. She already completed her treatment and physiotherapy, but she’s still dealing with ongoing neck pain and stiffness. We’ve been trying to find options that might help without relying too much on medication.

Recently we came across neck warmers and heating pads. There seem to be a lot of options online, from premium products to more budget-friendly ones on Amazon, AliExpress, Alibaba, and similar marketplaces. Some claim they help with muscle tension, stiffness, and circulation.

I wanted to ask if anyone here has actually tried neck warmers for chronic neck pain after an injury. Do they really help, or is a regular heating pad just as effective? Also, are there any specific types, materials, or brands you would recommend or avoid?

Would really appreciate hearing about personal experiences before we buy anything. Thanks.

Hello,
I (m, 16) recently started going to the gym, and it’s basically the first sport or physical activity I’ve seriously done on a regular basis. Since I started training, though, I’ve been getting pretty strong headaches while doing the sets.

The pain is usually on one side — around my left temple and the back left side of my head. I feel like it might be related to my neck position or posture, especially because I spend a lot of time sitting during the day.

I’ve also noticed that the pain gets better when I massage a certain spot on my neck. It almost feels like a tendon, tight muscle, or some kind of tense cord. Also it isnt that bad when doing leg workouts and especially bad while doing butterflys reversed and normal.

So I wanted to ask what I could do about this and how I might be able to fix or improve it. Right now it’s honestly stopping me from training because the headaches can get pretty intense.

Sharp pain in right side of eye in mornings and bending down or coughing, sometimes feels like it’s on the right side of my top of my head and sometimes from my right side of neck.

Update , I’ve had this on going for a year or so! I remember falling on my neck and my head wrapping under me about a year ago. Maybe that’s the problem.

I work as a jeweller bending over at a workbench every day. I’ve been to the doctors and they said it’s nerve pain , I’m not being sick , I don’t lose memory , no flashing lights. I do feel tired but that’s because I go to the gym and work Monday Friday.

Just been to the opticians, had an eye test, my eyes are completely fine, other than a little bit of dryness which she provided me drops for. She checked the back of my eyes and all of my eye is fine.

Update. I get this dull ache on my right eye and right side of my neck on and off throughout the day. I wake up and it’s there also. Paracetamol doesn’t seem to help, I’ve been told it could be cervicogenic headache.

I’m abit worried ?

Hello everyone,

I'm 40 years old and I've been dealing with contstant neck pain in my traps since roughly octobre 2024. The pain sometimes is more in the upper region, sometimes more in the lower region.

It crept slowly into my life. I remember using a massage pillow every now and then and it usually subsided after that. But now it's gotten to a point where I basically wake up with pain in my neck and my office job makes it even worse throughout the day. Also my gym workouts make it flair up. Interestingly enough the chest exercises the most. Massaging doesn't do anything anymore.

When I'm active (walking, cleaning, biking, etc) it usually gets a lot better. I would describe it as a burning sensation mostly, like flexing a muscle for way too long and getting lactic acid buildup. I tried to rule out a bad sleeping position as good as I can with different pillows, mattrasses, etc. to no avail. I had 6 PT massaging sessions. (that's what the doctor prescribed me half a year ago) and it really did nothing.

I can usually also crack my neck pretty loud when I tilt my head to one side.

I have NO tingling,strength loss or radiating pain in my shoulder,arms or hands.

I regularly have been going to the gym for the past 15 years.

I tried a week of Ibuprofen which also didn't really change anything. Applying heat sometimes helps a bit, sometimes not. I feel it helps to prevent a bit, but not really to relief.

Is there anything I can do next except getting an MRI? I'm terrified of an MRI because of terrible claustrophobia and like to push that as far away as possible.

Maybe someone can find him/herself in the description of symptoms and hopefully point me in the right direction 🙏

https://preview.redd.it/mvm99owof40h1.jpg?width=419&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f643303cd6d80903dc04caec6f6ff99d1093a6fe

I just did 14 pull-ups as usual. After that, I immediately felt pain in the circled part of my neck/back, especially when I nod my head or lower my head. pls help me

I've had neck pain for over 3 years. Last year a MRI showed herniated c4-c5 touching but not impinging the nerve. I've done all the normal PT, NSAIDS, oral steroids and now a cervical injection.

I had the injection on Wednesday and have had zero pain relief. But my pain responds nearly instantly to oral steroids which no one feels comfortable prescribing. What else should I be asking?