Unbearable neck cramps

caffinated1

npcsurvivor said:

building shoulder strength

I have spasms sporadically but not to the severity you describe. I get them when I am out in the cold or when I am lifting or carrying something heavy. I find that weight lifting to build shoulder muscles (esp. trapezius) helps reduce neck spasms. The most important thing is to start with light weight and build it up slowly. Some of the exercises I find useful are front and lateral dumbel raises and upright rows. Hope this helps.

I've tried doing excersize,

I've tried doing excersize, most of them just spur the cramps, lifting my arms over my head is a guranteed trigger. my wife is wonderful with the neck and upper shoulder massages, definitely helps loosen up the wooden neck muscles.

caffinated1

MrsBD said:

Cramps

I really think that doing the neck and shoulder exercises faithfully helps with stiffness and cramping. If I skip a couple of days, everything starts to tighten. Another factor could be your salt intake as it can aggravate lymphedema. My sister swears by PanAway essential oil, but I haven't tried it. 

Gotta love the nuclear

Gotta love the nuclear fibrosis.... 

 

....still above the dirt so I ain't bitchin'

wmc

caffinated1 said:

Gotta love the nuclear

Gotta love the nuclear fibrosis.... 

 

....still above the dirt so I ain't bitchin'

Just a shot in the dark........

I have bone spirs in my neck that were pressing on my nerves and the pain was unbearable. I looked at the X-ray and thought, ok I'll go to a chiropractor and get this fixed asap. Then the doctor came in and put up the MRI photos. I looked at them and thought i'm in big trouble and there is no doctor will touch me. The Neurosurgeon came in and explained I needed sugrgery as it was also cutting half the fluid to the brain. He explaned whay was involved and I decided to live with is and pain pills as is was very major, and I would loose most of the motion in my neck. Around four years down the road I went back and said ok lets do this. Now he says no, it is not as bad as it was so lets do an epidural shot which is like a cortisone shot but in the spinal column and instead of $300 it is done by few doctors and is $3000 and you can do three a year and it if it works, and no gaurentee it will, is only good for three months. Well I did the shot and then did the exercises and it worked. I only had one shot, and that was 8 years ago. It stopped the swelling and got rid of the pain to where I could heal. I have no idea if this would help you, but ask if your pain could also be nirve damage. If so it might be well worth it and they would just give you a shot but not in the spinal columm like I had, so you would be the $300 and it might relieve and relax it enought the exersizes would work and reduce or eleminate the pain.
Like I said just grabbing at straws.

Bill

caffinated1

wmc said:

Just a shot in the dark........

I have bone spirs in my neck that were pressing on my nerves and the pain was unbearable. I looked at the X-ray and thought, ok I'll go to a chiropractor and get this fixed asap. Then the doctor came in and put up the MRI photos. I looked at them and thought i'm in big trouble and there is no doctor will touch me. The Neurosurgeon came in and explained I needed sugrgery as it was also cutting half the fluid to the brain. He explaned whay was involved and I decided to live with is and pain pills as is was very major, and I would loose most of the motion in my neck. Around four years down the road I went back and said ok lets do this. Now he says no, it is not as bad as it was so lets do an epidural shot which is like a cortisone shot but in the spinal column and instead of $300 it is done by few doctors and is $3000 and you can do three a year and it if it works, and no gaurentee it will, is only good for three months. Well I did the shot and then did the exercises and it worked. I only had one shot, and that was 8 years ago. It stopped the swelling and got rid of the pain to where I could heal. I have no idea if this would help you, but ask if your pain could also be nirve damage. If so it might be well worth it and they would just give you a shot but not in the spinal columm like I had, so you would be the $300 and it might relieve and relax it enought the exersizes would work and reduce or eleminate the pain.
Like I said just grabbing at straws.

Bill

Thanks, i'll look into that.

Thanks, i'll look into that. I am going to go and get another cortisone shot in my left shoulder anyway so it can't hurt to ask....

The cancer was bad but these side effects of the cure really suck. 

tee12586

5 years..

Good afternoon, 

I am 5 years post parotid gland surgery. Unexpecedly diagnosed with mucoepidermoid carcinoma. Had a complete disection of the tumor and agressive radiation. I too, have several bouts with unbearable neck cramps so severe it pulls my tongue back and lasts for several minutes, even hours..and then its sore for days following. I have tried many medications like muscle relaxers and pain medications and they don't do anything. The scar tissue is par for the course. I typically use Vicks Vapor Rub on the area that gets these charlie horses and it is a temporary relief to the after cramp soreness. If your still going through radiation this is not recommended as treatment as the skin is very sensitive during this time. Use cold compresses during radiation and once the skin is healed then move on to the vapor rub. I hope this helps.

Stay strong!

Theresa