About a month ago, I woke up one morning and started having neck pain. Specifically, if I turn my head to either side, there is pain behind and slightly below my ears, right at the top of the neck. Additionally, when I yawn, I sometimes have pain across the back of my head, towards the place right above my neck. When I lean my head back, the pain will telescope to my forehead but is generally not a sharp pain. I went to the doctor about ten days ago and they took x-rays that came back negative. I was given skelaxin which didn’t really seem to do a whole lot to relieve the pain. I was also given a prescription for physical therapy but haven’t used that yet. Does anyone have any idea what these symptoms might indicate?
#1 by sokokl on January 31, 2010 - 1:37 pm
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Skelaxin is a great muscle relaxer but this pain that you are noticing sounds like it could be related to something with your jaw such as TMJ Syndrome (an example only).
TMJ Syndrome is a condition that affects the joint that connects upper and lower jaw. When it creates problems it can cause headaches, earaches, neck pain as some examples.
I would recommend consulting your dentist about this as well to see what they say.
#2 by mistify on January 31, 2010 - 3:08 pm
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This is a common form of “mechanical neck” pain. We can probably try to pin it to something like a bulging or herniated disc in the neck, but the truth is, “pathoanotomic diagnosis” is weak at best. What is more important is what happens when you move your neck. Your descriptions are very common things seen in the physical therapy clinic. It’s also not unusual for muscle relaxers to not help.
I would highly recommend you see a physical therapist who is trained in mechanical diagnosis and therapy. You can find one at: http://www.mckenziemdt.org
#3 by Rick Olderman, MSPT on January 31, 2010 - 9:08 pm
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In my experience as a physical therapist, most headaches and neck pain are due to the shoulder blades sitting too low on the trunk. I know this may sound odd but, to put it simply, there are muscles attaching from the shoulder blade directly to the first four neck vertebrae and skull. When the shoulders sit too low, these muscles then pull on the neck bones and skull causing neck pain and headaches.
Here’s a quick, simple test to see if this is a contributing cause of your headaches. If you’re having right-sided neck pain or headaches, raise your right hand and place it flat on top of your head for 20 seconds. Make sure your head doesn’t side-bend or rotate to achieve this. If your pain diminished after this test, then your scapula may be sitting too low causing your discomfort. This is easily correctable. This is also the culprit in diagnoses such as thoracic outlet syndrome and carpal tunnel syndrome. I’ve just written a book about fixing neck pain and headaches using an approach based on this mechanical connection to the shoulder and neck. It has been very effective over the last few years and I think is worth a try if you haven’t found the answers you are seeking.
I’ve also posted this test on YouTube, if you’re interested.