Neck Pain - Could it be my desk job?

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Hi everyone,

Looking for a bit of advice as I'm at my wits end with neck pain.

About 3 weeks ago I started noticing I couldn't get comfortable in bed, it felt like my bed and pillows were made out of rock (might as well have been tbh) and that my shoulders and right arm felt a bit bruised when I'd try get comfortable on my side.

Fast forward a week and this pain had amplified to the point where sitting at my desk/driving etc were causing noticeable amounts of pain across my full upper back, up the right side of my neck to the base of my skull and I was getting headaches at the back of my head. I had also started experiencing shooting pains in my upper arms, weakness and at times pinching pains in my fingers that would come and go.

I brought up the nerve pain in my hands with my doctor and the first thing she asked was if I had a sore neck, which I said I had. She said that it sounds like I've injured my neck and it's pinching my nerve. At this point I had booked an appointment with my sports therapist so I didn't push this any further.

My sports therapist worked on the area, realigned my pelvis, did something crazy like 50 minutes of deep tissue massage and I felt loads better when he was done. The next day I felt 100 x worse which I heard is common, but this didn't seem to get any better the following few days. I've lowered my steering wheel in my car, I'm trying to take regular breaks when in the office but the pain in relentless made worse by sitting down.

At this point the pain in more isolated to the right side, there is a tight part of my upper right side above my shoulder blade that is rock solid and the pain seems to be stemming from there, moving up the right side of my neck and round to the right side of my jaw. I'm getting headaches on and off through out the day and I feel like I'm unable to relax my muscles.

I've bought a mattress topper to put ontop of my already pillow topped bed, new softer pillows etc but to no avail.

I'm going to book another appointment with the DR but looking for any advice on what else I could be doing to help this recover? Any tips from people who work at a desk all day to ease the pain?

Now stressing that it is something more serious...

P.s. - Nothing notable has happened i.e. injury/falls etc. Just woke up one day with this..
 
Do you happen to clench or grind you teeth a lot?
I have TMJ (temperomandibular joint disorder) and I experience this all the time. I tend to clench whilst awake and concentrating then grind when I'm asleep, I commute in a car for nearly 2 hours a day and sit at a desk too which exacerbates it.

I experience the same pains as you as well as tinnitus, (bane of my life!!).
I have monthly deep tissue massages and a weekly epsom salt bath which helps a lot! Weirdly enough, exercise and pole fitness help to stretch the muscles out too.
As I have severe health anxiety the pains can make it worse so I am going to try hypotherapy and acupuncture to help.

Hope this helps!
 
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Do you happen to clench or grind you teeth a lot?
I have TMJ (temperomandibular joint disorder) and I experience this all the time. I tend to clench whilst awake and concentrating then grind when I'm asleep, I commute in a car for nearly 2 hours a day and sit at a desk too which exacerbates it.

I experience the same pains as you as well as tinnitus, (bane of my life!!).
I have monthly deep tissue massages and a weekly epsom salt bath which helps a lot! Weirdly enough, exercise and pole fitness help to stretch the muscles out too.
As I have severe health anxiety the pains can make it worse so I am going to try hypotherapy and acupuncture to help.

Hope this helps!
You have literally just described me! I have noticed that I do clench my teeth a lot, if I’m concentrating I’ll find that I’ve had my jaw/teeth clenched for the last 20 minutes which is exhausting.

Funnily enough, I actually went to the doctors because I thought I had a blocked ear due to getting a random sea side/whooshing noise every so often followed by a bit of pain but not often and brought up the neck pain whilst I was there, so definitely have the tinnitus.

I’m a 50 mile round trip to work and back daily which can see me in the car for 2 hours too.

I picked up some Epsom bath salts on my way home from work so I’m going to give this a go.

I’ve booked an appointment with the Dr and another with the sports therapist so might suggest dry needling.

I’m so surprised that our symptoms are so similar! You’ve made me feel so much better, just awful that you have to go through this.

Thank you, it has helped me so much!
 
You have literally just described me! I have noticed that I do clench my teeth a lot, if I’m concentrating I’ll find that I’ve had my jaw/teeth clenched for the last 20 minutes which is exhausting.

Funnily enough, I actually went to the doctors because I thought I had a blocked ear due to getting a random sea side/whooshing noise every so often followed by a bit of pain but not often and brought up the neck pain whilst I was there, so definitely have the tinnitus.

I’m a 50 mile round trip to work and back daily which can see me in the car for 2 hours too.

I picked up some Epsom bath salts on my way home from work so I’m going to give this a go.

I’ve booked an appointment with the Dr and another with the sports therapist so might suggest dry needling.

I’m so surprised that our symptoms are so similar! You’ve made me feel so much better, just awful that you have to go through this.

Thank you, it has helped me so much!
I’m so glad I could help! I’ve had it for 15 years, tried braces and everything!!
I travel 50 miles a day too so reading in the Audi TT for an suv to see if it will help.

I’ve found the salts and a citrus bath bomb/oil helps together...no idea why 🙈

my ears do the same, it’s like your on a plane and they’ve popped. A few other things to suggest, less caffeine, alcohol and no smoking if you do.
Also I always get told less stress which is hard in my job.

I hope the doctor can help and you know it’s not anything serious and other people have it too ❤
 
I have similar problems. Dr referred me to Physio who did lots of tests and asked lots of questions and told me I need to be more mobile! I do spend a long time on my laptop and he told me to stop being on it for such long lengths of time. I also work in an office spending long periods at my desk and on a pc. He gave me some neck stretching exercises and told me if I didn't make changes now then I would end up with arthritis. This was a couple of years ago and I still have problems but I do find that if I move about more instead of sitting for long periods my neck is less stiff.

I then got a problem with my shoulder going up into my neck which the practice nurse said was my trapezius muscle and she told me to press on it myself or go and have a massage. I went for the massage and the lady said my muscle was very tight. I felt better afterwards and went for another one but it was quite expensive so I didn't keep it up but it did help.

I would still go to your GP though and they may refer you for phsyio. I had a sports massage years ago and it actually made things worse!
 
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I’m so glad I could help! I’ve had it for 15 years, tried braces and everything!!
I travel 50 miles a day too so reading in the Audi TT for an suv to see if it will help.

I’ve found the salts and a citrus bath bomb/oil helps together...no idea why 🙈

my ears do the same, it’s like your on a plane and they’ve popped. A few other things to suggest, less caffeine, alcohol and no smoking if you do.
Also I always get told less stress which is hard in my job.

I hope the doctor can help and you know it’s not anything serious and other people have it too ❤
Oh my goodness 15 years you’ve been going through this 😭

You won’t regret the switch to an SUV. My last car was an Audi and I moved onto a Range Rover and it is super comfortable. I find even just the driving position on the road being higher up puts less strain on you when checking the road especially how low down a TT is.

Do you use a particular brand of citrus bath bomb?

Fingers crossed I can get a bit of relief. I’m sure you’ve tried it all but I’ll keep you posted on my progress and if there is anything that works.

😘😘

I have similar problems. Dr referred me to Physio who did lots of tests and asked lots of questions and told me I need to be more mobile! I do spend a long time on my laptop and he told me to stop being on it for such long lengths of time. I also work in an office spending long periods at my desk and on a pc. He gave me some neck stretching exercises and told me if I didn't make changes now then I would end up with arthritis. This was a couple of years ago and I still have problems but I do find that if I move about more instead of sitting for long periods my neck is less stiff.

I then got a problem with my shoulder going up into my neck which the practice nurse said was my trapezius muscle and she told me to press on it myself or go and have a massage. I went for the massage and the lady said my muscle was very tight. I felt better afterwards and went for another one but it was quite expensive so I didn't keep it up but it did help.

I would still go to your GP though and they may refer you for phsyio. I had a sports massage years ago and it actually made things worse!
I am guilty of not moving from my desk all day. My job is super fast paced and would be stressful to most people but I thank my dad for how laid back I am. However, I should have mentioned this in my post, I’m currently in the process of buying a house which has caused me to be running at a high level of stress which could be contributing to my neck pain too.

What you described with the trapezius muscle is definitely what I’m experiencing and today it feels super tight round the front of my neck on the right side.

Thank you so much for your reply, it’s so helpful and reassuring to know that this is very common (although in every other way I wish it wasn’t and you didn’t have to go through this).

I’ll go see me GP tomorrow and I’ll report back.

Thanks again 😘😘😘
 
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Could try chiropractor? I've been seeing one recently for a trapped nerve in my hip which was giving me horrendous sciatica. I felt a difference just after a couple of sessions
 
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100% go and book in with a chiropractor. They are amazing and will be able to sort you out. I absolutely swear by them, I’d been back and forth to the GP with back issues/pain and just kept being punted back to the physio who, frankly, was pretty useless and didn’t really seem to know what to do or what the issue was. I got fed up, found a local chiropractor and it was the best thing!!! He could tell my spine was out of alignment, could tell I had muscles that were in spasm etc and sorted it. I go once a month to keep ontop if it and pay £35 a time (for about 40mins) - he sometimes does acupuncture also which is really good too.
 
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Oh in this case I will definitely of back and see a Chiropractor. I have idiopathic structural scoliosis which to be honest is very minor and has never caused me any issues/pain but I went to the Chiropractor for years for adjustments once a week but gave up because I didn't really have any issues and it was bloody expensive to keep up. I'll try track down the guy I went to as I think they've moved and I'll take it from there - Glad to hear you guys have found that the most beneficial treatment...at this point i'll do anything!

Went to my GP this morning, I've been given Co-codamol and Naproxen and advised to take them for a week to see if it helps me relax the muscles a bit, but definitely agree this doesn't really fix the problem. She didn't mention the physio but I'd be reluctant to even bother as I had to go when I was first diagnosed with Scoliosis in my early teens and it was a waste of time.

I should also say, I've never smoked, rarely drink and don't drink tea or coffee or fizzy juice so the only caffeine i'm really getting in my diet would be from any chocolate I eat? Should probably limit myself a bit more, but don't see it affecting this massively.

Going to book Chiro, bath salts/bombs and keep taking these meds.

Fingers crossed & thanks once again for the advice - really appreciate it :)
 
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I had similar shoulder/neck pain. It massively improved when i stopped using two screens at work.