Pain in neck/upper spine when tilting head backwards

[Ryan_11]

I've had this problem for quite a while now. I'm a 26 year old male. I have a desk job but never suffer from any pain while at the desk or afterwards. The cause may be from weight training that I started 8 months ago, although I never felt any pain in any of the gym sessions or had a sore neck or upper back afterwards.

I only noticed the problem when I was flossing my teeth before bed one night and tilted my head back to get a better angle. When it was almost all the way back (as far as it would go normally) I noticed a pain/hard ache in the back of my neck/upper spine. Around where the crease develops between the head and upper back when tilting the head back. If I had to pinpoint it I'd say it's near the top of the spine but not quite in the neck. About where the last couple of vertebrae are that you can feel if you massage your upper spine.

I kind of forgot about it as the pain was only present in that certain position and as it's an uncommon position it doesn't affect my lifestyle. However I'd say it's been present for at least a few months.

Anyway, the reason for this post is that I went to a physio as I had a little bit of ulnar nerve twinges in my left elbow/tricep after working out. He then worked on my neck 'to relieve pressure'. His techniques were kind of pulling on my head from behind (when I was lying down) and poking in the neck area.

Unfortunately in the week after this I had pain in both arms and some tingling in my right little finger. He'd obviously caused a lot of irritation to the ulnar nerve where it originates in the neck.

I've just had 4 weeks off all exercise and am feeling better, although the pain in my neck is still there and is a bit worse than before thanks to the physio (but again only when tilting my head back).

I went to another physio and he just said that my nervous system was extremely irritable (thanks to what the other guy had done) and it should calm down after a couple of weeks. It's a week later and I'm feeling much better from a nerve point of view, but the pain in my upper spine/neck is concerning.

Does anyone know what this could be? How to get rid of it? Who would be the best person to see for treatment?

My experience is that physical therapists are pretty much useless unless used for rehab/sports injuries etc, it's just trial and error for anything else. Doctors are clueless and just send you for scans, and I don't think a scan would reveal anything as I'm fine doing everything else apart from tilting my head back. I'm also a bit dubious of chiropractors as they are the same as physios and from my recent experiences I don't want to risk having manual therapy to make things worse again. I realise this doesn't leave many options left but any first hand experience or advise would be appreciated.

[JaneH04]

Same thing with me. I am a 27year old female with the same issue. For me, the pain is not constantly occurring, it is only when i tilt my head. This is also accompanied by a slight tingling feeling in my right pinky finger and up towards my elbow. The pain in this area becomes more intense as i flex my wrist. I have a doctor visit next week. Last time I saw my PCP, I informed him of the neck issue, and he looked for MS. Results were negative. I wish I knew what this was besides strange and uncomfortable.

[dtsepy]

I am having the exact same thing!  I woke up one morning with the stiffest neck I have ever had.  It took 4 days to go away!  I now am left with a very painful and uncomfortable feeling when I tilt my head back and also when I am driving with my left arm elevated on the wheel.  I constantly feel like I have toi straighten out.  I have been to mt Chiro 6 times in 3 weeks and it only seems to be getting worse.  I now have a ache in my inner elbow that seems to send the worst pins and needles to my thumb, pointer and index finer.  My Chiro said they are unrelated but I feel very strongly that they are connected.  Sleeping is the worst!  I wake up in pain 10 times a night !  why is this happening?  Im starting to get worried.  Please keep me posted if you guys come up with anything.  
Thanks!

[vonping]

I also experienced this kind of pain. I had nerve test done as well as an MRI. It was diagnosed as cubital  tunnel syndrome as well as carpel tunnel syndrome. I had surgery and  the pain and tingling and electric shock feelings have subsided 85$%. However I do have herniation's   as well as bulging disk;s in my neck  as well as  in my lower back. I was informed that the pain & discomfort  I still experience is more then likely caused because of these  herniation's or bulging disks. The pain is now traveling down to my right side buttock when I tilt my head back or  when I turn my head (neck) from right to left or left to right. I am  experiencing severe pain. I am currently researching why I am in pain when I tilt my head back as well as  when sleeping  on my side.
I hope you are feeling better and I recommend you see an orthopedic specialist and have  an MRI . Also it can not hurt to get a second or 3rd opinion. Wish you well.

[shinty]

I think you should see a specialist (a physiatrist in this case I think would be best). An MRI, and an EEG, or EMG test will greatly help to diagnose you i'm sure. Everyone gave you solid info. Good Luck, and don't hesitate to ask anything else about anything in the future! take care,
                     shinty

[vonping]

Why a physiatrist?

[SuzanneinSelby]

I have had the problem with pain in my neck for years as well. The worst it has ever been though was on July 5th. I woke up and had not only the pain in the right side up high in my neck, but both of my arms were in severe pain. It was excruciating. I have been seeing a pain management specialist for years because of both cervical and lumbar arthritis, bone spurs, and bulging disks. She was not sure what was going on but gave me prednisone and upped my pain meds from Lortab for breakthrough, to Percocet. I also take Morhpine for long acting pain management. She had also recently sent me for an EMG to a quack that called himself a Neurologist because I have been having pain, stiffness, and weakness in both of my hands off and on since last year that has been getting more off, than on. They have been trying to figure out if the pain in my hands (worse on right) is coming from my neck issues, or from Rheumatoid Arthritis because I also experience all over body pain which is always at its worst in the morning. He said that he had found that I had carpal tunnel in both hands, and then he just kind of stopped. He really did not test my neck. I felt like two little zaps on the right side and he didn’t even touch the left side.

I am almost finished with the Prednisone and my arms feel almost back to normal, but every time I lay down, my hands get really tight and I can't close them without really working and gently bending them to close again. Especially the right hand....the first and third fingers on the right hand also pop and really hurt after lying down. I have pain in the palm of my right hand too.

The neck pain is still there and I think the reason that it got so much worse was from looking up and titling my head back for over an hour while watching the fireworks display on July 4th.

It has been really painful in the past to do anything that requires bending my head backwards, ie; getting hair washed at hair salon (brings tears to my eyes), painting a ceiling, watching a movie at the theater while being too close to the screen, etc.

In looking at the findings on my most recent MRI taken on 6/24/13, the only issues stated on the "Right" side or "Bilaterallly" of my neck are "At C3-4, bilateral uncovertebral osteoarthropathy but no significant central stenosis. There is mild right neural foraminal narrowing."

Does anyone know if this would be enough to cause my hands to hurt, especially the right one, and not be able to close them after lying down for any period of time, and to also cause pain in my arms so bad?

[Darren02]

Hey guys, I'm having sort of the same problem with my neck. But I can't tilt it back at all or roll my head left or right. It sort of just stops moving, and I get this EXTREMELY sharp pain on the right side of my neck. The pain is coming from somewhere between my shoulder blade and the top of my spine/where the neck begins.  It's not only when I tilt my head backwards, but also when I'm trying to get out of bed, you don't realize how much muscles in your neck are used to simply get of bed or do simple tasks, until you get injured there.

But I injured it just last night playing basketball with my friends. I jumped to save the ball from going out of bounds, and didn't realize there was a fence in front of me. So as I hit the fence with all of my momentum with the top half of my body, specifically left should, and then immediately got this sharp pain in my neck. I have yet to make any progress with tilting my head any further since the initial injury. I've been taking Tylenol, but it hasn't really been doing much.

I am hoping it's just a pinch nerve, as you guys were saying, and I'm just over thinking it. I just really don't want this to get any worse. I'm thinking of just resting it and keep the moving of my neck to a bare minimum for a couple of days to see if it heals at all. What do you guys think I should do?

[felrio]

same problem... tilting my head back... also turning to either side at some point it reaches a similar painful sensation... I do lift weights constantly and believe it has to do to some extent with this type of activity, just my thought process is that it may have to do with muscular balance and tightness due to growth. Just my "own" hypothesis. That post about stretching sounds like a good idea. I also do yoga about once a week, and it has helped me in other areas about muscular tightness, soreness, pain.