Sporadic Neck Pain

[Maplewalnut]

Hey everyone,

Today I was working on my computer perfectly fine. No discomfort other than the numbness of my butt. I then got up and walked over to my girlfriend to give her a hug--she was lying on the bed so it required for me bend over. She put her arms around me and kind of pulled me towards her. Suddenly it hit me, a shooting pain on the left side of my trapezius, I suppose near the levator scapulae muscle. It's VERY sensitive. I can't put a hot pack or even put my finger on it. I don't know what you would categorize it as, possibly neurological?

I am a college student and exam time is rolling around the corner. There really isn't anytime for me to run over to a doctor or a hospital at this moment.

What could it possibly be?

[painkiller99]

Hi.

It might be possible that the symptom you experienced is related to a nerve impingement, most probably at the cervical spine area. I would advise you not to engage in further activities that would further injure that area at least until you have consulted a doctor.

First aid for acute injuries should always be ice/cold pack, not a heat pack, especially when there's redness or swelling. Heat packs can be applied once the redness/swelling has subsided.

You could opt to observe if the pain would eventually go away and take some OTC pain medications (after meals, of course) but ideally you should have a doctor look at it as soon as possible and probably have an X-ray done, at the least, to see if you might have misaligned any vertebrae in the process.

Good luck.

[Maplewalnut]

I'm feeling OK, now (I'm a tough one :P 7 months ago I had surgery for a hernia at age 20 (Yahoo!) There is a slight dull pain. When I touch it it feels numb but also hurts.

I am able to move my shoulders up and down. Although, it isn't really near my shoulder--I would say more behind the head and above the neck. If you were to take your index finger and your thumb on the same hand, and touch tips thats approximately how much of a surface it covers. I am able to move around semi-normally--turning my head side-to-side feels fine, although I feel a slight dull pain. It's just that one area that really hurts. I don't want to move around the wrong way and make it worse--weird that this would happen in an area where I didn't really use the muscle prior to the injury.

Thanks for the quick response and the luck for the exams!

[Caliber2005]

Hi Maple,
How are you feeling now?
Well, the sequences of events you have described suggest that you would have probably injured the nerve. Feeling of pain, tingling, burning is a symptom of nerve compression or any external pressure on the nerve.
Alternatively it can be a muscle pull.
If you stand with hands down with your shoulders straight, are you able to move shoulders up and down?
If yes, then it suggests no nerve injury, but probably a muscle pull.
Are there any other symptoms apart from this?
You can meet a physio, who would teach you exercise, for helping you out with regaining of movements around shoulder joint.
All the best for your exam.