Healing My Chronic Shoulder and Neck Pain Through Diet and Exercise
There are different types of bodily pain that we may experience in life, and there are different approaches to diagnosing and treating them. Acute pain is usually easier to define as it’s oftentimes preceded by some form of identifiable trigger – such as slipping on an icy surface and twisting an ankle, or having a failing appendix that is causing sharp pain on one side of the body. But chronic, soft tissue pain is a much more difficult type of problem to accurately pinpoint and define. With acute pain, the uncomfortable sensation usually results from the aftermath of either a specific injurious event you can point to, or it arises from the effects of a failing organ of the body. Since my childhood, I’ve fallen down, scraped my knee, bumped my head, and bruised my arms and hands numerous times. Each time the bloody scratches and bruises hurt, but the wounds were always quickly treated with antiseptics and patched up with Band Aids, resulting in full recovery. While oftentimes quite intense, the experiences of acute pain were usually only temporary.
On the other hand, chronic pain is substantially harder to diagnose and treat, and the cause – significantly less concrete to define. Oftentimes, the patient is left wondering what he or she can possibly do to make the pain go away. Case in point – ever since I was a teenager, I’ve had to live with a chronic soreness and stiff pain in my neck, shoulder, and upper back region that simply won’t go away. To this day I still don’t know what caused it – as the pain is always present, and has a tendency to periodically fluctuate in intensity. With this type of soft tissue, almost phantom-like pain not arising from any specific injury (based on what I know), the diagnosis and treatment process is often much more elusive and non-apparent. As evidenced by the fact that it’s been literally a lifelong pain in the neck for me, I’ve simply had to get used to living with the inconvenience to the best of my ability. Sometimes with these types of things, all we can really do is practice an active lifestyle that will minimize the chronic pain as much as possible, and try our best to adopt physical and mental habit changes to better manage it.
Describing The Chronic Pain and Un-Curable Soreness In My Shoulder and Neck Region, and How I’ve Dealt With It Over Time
As I gradually approach my early 30’s and reflect back in time about my problem, I think the pain started during my mid high school years. However, I didn’t fully recognize its presence until college when the stress of studying and bad sitting posture brought out by constant hunching over while preparing for exams finally exacerbated the pain into full realization. Since then, I’ve sought the attention of main stream physicians and alternative medical witch doctors of sorts for my neck and shoulder pain. Frankly I don’t think the numerous doctors and nurses I’ve spoken to over the years ever took my complaints of pain very seriously. After all, it’s not like I was screaming out in agony or clutching a specific body part that was badly damaged. In fact, describing the painful sensations and tingling soreness I felt was a challenge in of itself.
My chronic shoulder and neck pain could be best described as a tiresome, aching muscle sensation that greatly worsens and is felt to a greater degree whenever I tilt my neck around in wide circles or bend it to stretch it. When I roll my neck around in wide circles, the muscular motion sends out painful sensations from the rear base of my head hairline, down my neck, and into the surrounding shoulder area. The worst pain is felt when I tilt my head towards my shoulder blades. When I do that, I experience a sharp and painful numbing lightening burst – an almost electrical joint of numbness that shoots down my arm and into my elbow funny bone area, causing a tinging sensation that frequently results in temporary loss of use of the afflicted arm. The numbing feeling is much more pronounced on my left arm and left shoulder than my right arm and right shoulder. My suspicion and self diagnosis has always been that perhaps my neck muscle was somehow pinching a stray nerve when I twisted my neck in certain positions.
Other than seeking out the advice of professional doctors who offered little in the way of diagnoses or treatment solutions beyond advising me to exercise more and eat a healthier diet comprised of fruits and vegetables (no new information here), I’ve also tried out alternative medical treatment options as well. During college, since my school health insurance covered it, I sought out the services of a health center acupuncturist, a health practitioner trained in the Chinese art and skill of using super thin needles to stimulate special Qi (pronounced “Chi”) inspired pressure points to incite special healing points in the body. While the seemingly magical acupuncture needles that the health practitioner stuck in my ears (of all places) did seem to soothe and generate a strange warm sensation in my head and upper shoulder region, the pin pricking sessions never cured my pain. They merely warmed and soothed the pain away momentarily, like a nice massage. However, the chronic pain persisted, unfortunately.
Unable to cure myself of my chronic neck and shoulder pain, I’ve learned to live with it as best as possible. Currently, I believe my chronic shoulder and neck pain is heavily influenced and exacerbated by increased stress and lack of exercise. While my perpetual soreness sensation never really goes away and is always present from the moment I get out of bed to the moment I go to sleep, the pain is substantially worse when I am overly stressed or confined to non-mobile positions for long periods of time. Back when I was in college and later law school, I studied tremendously and spent a great number of hours hunched over a library study desk until the wee morning hours in a rather stationary pose. Because of pressing academic deadlines and constant stress over the need to study for exams, those times were especially difficult and harsh on my neck and shoulder pain. Back then, the pain would often grow so bad that I’d have to pop a few over-the-counter pain pills just to keep my mind focused and off my aching shoulders. What started out as consuming 1 or 2 extra strength Tylenol’s ultimately turned into 2 or 3 Tylenol’s along with another 2-3 Advil’s at the same time. The pain killers effectively lessened the pain for a few blissful hours, but the effects were always temporary.
Unable To Cure My Mysterious Chronic Neck and Shoulder Pain With Medicine, I’ve Turned To A More Holistic Solution That Involves Improving My Sleep, Diet, and Exercise Habits
Despite my best efforts to treat the problem, I was merely masking the symptoms with over the counter drugs. My chronic neck pain continued long after graduate school and didn’t subside until I started working a less stressful line of work. Since I started running my own home business from the comforts of my own house, my academic and on the job stresses have greatly diminished. I’m sleeping a lot more consistently again, now that I no longer have to get up extremely early in the morning to go to a so-called real job. I also feel like I’m eating healthier now that I can prepare my own meals and choose what I want to eat for lunch and dinner, instead of having to settle for fast food sandwiches at work. Working from home has also allowed me to exercise more, giving me time to run on the treadmill to get myself back in shape. While the pain still lingers on in the recesses of my neck and shoulder, the decline in stress levels and the healthier life I’m living now have resulted in a noticeable decline in neck pain.
Along the way, I’ve learned a couple things about this chronic lifelong pain of mine. Looking at the times in my life when my chronic neck and shoulder pain ache increased, and reviewing the times in my life when the pain subsided, I think it’s safe to say that my diet choices, exercise regiment, and sleeping schedule have a huge impact on the severity of my pain. Whenever I swim now or run several miles on the treadmill, I always feel much more relaxed afterwards. While still ever present, my neck and shoulder aches and pains seem to momentarily subside after some healthy physical activity. Perhaps it’s the endorphins, the natural boost in adrenaline, or just the placebo psychological effect of physical activity and attempts at healthier living practices, but they help nevertheless. Until I can finally find a cure for my chronic shoulder and neck pain once and for all, I will continue to adopt practices that will allow me to better control and manage my disability. At least for now, I think I can accomplish just that with some simple changes to my diet and fitness lifestyle. Such changes may benefit those of you with similiar chronic ailments as well. It definitely beats popping pills all the time.
August 3rd, 2008 at 4:07 pm
I suffered horribly from this years ago. I was told it was in my head.
Please check out the info on “FROZEN SHOULDER”
http://orthopedics.about.com/cs/frozenshoulder/a/frozenshoulder.htm
August 3rd, 2008 at 4:47 pm
Peg,
I read the article…I don’t think it’s frozen shoulder. My shoulder can move around, but it just sends tingling numbness down my arm when I roll my neck in wide circles….
Yeah, I hate it when people make it seem like it’s all in my head as well…the pain is real!
August 8th, 2008 at 4:52 pm
Hi! Do you, by any chance, sleep with your arms above your head? Or work with your arms raised on a regular basis?
August 14th, 2008 at 1:31 pm
Deborah,
Yes I do occasionally sleep with my arms above my head. Do you think that actually has an effect on my shoulder ache?
August 14th, 2008 at 1:36 pm
Hello! Absolutely. Sadly, I didn’t learn this until I went through massage school, but it’s amazing how the things we do impact our health without us even realizing it.
When you sleep with your arms above your head, you are impinging (pinching) your brachial plexus, which is one of the major nerve groups that runs through your body. You might not get pain from it if you do it once or twice, but if it’s something you do regularly (or if you don’t realize you do it in your sleep) it can definitely start to cause shoulder, arm, and/or neck pain.
Don’t get me wrong, it might not be the only reason for your shoulder pain, but it is definitely a possible contributor…
August 19th, 2008 at 7:28 am
There is often a misunderstanding in identifying the cause of neck pain. Degenerative and mechanical factors are most possibly responsible in failure to achieve the pain relief. Work that requires lot of physical presence or a neck injury not taken care initially, contribute largely to chronic pain in neck.
September 16th, 2008 at 5:14 pm
I came across this site through a google search looking for possible help for my own chronic neck and shoulder pain. Your description of symptoms is nearly identical to mine, except it is in my right shoulder where pain is the greatest. Your personal description is also similar to mine. I’m a 28 year old former athlete who has let time take its toll on my body. I too have been to several orthopedists and chiropractors with no success. Have you had any luck with diagnosis or treatment you can share? Thanks,
September 18th, 2008 at 8:38 am
Hi Fellow Neck Pain Sufferer:
Well, I continue to conduct online research about my condition to self diagnose, however, I haven’t had much luck coming up with a definitive medical answer. So for now, my emphasis is on treatment and taking steps to alleviate the pain. As much as I dislike doing so, I still take over the counter pain killers occasionally, upping the dosage as my neck and shoulder pain warrants it. However, I have noticed that increased sleep and cardio aerobic exercise does help lessen the severity of the pain and aches – especially prolonged sleep.
I know it’s not much of a scientific answer, but so far, increased sleep and exercise have helped…a little bit at least.
September 18th, 2008 at 7:00 pm
Hi,
It’s like I wrote it myself except luckily it’s only been going on the last three years or so.I’m a 42 yaer old male who played a lot of sport when younger. I have a very physical job working shifts in the engineering dept. of a brewery ( liquid painkiller everywhere ). The symptoms started off with left arm and fingers going numb and losing the ability to grip anything in the left hand. Neck swelled on left side and also left trap was swollen too. Went to docs and he said i’d trapped a nerve in neck third virtibrae down, gave me some pain killers which were really great, I was in a lot of pain but I didn’t give a shit. Anyways that was three years ago, after the numbness subsided i’m left with pain in the left upper back, left side of neck, and left trapezoid. amount of pain varies as does the swelling. Usually brought on by looking up to the left. Pain never goes away but it does subside quite a lot with treatment.
You see I did recently find, by accident, that an EMS machine set on massage gave me the best results regarding instant pain relief, only by chance really. You see I’ve recently had knee surgery and prior to going under the knife I did a lot of surfing regarding the quickest way to recover muscle wastage without the joint taking too much strain. You see I did a lot of running before my misshap with some stairs. So I got a digitaly controlled EMS/TENS machine for my quads before I start load bearing, if you know what I mean. Anyway I thought I’ll just slap them on my neck and traps and see what happens and set it on decontracting. Two twenty minute ssessions and what a world of difference. It’s like having a thorn removed. Don’t get me wrong, the pain does come back but it will subside to nearly nothing. If I start to exercise, after a long good session it does come back. but if I don’t exercise the pain is relativeley minor.
Before the pain was so intense that I would never consider any exercise other than running. Even when i was running I could only last an hour max as the neck pain becomes too great to bare.
So I can’t wait till my knee recovers so I can see how long I can run for before the pain kicks in.
The unit wasn’t cheap and is more geared towards sports injuries and recuperation but it certainly works for me.
Try one what have you got to lose.
Sorry about my spelling but I’m more practical than literate, an I aint no typist either.
Dai
September 19th, 2008 at 6:23 pm
Sorry I missed quite a lot out. The first doctor I saw was rubbish and told me nothing. The pain got so bad that I went back to see a different doctor and demanded some better painkillers instead of just paracetemol and Ibuprofen for the swelling. He was excellent. I explained the symptoms and told him I hadn”t slept for two days. I said I hadn’t been to the docs for twenty years as I only go when I consider myself requiring treatment, and thats what I want treatment and diagnosis. I was very insistant. He was patient and explained everything very clearly, you see apparently the nerves for the left side of your body are more susceptable to injury in the third vertibrae down from your head on the left side of your neck and when you trap them thats why you get pins and needles and numbness down your left arm, in your shoulder and in your left trapezoid, extending all the way to your fingers. In extreme cases you can loose the ability to grasp things and your hand feels very weak, which is exactly what happened to me. The nerves for the left side of the body are near the surface of the vertibrae. If it were the fifth vertabrae, i think, I actually forget which one he told me, that is more to do with the right side. The doctor said it could be related to what I thought a minor injury from days past that had been aggrevated. Well that could have been one of many, disslocated shoulder twice that now comes out in my sleep if lying on my left side or the more likely injury was when I was set upon by two idiots and a baseball bat when I was about 37. Or maybe a combination I just don’t know. Alls I know is its hurt ever since. Thats why it sends shooting pains down your arm cause your trapping the nerves. By the way the doc told me never to roll my head in a backwards position and round as he said it is the worst thing you can do. For exercises he said to bring my chin slowly down to my chest, hold it, and then back up. then the same with chin facing right shoulder, then the same facing left shoulder, then look straight ahead and bring ear down to the right shoulder slowly, then ear down to left shoulder. Never, he said, never roll your head round especially backwards, it’s not a natural movement. well the numbness subsided but the pain in the neck was and still is sometimes horrendous.
Anthing and I mean anything can trigger it off again. Once my wife, bless her, gave me an extra pillow and it was a very thin one about an inch thick under my normal two pillows. One is thick one is thin. I never noticed when in got in bed and fell asleep but the next day, Jesus, I thought i’d had a stroke. What I’m getting at is it is extremeley important to consider the way you sleep and the angle of you head when you do.
But as I said before with the EMS machine I can function normally for the first time since it all started. By the way the setting is actually called MYORELAXING, whatever that means. but it works a treat. I’ve had it for about twelve weeks now and it’s been bliss. Now don’t get me wrong I’m the most sceptical person in the world hence no accupuncture for me as I think it is hocum.
As at the moment I’m recovering from knee surgery, cartlidge tear, my doc says my anterior cruciate ligament is inflamed, he said no running for three months and walking only after six to eight weeks. So now I’ve been walking for about a fortnight ( when I say walking I mean distance walking ).
I hope any of the information provided helps you because I know what your talking about. I don’t know how you could have put up with it so long I’m just glad I don’t any more. If I have a bad sleep and it starts to hurt I put the machine on and sometimes leave it on for an hour. You do look daft twitching away but I don’t care, at least theres no pain.
By the way the positioning of the pads is critical too, you can move them just 1/4 inch and miss the intended area completely, took me a few attempts to find what works for me. Now its second nature.
Dai
October 13th, 2008 at 9:31 pm
I’m glad I found this website. I have just been experiencing the same pain for a few months. The first time it happened, I thought I was having a heart attack. It was in my upper back – right side. It felt like something was grabbing me and took my breath away. It went away after about 15 mins of lying down, but I was sore for a few days after. The next week I had my physical and they did and ekg and xray. Everything was fine, including all bloodwork.
Then, about 3 wks later, I started getting a stabbing pain on my left side near my shoulder blade. It goes away when I lay down. I went to an orthopedist who looked at me for about 5 mins and said “take an alleve in the AM and an alleve in the PM and go to physical therapy for 2 wks”. Well……..I took alleve once, but didn’t just want to treat w/ medicine. I really want to know what is causing it. I went to a chiropractor that thinks I have a nerve issue in my neck that radiates to my shoulder and sometimes down my left arm. I had xrays today and will go see him to get results tomorrow.
I’m usually pretty good during the morning, but by about 2pm, I need to lay down and it will go away. He says it’s probably from the pressure on the nerve. I can take a lot of pain…..I had 2 babies and didn’t require any pain med till near the end. BUT…..I told him that this pain makes me want to bite someone’s head off. He said that it really sounds like nerve pain because it is so intense.
Wish me luck. I hope you all are feeling better.
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October 21st, 2008 at 8:58 pm
Hi Guys,
I have the same symptoms (Same age too) and my doctor said that it is a case of the nerve getting pinched and radiates the pain. The pinching occurs due to the small radius of the holding region which encloses the nerve. This radius differs from person to person and results in pain being severe or manageable. In my case he suspects Cervical Fibromyalgia (soft tissue) maybe be the cause for the constant soreness. However, there is a school of thought that Fibromyalgia is a myth and that it is “in the head”. I have noticed that stress is the biggest contributing factor to the pain. Proper exercise (taught by a physiotherapist) combined with some heating pads gives a lot of relief. I dont feel the pain when I am busy (8-8) it is only when I am doing nothing that he pain feels the worst so I guess it is also partly in the head.
Another tip that might help is using a pillow that is not too soft. Find the right pillow and avoid changing it. It took several iterations to find the right one but once you do it really helps.
Thanks……looking forward to more pointers on avoiding the pain….
October 23rd, 2008 at 9:12 pm
I have absolutely the EXACT pain that you have, except I have an additional area of pain as well in my jaw ear area that leads me to believe that it might be TMJ in addition to the other pain. I’m telling you…you describe my pain to the T. It hurts so bad sometimes that it causes anxiety, heart palipitations and irritablility. I am 33 years old and have been having this pain since I was about 21. I’ve been to the doctor, chiropractor, massage, and accupuncture (which helps quite a bit). I haven’t exercised in several months but I always notice exactly what you notice that it’s still there but seems to help a little if I go walking. It is all on my left side. I also have a sinus infection on my left side at the moment (of course-all my pain is always on the left side…I don’t understand it). Anyway, I have been hurting so bad that I just cried and cried in the shower today out of frustration and why me. Well I’m going to get off the computer now and go for a walk. I hope we can figure out what this is.
October 23rd, 2008 at 9:24 pm
I forgot to mention that when I was pregnant with my second son who is three now (my first son is 13…a couple of years after he was born was when my pain started), I had absolutely no pain what so ever. It was completely gone. I also have mild psoriasis on my shins and the back of my arms and scalp. When I was pregnant, I had absolutely zero issues of psoraisis the entire time of my pregnancy. My skin was absolutely clear and beautiful with zero signs of psoriasis. And zero pain on the left side of my body. I wish I knew what that’s all about and I honestly don’t know what kind of doctor I should go to at this point…so okay I’m going walking now.
October 25th, 2008 at 3:32 pm
Many of these stories match mine. I am 31 and seem to have been fighting this thing for 7 years. 2 years ago I had shoulder surgery (left shoulder) to repair a torn labrum. As time went on all of the symptoms returned. Neck pain, shoulder pain, numbness in last two fingers, sore bicep. Some days the rhomboid would throb, other days the pain would be focused in the chest area. The worst is when the trapezoid and shoulder is set off, which causes a numbing sorness in the whole left side of the head/neck area. As this continues to radiate, tremendous headaches result. My answer was temporary relief from excercise, advil, heat, the steam room and massage.
I recently went through another round of doctors, another round of physical therapy and was diagnosed with THORACIC OUTLET SYNDROME. A vascular surgeon removed my first rib 2 months ago to free up the thoraic area. It appeared that the rib was cluttering the space that the nerves and blood vessels needed. At first, I felt that I was completely cured. However, as time goes on everything is coming back again. I have now tried accupuncture, but no permanent relief.
I agree that excercise does help, stress makes the whole issue much worse.
November 19th, 2008 at 11:00 am
I have this pain too, and I was diagnosed earlier this year with rhumatoid arthritis. The pain is at the top of my spine, over to the right side, to the shoulder, around to the front and oddly enough up to the side of my throat. I tried acupuncture, chrio, and I take 1500mg of ralafen daily (motrin-like meds). I just started a hydroxychloroquine pill that I also take 2x a day, but I was told that it will take 6 months to see improvement. I figured with all of the anti-inflam pills I should be pain free, but I am worse now and the pain up the throat is something new.. I’m 40, have 2 kids, 3 & 6, and can’t even hold the hairdryer to dry their hair anymore. It’s effecting my every day life, and I’m not sure what type of doctor to see next, maybe an orthopedic????? Thanks…
November 21st, 2008 at 12:51 am
Guys,
The symptoms we all seem to have fits whats called “Cervical Radiculopathy”.
Do check out if the symptoms matches what you have been experiencing.
Thanks!
November 21st, 2008 at 4:03 pm
Well…….sorry I haven’t responded, but I lost the link to this site. Odd that I get a notice of new posts some times, but not others. I have been going to the chiropractor and physical therapists 4 times a week for a month now. I think it’s getting a little better or else I’m just getting more accustomed to the pain. They still think that my nerve is being compressed by either a disc or muscles or both. I’ve noticed that sometimes I wake up in the night and both of my arms are above my head. I never slept like that before. No idea where that is coming from. Not to mention they say that is really bad for this. I use the tenz (sp?) unit every night before I go to bed. I like it, but it’s not as good as the one at the chiropractor. My muscles start twitching like crazy and it’s a good pain…….hurts good, you know what I mean? Advil doesn’t seem to do anything for me. Best thing for me is to lie down with my head propped up a bit and then it goes away in about 10 mins or so. When I wake up, my left arm usually ACHES and then slowly I get the tingling in my left 2 fingers. I also get an ache in my left chest/breast area. They keep reasuring me it isn’t heart related. BUT. left arm back/chest pain……..a tad scarey.
When I got my hair done the other day, my whole left arm kept tingling like it was going to sleep when I had my head leaning back to be washed. That was totally uncomfortable. Then, my pain increased for a few days. They said I irritated the nerve and it became inflamed. We are going to continue on the path I’m on right now, but the next step is possibly a nerve test to see where it is getting compressed. Then they will know where to target the MRI. Has anyone had a nerve test for this??
November 21st, 2008 at 5:12 pm
Hello again everyone,
the pain in the neck is still with me too but it is now very, very minor. I agree that stress is a factor as with any normal individual stress culminates in a stiff neck anyway which is why a massage in the neck area feels so good after a long hard day. But in our cases it tends to aggravate an underlying injury which causes the muscles in the neck to press on the injured area which in turn worsens the symptoms to the point where the nerves become trapped and you get the tingling sensation and inability to grip in the affected side which could be either left or right.
I too am still using the TENS/ EMS machine but less frequently and the time between flare ups is becoming longer and longer. I think that you will get the best results by seeing the doctors regarding spinal injuries rather than thinking it’s cardiac related. I must admit though when it first happened to me I did panic a bit and thought the same. Keep up the treatment and exercises as they all help. I’m just glad that my neck has improved a hell of a lot the past three months or so. In fact the pain in my left shouder blade is now worse than in the neck area but then they are related to the same problem.
I am amazed that one person had a rib removed, I think that is a bit extreme and now their symptoms have returned anyway. I’ve read somewhere else on the internet of this procedure not being very successful, and no I’ve never had a nerve test before and don’t know what it entails, but I will say, good luck and keep your spirits up there is an end to the misery just keep on going and you will beat this, I nearly have and I feel in time I will.
Unfortunately my knee op was not as successful but thats another story.
Dai.
January 5th, 2009 at 1:46 pm
I had the same pain and symptoms as Dai. An MRI found a “tiny” tear in the Labrum which I had repaired. 1 year later I had a second surgery to clean the scar tissue. I still have episodes and i have found that ice along with sleeping semi-reclined in the lazy boy for a couple of nights have helped. It keeps your arms from going over your head (i wake up like that alot with both arms numb) and takes any stress in the shoulder from the side from lying on your side. Not a cure but short term help
February 20th, 2009 at 10:01 pm
Donna – I feel your pain. I am 41 with a 8 and 5 year old and having been dealing with similar pain for 4 years. When you feel up to another round of poking and prodding by the medical world, try, try again to find a solution. I refuse to give up.
A personal trainer from my physical therapy office helped me improve, and finding a low impact chiropractor (no more crunching and confusing my whole nervous system!) I can trust also helps. Also, I have learned to take my pain medication before it goes on too long as to maintain my emotional health. I used to wait until I just couldn’t take it any longer. Bad idea. My Dr. has me on Ultram which I take with ibuprofen for the best relief.
I too am still looking for an answer. Hang in there mom.
May 11th, 2009 at 7:28 am
Check out Mind over back pain a book by Sarno i think his name is i think it might be the answer some of you are looking for
May 22nd, 2009 at 11:00 pm
I found a WONDERFUL chiropractor that has made my pain TOTALLY GO AWAY!! I went to physical therapy for several weeks also, but now I swear by Dr. Schlammp. His practice is called Advanced Integrative Medicine. I was leary at first, but he also has a medical doctor in his practice that consults with him. He is in Alpharetta GA and I highly recommend him!!! I still go once a week and look fwd to my visits! I have been pain free for many months now.
July 10th, 2009 at 7:30 am
I agree with the idea of consulting a doctor when the symptoms above mentioned are experienced. Everything should not be taken for granted. However, why wait for those symptoms to happen when at first, you can already feel something?s wrong with one of the joints in your body? If you feel like there is something uncomfortable happening to your body system, try to google about it and perform first aid, that is to consider natural remedies in easing out the kind of pain you are experiencing.
August 1st, 2009 at 4:07 pm
Similar issue. Stretches help though it may take time to figure out which specific ones.
August 3rd, 2009 at 9:12 pm
hi-since my last post in nov ‘08, I went to a pain specialist and had an mri done. I have 4 degenerating discs in my neck, which he says is traveling down my neck-shoulder area. and I have bursitus in my shouder too.. it’s not the RA which I thought. I avoid doing much with my arms, and take a 5mg prednisone pill when I know that I will be doing anything that may trigger a flare up.