Ouch

I've always been a fairly tense person - a nail-biter, a nighttime teeth grinder, a bad sleeper, and a long-time worrier. As a result, I have come to learn to function with muscle tension and headaches as part of my routine. At least by massaging the knots, stretching, drinking lots of water, taking anti-inflammatories, etc. I can feel confident that it will pass.

Last week I felt tension mounting in my right shoulder and neck. It wasn't unusual until I was so stiff that I couldn't turn my head. The pain started keeping me up at night. I couldn't get comfortable. Ever. I decided that I needed real help, so I got a massage for the first time in my life. While the 60 minutes were absolutely wonderful, I still felt stiff afterwards. In bed that night I stretched my arms above my head and instantly felt my neck spasm. HOLY SMOKES. I have been in extreme pain ever since. Last night I woke up at 4am with shooting pains and simultaneous tingling/numbness from the base of my skull down to my elbow that no amount of pills or ice packs could extinguish. It was insane. It truly took my breath away. I have never broken a bone or given birth to a baby, but on my continuum of pain it was a 9 out of 10.

I counted down the minutes until I could call for a doctor's appointment this morning and was grateful for a 9am appointment. I was a bit worried that I might have a pinched nerve, but fortunately my nerves were all fully functional. As I had predicted, there was little that the doctor could do for me besides give me a muscle relaxant and a slightly stronger anti-inflammatory than the over-the-counter that I was taking (acknowledging that neither would fix the problem but may give me minor relief), along with some neck exercises. The doctor also said that it could take weeks to fully heal the tiny tears in my muscles, the nerve irritation, and the extreme tightness. All I can say (besides "OW") is WOW. I had no idea. Once I'm past this I think I'll have to take up yoga to prevent this from happening again!