Hopefully your physio can work their magic again! It would be good to know what they do to you. Be careful if they want you to get a pillow that supports your neck better (contour pillow). My only BPPV type episodes occurred when I had one of those (no help from epley), and they stopped when I went back to my old pillow. (They work for some people though, but don’t throw out your normal pillow straight away!)
I remember reading somewhere that your neck contains sensors to help you know your position in space, so I guess if your muscles are screwed up, the messages might be as well. I know that when I drive, I often hold onto the side of my neck. It makes me feel more ‘connected’ to what’s going on somehow.
Just back from seeing my physio guy and just as I suspected, my upper neck was a complete mess. The problem was in the joint between C2 and C1 this time. This joint is responsible for allowing the head to move right and left.
I told him how I had 1) been at the computer far too much lately for extended hours and 2) was in a workshop for two days where I was looking to the right for extended periods of time. VERY BAD news. Don’t ever do this folks. Learn from my stupid mistake and keep your head straight. :shock:
So as always Chris gave me some really good information on how the process works of fixing the problem. There are three stages to fixing a train wreck neck:
The first thing is to loosen up the overall sheet of muscle over the affected region. At first it all feels hard like a stretched piece of thick rubber. This was loosened up and didn’t take long to soften.
Next he can isolate the trigger point(s) which requires direct pressure. I had a few today. This is much more painful but again, they let go very quickly and the pain vanished fast.
And this is where the real work happens. The trigger point and the overall tight muscle prevents the joint from moving. And this is where the nerves protruding out of this area get really irritated and messed up triggering dizziness, anxiety and nausea (for me). Chris palpated both sides but had to really get stuck into the left side. It hurt like hell but the more he did it the less it hurt and it was like this massive release of tension. Amazing.
He described it like this: There has to be movement across the joint as he palpates it so that it glides. And at the very end of the joint’s ability to be pushed down, there should be a feeling of spring at it’s endpoint. Mine was like hitting a brick wall but with more forcing it to move the spring returned. At completion the joint was gliding at about 80% (compared to about 20% at the start) and he got most of the spring back at the end point.
During this session he took no prisoners and I could feel a bit of nausea and my body got all hot and flushed. But I told him to do what was necessary. And now I’m at my desk and all is OK. I’m out of it a bit but know tomorrow this crap should all be back in the cage again.
I have similar problems with my neck (some kyphosis doesn’t help). Last few weeks it has been very bad, quite ‘jammed’ and leading to referred pain. I’ve had a few physio sessions which have really helped, and I too get a noticeable change from ‘jammed’ to ‘glides’. It can hurt like a mofo during some of it, and I frequently feel like I’m about to hurl and am very spaced out for a few minutes afterwards. Worth it though for the results - loosey goosey.
When you say opposite hand I assume you mean massage the left side of the neck with the right hand? My pt thinks my scm needs botox from sheldon Jordan (who charges 1000+ just for a video consult) or at least manual pressure from her and my chiro has me pushing a lacrosse ball in different directions on it!
