I have had a sore neck for months - like going on probably 6+ months now. I have no idea why - I woke up one morning and felt like I had slept wrong, like when you get a kink and you can only turn your head so far before it physically cannot turn anymore and included a sharp stabbing like “pain” at the top where my neck meets my head.
We’ve done all sorts of stuff to figure out what’s going on, and for the sake of keeping this short, I’ll say that based on what has and has not helped, we’re pretty sure it’s all muscle related.
That being said - what has helped the most is massage (which I cannot afford at $70 a pop to go regularly) and chiro with the e-stim machine they use to cause the muscles to contract.
Can I duplicate this e-stim procedure at home to try to help the process myself in between appointments? Home help, so to speak. It feels good after my appointment but then when its 2 weeks until my next appointment, I feel like we can’t get a jump on full relief.
Does anybody use a TENS machine at home? If so, what do you use? Are there any other similar machines that achieve the same results?
[QUOTE=SuckerForHorses;8360840]
I have had a sore neck for months - like going on probably 6+ months now. I have no idea why - I woke up one morning and felt like I had slept wrong, like when you get a kink and you can only turn your head so far before it physically cannot turn anymore and included a sharp stabbing like “pain” at the top where my neck meets my head.
We’ve done all sorts of stuff to figure out what’s going on, and for the sake of keeping this short, I’ll say that based on what has and has not helped, we’re pretty sure it’s all muscle related.
That being said - what has helped the most is massage (which I cannot afford at $70 a pop to go regularly) and chiro with the e-stim machine they use to cause the muscles to contract.
Can I duplicate this e-stim procedure at home to try to help the process myself in between appointments? Home help, so to speak. It feels good after my appointment but then when its 2 weeks until my next appointment, I feel like we can’t get a jump on full relief.
Does anybody use a TENS machine at home? If so, what do you use? Are there any other similar machines that achieve the same results?
TIA![/QUOTE]
I just ordered one from Amazon. It’s called the Zewa spa buddy TENS. It does have a STIM mode though according to reviews. My physical therapist had told me some of her other patients had bought their own. The one I bought was mid range price at $57 before tax. Some are only $20ish but I question how strong they might be, and then some are $100+ and I didn’t want to jump right in at that price. We’ll see how this one goes
I use a TENS on my neck. I bought mine on Amazon for around thirty bucks after completing PT where it was part of my treatment. I does bring relief from the pain but mine is more of a stabbing nerve pain. I do find it is more effective on other areas. Using good quality pads improves the results. I’m wondering if you would benefit from EMS more than TENS since your problem is muscle stiffness. Some units do both. As I understand it, the only difference is EMS is designed to rhythmically contract and release muscles. I’m sure with all the healthcare types we have on this board someone can chime in with more detailed information. At any rate, I really like my TENS and find myself using it quite a bit for various injuries.
I’m wondering if you would benefit from EMS more than TENS since your problem is muscle stiffness. Some units do both. As I understand it, the only difference is EMS is designed to rhythmically contract and release muscles.
Yeah, I wasn’t sure what the difference between them was?
The thing the chiro uses helps a great deal - its a machine with a wand, and she puts some BioFreeze gel on my neck and then uses the wand to give electrical impulses to my muscles, and they jump and contract while she does it.
I’m not medical device savvy so forgive my layman’s description of this procedure! :lol:
TENS is nerve stimulator. EMS is muscle stimulator. Some machines do both, my understanding is it has to do with wave length and the power it takes to get down into the actual muscle vs just the nerves.
I get bad neck pain and have occipital neuralgia. I use a portable ultrasound machine rather than a TENS or EMS, and supplement with a BOT neck wrap.
I went with the ultrasound machine because I already had it for the horses, but also because the TENS machines do not work on my neck and back for some reason.
I have one. I use it frequently. It feels good. But, beyond that, I swear sometimes it seems to help. Can’t prove that or anything. But I like using it.
I’ve tried TENS, for muscle stiffness and pain in my neck due to soft tissue injury. It did nothing but make the pain worse. The only thing that seems to help the pain is heat and trigger point injections.
I’m having a lot of pain again lately, so I’m looking into Botox injections to see if they might help. The pain is centered at the back of my head (occipital ridge), neck, and right shoulder.
Suckerforhorses, if you have not been to see a good doctor please do so. I had a sore neck for years and ignored it, was hit in the face by a horse and after the neck pain was unbearable and my arms went numb, I was xrayed and told it was arthritis , fortunate for me I ended up at the ER and had a MRI, the discs were worn out and ready to sever spinal cord, I had surgery and now have 2 rods and 6 screws holding all together. Don’t ignore what your body is trying to tell you I was lucky not to be paralyzed.
My TENS unit specifically says not to use on or near the neck or head. I can certainly understand why. Wondering how other TENS units don’t share the same concern.
For some reason I was thinking of this post today, so I thought I would check back with an update…
I physically was unable to turn my head, like I slept wrong, and had a kink in my neck, but when I tried to turn, I had a stabbing sort of discomfort on the back on my head/neck, up towards behind my ear.
I tried several things, including: massage, physical therapy, acupuncture, dry needling, topical stuff like BenGay (or whatever like that), DMSO (:lol:), I had x-rays taken to rule out arthritis, we even did an MRI which came back normal, and then we tried nerve blocks to see if that helped. It did eliminate the stabbing pain that came with turning my head, but it didn’t free up my range of motion, so my head was still “stuck” and unable to turn so to speak. Because of this, I didn’t go through with the actual burning of the nerves (if that was entirely the solution, I would have been “cured” short term after the blocks and that wasn’t the case).
As a last resort I went to the chiropractor because I was afraid the adjustments would be painful. I’m sorry I waited so long to go. I started with 2 visits per week, for a month, and then down to weekly for 2 months, and now I’m going on an as-needed basis, which ends up being about once every other month. Also on an as needed basis I have a muscle relaxer and Voltaren topical gel. These are used sparingly, but do help in between chiro vists.
Muscles and nerves are tricky. We (my regular doctor, my chiropractor, and myself) all agree that there was nerve impingement or discomfort stemming from muscle issues - particularly, I have horrible posture and slouch, but with my head tipped back to level, so the back of my neck and upper back are always sore. We think it just finally came to a head and my muscles and nerves just couldn’t take any more of the alignment that I’ve been in for years (< this is my non-medical description of what was discussed lol) The nerve in question was the occipital nerve.
So in short, I love my chiropractor and I see him regularly :lol: I will say the first time he adjusted me when I finally broke down and went - it sounded like the 4th of July with all the popping that happened! The front desk clerk heard it our front… it sounded like someone cracking 20 knuckles at once. But I felt SOOOOO much better immediately, and as I continued to go, the results lasted longer.
I’ve used a tens unit for years on lower back and leg muscle spasm. Got mine through a PT center so it’s different than the OTC versions now sold. I don’t think I’d use it on my neck, though. Maybe get advice from your PT or Chiro rather than an online board
