United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

Since my son's injury, his neck and head are out of alignment. The neck muscles on the injured side look short and the non-injured side are long. He has a tendency to look down. When in severe pain, he arches his head down and away from the injured side. As anyone else experienced this and if so, what did you do? Thanks, Michele

Hi Michele,
Marshall here. Yes, that is totaly me. I don't know why, but when I get flare ups ( all the time!!=(.) I do the same thing. I have read on this and other boards about breathing,mental and other ways to deal with it.But for me Holding my head down to my chin touuching my chest and turning away seems to be better than nothing.Don't know that it really helps,I just close my eyes, try to find a happy place in my head somewhere and hold on for the ride until it stops.I'm shure someone will point you in the right direction on better ways to deal with the pain.I have read it is not good to tense up your muscles and strain against the pain because I believe its been said it makes it worse.All I can say if it seems to get him through it,until your son has learned other options,let him do what ever it takes for him to get thru.Sometimes I have found that turning my head the other way helps also,just depends I guess. I probably did'nt help much,but at least you know he's not the only one. Good luck and keep researching......Marshall. (catchatrain)

Thank you Marshall for your reply...The main problem with his head and neck being twisted so forcefully is that it is causing spinal problems. I have talked with some people who think it sounds like spastic torticollis...however, his doctor does not think so. So now, not only does he have the avulsed nerve pain but pain on the other side of his neck and shoulder. I think that everyone who lives with this injury and the resulting suffering is absolutly amazing. No one can understand unless they have experienced it....Michele

I've certainly had this issue. Depending on the severity of the pain, I have any number of responses. For unbearable pain, i do exactly what your son does. I also use my good arm to do a lot of stretching of the bad arm, which tends to provide some temporary relief.

Regarding the shortening of the neck muscles, I assume you mostly notice that his injured shoulder sits higher than the non-injured one, yes? If so, I am convinced that this problem is one of the biggest contributors to the frequency and severity of my pain. As I mentioned in another post, http://ubpn.org/messageboard/thread ... 8&tstart=0,
I had a masseuse work on me to help lenthen the muscles using "active release therapy" as Kath called it. My best guess is that the muscles are basically stuck at the "contraction" length. Using Active release therapy, after every session my shoulders were closer and closer to alignment, and each time I would go days without significant pain. Between sessions, they would again come out of alignment, but less and less so. The therapy itself is somewhat uncomfortable, but it was really helping me.

After 15 years, I have also developed a slight curvature in my spine from leaning one way at my desk or in my car. I went to see a trainer for a little while who taught me a few exercises to work on maintaining my posture. One is to sit on the floor with your butt all the way up against a wall, sit straight up so that your head is also against the wall, and stretch your legs out straight in front of you. Not too hard to do, but good discipline.

Mack

Good suggestions...I'll suggest them to him tomorrow. He has been getting deep tissue massages regularly and I think it has made a big difference in his pain and his posture. He finally started physical therapy again today! They taught him to throw his arm up on a table and to drag a slick cloth across to strengthen his shoulder muscles. So wonderful to see a group of PT students so interested in him. Michele