Silas, I'm 18 years post, C-5 and have exactly the same problems. What you are experiencing is, sadly, a problem with posture and muscle usage. Quads use their muscles in ways that were not intended. For instance, we rotate our shoulders abnormally to compensate the loss of triceps. Myself, as a baseball catcher in my younger days I would rotate my right shoulder from a kneeling position to throw to first base. Now, both my shoulders are bone on bone.
>From a posture standpoint, The body is not made to sit or slouch in a >wheelchair, for as much as we do. No matter how well your posture is, in time >you will break down. If your shoulders are feeling okay internally, your neck pain may be caused by knotted muscles under your trapezius. These are very hard to access for massage. Mine are deep under the bone., and both therapy and massage have failed me in the past. I have had some success with cortisone/lidocaine injections. For the neck I would recommend a neck warmer (I use a flannel tube stuffed with rice in it in the microwave. I get them cheap on eBay (under eight dollars). They help me loosen the tension. Electric stimulation has worked for me on my trapezius (my neck is too sensitive). I've had some success with a heated handheld massage device. My doctor has prescribed pain meds for me (Neurocet with acetaminophen). I use them very rarely because I can't stand being lightheaded or cottonmouthed all the time. I'm trying to preserve what little brain function I have left. Don't let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do! Billy ----- Original Message ----- From: Silas Shelburne To: [email protected] Sent: Friday, January 04, 2008 3:36 AM Subject: [QUAD-L] Neck! Hi everybody, I'm having terrible neck shoulder and arm pain and numbness, the mussels in my neck are so stiff and sore I can't hardly turn my head. It's worse in bed when I turn my head, it's like the neck muscles are knotted up and won't turn loose. Anybody else had this problem and what did you do. Thanks Silas
