Can you name the muscle I have pulled?
Hi,
I have a pulled muscle in my neck/back/shoulder. I can’t shake it and when I saw my Chiro he actually made it much worse by stretching it too soon! (It’s now the worse it’s ever been!).
Anyway, he said the problem is actually caused by a joint in my shoulder and it’s a common problem. He did tell me the name of the muscle but there’s no way I’d remember it. It’s the muscle that lifts my shoulder, and it hurts to relax my shoulder down, or to put my head forwards to the opposite side that’s hurting, or back towards the same side. It also aches constantly and I can’t seem to relax!! I often pull it, but it usually clears up in a few days to a week, so this time is much, much worse!
Does anyone know exactly what I have done? If so could you please explain it to me!
3 comments
hollywood60064
Hi Sarah, perhaps the muscle is levator scapula, it’s known as the "wake up in the morning with a stiff painful neck that hurts like hell and won’t let you move without giving you a bitch of a time muscle". I’ guessing spasm since you say it twitches, I am not sure about the twitching you get in the pecs, arms and sides.
When nerves are involved, you will have numbness, weakness, tingling, and shooting pains moving downward. So it does not seem like you have any nerve issue.
When did this pain start? Did you do anything that brought it on?
Go see a massage therapist, to detrigger whatever trigger points are causing the muscle to spasm.
I am recommending Pain Erasure by Bonnie Prudden
http://www.bonnieprudden.com
In her book she has ways of getting rid of pain, and exercises to improve whatever damage you inflict on yourself.
Trigirl
The problem is that this is an injury that keeps recurring. Try to find a doctor that can work on the scar tissue that has now built up in there from the original injury. For some reason, it sounds like you didn’t properly heal the first time. Perhaps you returned to your sport too soon? Seems like you keep reinjuring or tweaking it because the scar tissue is weaker and there is probably not enough oxygen getting to that area. Try to find a therapist or doctor that can work on the scar tissue and help you clear things out of that area. A few consistent treatments should get you feeling better. If you don’t address this now, it will probably keep coming back. Also, try not to do anything to “test” if you are twitching or in pain or what not. It could be that you keep tweaking the muscle when it is trying to be on it’s way to recovery. Sure, muscles and nerves are closely connected and it could be that a muscle is putting pressure on a nerve or triggering something. Regardless, try not to test which positions aggrave it. Leave that up to your doctor and good luck!!
sarah_g91
Also I think the nerves in the area are affected! Is that possible? When I put my head back, or even just relax my back, I have to arch it back to lift my head to a normal position or it is too painful, the pain is a totally different one, not the sharp one normaly associated with a muscle pull, and is more widespread.
I have had twitches in my arm, pec, and side for quite a few days now and I just discovered that when I put my head back and hold it in painful position for about 3-5 secs, the twitching starts up quite violently! I have done it about 6 times now, and without fail it starts the twitches! Is that something to worry about? i.e could it be more serious? And should I goto my doctor about it?
Again, thanks for any advise,
Sarah