Still have neck pain after 2 and half months - #10765
2 months back I had an angry episode and I pulled my own hair. After that I had severe neck pain that I was unable to move my neck much. Slowly the pain decreased. And it now has come to a point where it is not decreasing further. The pain is constant for a month or maybe more. I have tried several medicines and treatment but none of them helped. The orthopedic suggested me traction but it made my pain worse. I have tried ultrasound therapy, TENS, Needles, heat, traction and medicines like - powergesic,cobadex czs, zix mr. But nothing seems to work. The orthopedic has diagnosed me with cervical spine
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Doctors’ responses
Your symptoms suggest a chronic cervical strain or disc irritation, aggravated by traction and unresponsive to standard therapy. Avoid traction for now and focus on gentle cervical physiotherapy, posture correction, and possibly MRI to rule out disc involvement. Consult a spine specialist or neurologist for further evaluation and tailored management.
Recommended Tests: - MRI Cervical Spine (to rule out disc herniation/nerve root compression) - Serum Vitamin D3, B12
1) Tab Gabapax NT 100 1 tab at bedtime for 4 weeks 2) Tab Shelcal hd 1 tab after lunch continue 3)
Hello dear Please follow below instructions Do regular exercise for half an hour Take tablet etorocoxeb or voveron xr for temporary relief Get physiotherapy ( in mild form) for half an hour daily twice a day Take hard orthopedic follow or avoid soft pillow Get crp level checked and share reports with orthopedetian In case of no improvement in 1 month contact neurologist and physiotherapist for further details Regards
What Likely Happened Pulling hair hard can cause: Sudden muscle spasm Injury to ligaments or intervertebral discs Vertebral joint irritation Possible nerve root compression
STOP Doing Traction — if it worsens pain, stop immediately.
Ultrasound/TENS — okay as adjuncts, but won’t help if the core issue is nerve compression or disc.
Overuse of painkillers — they mask symptoms but don’t fix the cause.
Short-Term (next 7–14 days): Get MRI done Stop traction Start neck isometric exercises under supervision Start Pregabalin 75 mg at bedtime (if nerve pain confirmed)
Medium-Term (2–6 weeks): Postural correction Gradual mobilization with guided PT Anti-inflammatory food habits (curcumin, ginger, magnesium-rich)
Take physiotherapy and visit neurologist or spine specialist
As we discussed before
Considering Tortocollis, You don’t have pain on pressing over the site or not feeing muscle stiffness or tightness means your getting Cured. Now you have to wait patiently with some conservative managements :-
1. Not give much stress over the neck (use soft neck pillows/ use Neck collar) 2. Applay Diclogel over the site and applay Hot bag/ cotton over neck after 3-4 minutes 3. Use powergesic transdermal patch over neck every 2nd day And you will feel the difference
If not the pleas consider todo MRI
Since there is no radiating pain to arms there, there is less chance for Nerve problems but still it’s better to do MRI-Neck as next step to find out exact reason (C5-C6 -> Herniation or any other disk or spongy tissue issue )
Kindly follow up
Thanks with regards to Dr.Zahir Zolih
Hi Anwesha. It appears to me that you are under lot of stress lately. In some individuals when highly stressed, it could worsen already existing pain. Managing underlying stress and anxiety could help to some extent in alleviating pain. There are few other things about your mental health the needs clarification to find out what other factors are maintaining and perpetuating your pain. There are a class of medications called SNRIs which help with both stress and stress induced pain but you need further psychiatric evaluation for that. Kindly consult a psychiatrist either online or in-person for detailed evaluation. Regards.
I need help. I am unable to figure it out which treatment would help me.
Yes. I am diagnosed with depression and also have bodyache for 4 years. I take trifluoperazine 1mg (one at morning, one at night) fluoxetine 40mg (at morning) nortriptyline 50mg (at night). I already told my psychiatrist that nothing is working for my neck pain. And he said to consult an orthopedic
Next step would be to consult a neurologist to see if torticollis is actually dystonic reaction which can occur when typical anti-psychotic (Trifluperazine) is used for long time. Please get neurologist’s opinion first.
My physiotherapist and orthopedic both have said to improve my posture. By continuosly studying for a long time I neck is bent which can cause pain too. And I am trying to improve that too.
I talked to my physiotherapist and he said that there’s no injury in my neck. Everything is normal. But I still feel pain on the left side of my neck when the muscles are streched. The intensity of pain sometimes fluctuates randomly.
Trifluoperazine is for my anger. The pain in my neck is sometimes there and sometimes not. The intensity fluctuates. And also the pain is affected when my neck is stretched. When I tried traction or agressive massage my pain became worse. Not only my left side of the neck hurt but also the right side and collarbone. The pain was increased. Sometimes the pain just comes and goes. And the pain due to depression is now in control. I have been practicing REBT, PMR, breathing, and taking medicine regularly.
Nortriptyline which you are taking also helps to some extent for reducing pain. As I said earlier, consult a neurologist if nothing is ruled in by an orthopedician. And also, I may be wrong here, but Trifluperazine is an anti-psychotic and it’s given in psychosis and mania, and so still doesn’t justify giving for anger management but however, it is given in cases of depression for augmentation when it’s not responding adequately to anti-depressants. Is there any associated neck stiffness or involuntary contractions in the neck like torticollis which is causing you pain?
The orthopedic has diagnosed me with cervical spine and torticollis. But am not sure about torticollis. I don’t whether the pain is due to injury or is it due to my mental health. I have been managing my mental health well. Since I stopped traction I haven’t felt any pain in my body due to depression. Traction flared that pain.
It’s only pain. It gets worse after some aggressive therapy. I feel both pain in my neck and pain in my hands and legs due to depression after traction or aggressive massage. It’s just pain. I also am doing great. I have not any felt pain in my hands or legs for sometime. For managing pain I had started PMR, breathing, yoga. I am not continuing it but I can see the improvement in my pain. But my neck still hurts.
Can you describe your pain? Is it dull aching or pin point? Any worsening factors? Does the pain increase when stressed? Also, I don’t see any indication of Trifluoperazine for Depression. As I said, SNRIs are better alternatives to SSRIs (Fluoxetine) in case of depression associated with bodyaches and pain symptoms. Still, I would like you to get evaluated by orthopedician and neurologist for any nerve related injuries, and if ruled out, then seek psychiatrist consultation for detailed evaluation and management. If required, specialized CBT can also be taken for helping with chronic pain, for which you need to consult clinical psychologist or psychiatrist. Regards.
I’m so sorry you’ve been battling this pain for so long—it sounds incredibly frustrating and exhausting, especially after trying so many treatments without relief. Given your history of nerve hypersensitivity, the initial injury might have sensitized things further. Since traction worsened it, gentle approaches are likely better now. Let’s discuss nerve-calming medications (like low-dose amitriptyline) and specialized physical therapy focusing on very gentle movement and desensitization. A pain specialist could be really helpful too. Don’t lose hope; we’ll find what works for you.
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