bad neck

hey everyone. when i was 9 weeks preg i busted my neck while stretching in bed. after a trip to the physio for the first time (after years of thinking i was fine) i have chronic joint problems in my neck from being taught back straight, shoulders back, boobs out. turns out, its really bad posture. what happens is my joints easily hyper extend and suck in tissue surrounding my joint, therefore when the joint goes back to normal (or 'snaps' back into position)it crushes the tissue and causes painful inflammation in the vertebrae and surrounding joint tissues(i cant take ibuprofen for this :( ). it turns my muscles into drums. yes, its as painful as it sounds!!

i had back problems in the last 3 weeks of preg. 1 which gave me back spasms and landed me in physio then but they gave me ultrasound therapy and i wasnt getting any relief, so i left.

now im having manipulative therapy and my physio told me that if i dont fix this problem before i get bigger or have the baby it can become more serious. now i was shocked to hear my neck problem was serious in the first place. its also extremely unusual as its in the last 2 vertebrae of my neck my C3 and in a couple of joints in my upper back. we cant tell just by feeling with hands how extreme this is. im contemplating having x-ray's done to look at just how damaged my neck is as its already causing me grief and sleepless nights. is this a good idea or should i just try and fix it (if i can) after the baby is born? i know xrays are super bad for bub but so is this neck problem for me.:wall:

i appreciate your insight :)

I'm sorry to hear of your situation. I hope the physio can do something to help.

Hi Tia, I'm a physio.

I have to say I don't quite understand what's going on from your explanation but anyway, I'll try to give you some generic information. Firstly, x rays won't help at all unless you had a history of a specific traumatic event eg fell off your bike onto your head. So you don't need to go and get those done - I'm sure that will be a great relief for you! Ultrasound to the back also hasn't got a lot of evidence supporting its use.

The neck is a really interesting part of the body. There's a lot of bones, joints, ligaments, disks, and muscles hanging around as well as your spinal cord and nerves. To understand a bit more about what might be causing your pain, your physio probably asked things like 'what makes it worse and better' and made you do some movements to see what happened. There are quite a few different theories within the physio practice which means different physios choose different treatment approaches. Your physio is a manip physio, an area with postgrad training, and also with research supporting manipulation in certain conditions such as acute neck problems. Our practice uses mechanical diagnosis and therapy (MDT) which also requires postgraduate training - my husband completed the full post grad training on this. There is also a lot of research around this approach, particularly in its strength in diagnosis compared to invasive tests like CT scans and discograms (where it has been shown to match the gold standard medical imaging diagnosis accuracy).

Anyway, please keep going to your physio if you are continuing to improve. If you are not, please talk to your physio about other options, or other physios. Regardless, don't worry about x rays.

Get better soon!

thanks feather top. i had a bit of difficulty understanding what my physio had told me and converting it to how i understood it. also, when i went in for a second appointment and i asked him what my condition was called again, he gave me a different answer. i havent been back since early december but i feel i need to go back again. i had a deep tissue massage on friday which helped loosen up my muscles but the pressure made me realise that my joints have slipped back into their 'bad' position.

i thought xrays might help to see how my joints are positioned and how far down the problem is. after manip i can feel a bit further down that something isnt quite right and even after asking him to check it out he said its probably just because its been straightened up. i might go back to the same guy again and say i want you to check my whole spine and if he doesnt do/say anything about it i will go to someone else and get their opinion. plus its a private practise and its freakin expensive!!

Hi Tia,

Perhaps you could ask your physio to write it down for you, and draw some diagrams. I know that works well with a lot of our patients.

X-rays really won't show anything at all, they will only show damage to the bones like a break, they won't show how far the joints have moved or anything. So save your money!!! I'm glad the massage made you feel a little better, like you said it helped relax the muscles (which is it designed to do) but made you realise that the problem is still there underneath.

I've had a look at the register of people who practice using the same methods we do, and there happens to be a physio in Perth (Osborne Park) with the same postgrad training as my husband. If you would like, I am happy to provide his contact details if you would like to get another opinion. I've just looked him up again, and it turns out he is both a manip physio and an MDT physio - could be right up your alley!!! They do have a website for more info, if you PM me I am happy to pass on the details.

Hope you get sorted!

Fiona

hmmm call me spastic, but i cant figure out how to PM! a bit different to other forums ive used! ok u PM me first hahaha id love to get a second opinion from this person. sounds like they know something that will *bangs self on forehead* HEAL!!

Hi Tia, I can't PM you, so I've emailed you (hopefully) instead!

I'm so sorry to hijack your thread but i've had neck issues for many years and in pregnancy it becomes quite bad... I've been planning to see a chiro as i really feel like it needs cracking in to place. How do physios differ?

They basically have different philosophies underpinning why they do what they do - even though they may share some of the techniques (like manipulation or 'cracking'). Chiropractic as I understand it views the health of the whole body as based on the spine, so therefore a problem somewhere in the body (limbs, neck, back, kidneys, bowel, liver etc) can be treated through manipulation of the spine. That's pretty broad and coarse but a general summary. Physio doesn't see the spine as the source of all pain/problems, rather we see a disorder of movement and try to identify the structure/s which might be responsible, treat them, and then normalise the movement. So we treat joints, spines, muscles, ligaments, nerves etc etc. Physios also work with people who have damage to their brain, children with developmental problems, people with lung/chest problems, people after surgery etc. We may give exercises, manipulate joints, etc. Again pretty broad.

As a physio, I try to teach the patient/client about their problem, and show them how they can do things to help treat this problem when they are not in the clinic. Often this is exercises, or advice about posture, daily life etc. So, a physio may manipulate your neck in the clinic, but also give you some things to do at home to maintain the improvement. My philosophy is that it is the patients neck/back, they have it 24 hrs a day while I might see them twice a week. So, if they know the right things to do, they will get better faster and not need to come back as often. In fact, I love it when someone tells me they felt their back getting dodgy again and they just started up their exercises and it went away!

Your neck doesn't need 'cracking' back into place. It might feel good for a little while but if you shock your bones back into their correct position, the muscles will pull them back out as your muscles are 'out' too iykwim?

My chiro would see me sometimes 2x a week to get me sorted. Then back to once a month maintenance. It can take a while to undo the bad alignment, but it is sooooo definitley worth persisting. My chiro totally changed my life, I LOVE her!