Pinched Nerve...Help!!!!

[smartykat]

I somehow pinched a nerve in my neck and am in constant pain..:cry: I have been taking 3 ibupropens (sp) every three hours which makes the pain just bearable. I cannot lay down to sleep - my neck just throbs (I slept in DH's Lazy Boy last night), I can't turn my head to the side, lift anything with my left hand, look up at the ceiling or down at the floor..I'm a freakin' mess! :frown3:

Any one out there had this crappy thing happen to them? If so, do you have any suggestions on how to get rid of it or at least alleviate the pain? :mad2:

Thanks for listening to me whine.... :worry:
kt :gvibes:

[chinchilla]

Ouch, I know how much that can hurt! I once pinched a nerve in my neck at work and had to take the bus home in pain, with my neck cranked way over to one side.

I don't know of any quick remedy, but keep taking the ibuprofen and know that it WILL get better with time. Maybe someone else will have a more useful suggestion for you, but you sure have my sympathies!

[Txsweeper]

This sounds crazy, but it worked. I too had a pinched nerve in my neck, my physical therapist (I also have degenerative disc disease) put my head between his hands and lightly pulled my head straight up in the air. It hurt at first, but he held it real firm for about 5 minutes and wall-a! I felt much better. You might try, it hurts but the stretching of the neck muscles help relieves the pain.

[Ravzie]

Kathy,

You didn't say if you'd been to the doctor or not, but if you have not, I urge you to do so very soon. There must be a better way for you to handle this - you shouldn't have to suffer, and you can really irritate your stomach and liver with too much ibuprofen. You didn't say the milligrams of the 3 pills you are taking every 3 hours, but it is not good to take over 3600 mg each day. I don't want you to add bleeding ulcers and drug induced hepatitis to your discomfort. Your MD can hopefully give you a plan of care and better meds to provide relief and healing. I'm not a huge fan of chiropractors, but many folks have good relief with this type of care. Please have yourself checked out right away. Good luck.

[DrJohn]

You need to go to the doctor;I wouldn't let anyone pull up on my head without seeing one first.

John

[skpaw]

After you see the doctor and follow his advice, here is a home remedy that will not cause more problems. Alternate heat (a moist hand towel placed in a zipper bag after it is microwaved will work, careful use a spatula to handle hot towel and let cool a little so you don't burn your skin) Wrap hot pack in a couple layers of dry towels. Make sure it is not going to burn you. Leave on neck till hot pack cools. Later put ice pack on for about 20 min. Something about going from hot to cold can help the pain. If one or the other really feels better, just use that one treatment. I worked for a physical therapist and heard him tell lots of people to use the hot towel thing at home.

Don't make it too hot, I don't want to burn you!

[lepullyard]

I have disc problems and you can take 800 mg of ibuprofen at a time that is perscription strength every 6 hours but always eat something so you don't hurt your stomach. I use a rice pack and heat it in the microwave. It holds heat the longest of any thing I've tried. Cheap way to make one is I help myself to my husbands sock put rice in it and put a knot in the top. I would also go see a doctor he may give you some muscle relaxers to help loosen it up.

[lepullyard]

Also if you need more pain med in between switch to tynol. can take a couple hours after ibuprofen. They are absorbed through differen't parts of your system. So they don't react off each other.
I was told this when my youngest son was having high fevers when he was little and had to alternate tynol and ibuprofen avery 2 or 3 hours to bring his fever down.

[TrishMc107]

As others said go to your doctor. I had a pinched nerve in my neck. Thought I was having a heart attack with the pain running down the arn, shooting out a finger and my chest hurting. Anyway besides meds he gave me exercises to do. Kills at first but if you do them it helps a lot in the long run.

[tommy]

sorry to hear about the pinched nerve kt :smile9: and do hope it gets better in a hurry :)

i cant answer your ? sorry i know nothing about pinched nerves

[midwestnurse]

Ditto to what Ravzie said, and good luck to you.

[smartykat]

Thanks guys...I'm feeling a little better today. After I read Ravzie's post I realized that I should be alternating the asprin and non-asprin pain killers. I also used the hot towell and slept sitting up again...lol! I will probably try the rice bag tonight!!! I have had this since Mon.
and was really starting to get worn down and disgusted!

Thanks again,

kt :gvibes:

[tangerine]

Kathy,

Go to the doctor too. In mid December I started to have similar problems so I know how painful it is. The pain runs all the way down my right arm and my thumb feels numb. I went to the doctor and was put on an anti inflamatory, muscle relaxants and a pain killer. The pain is so much better now, the ibuproben I was taking before I saw the dr wasn't doing much.

I had to get an MRI and it shows I have a herniated disc in my neck - I am going to see a specialist next week. I am hoping physical therapy can get me back to normal. A friend of mine has the same problem and was able to do an hour of traction a day and it helped.

Hope we're all feeling better soon!