Neck Problem

Since my shoulder surgery, my neck has consistently gotten worse.  Sure, it would get sore sometimes from sitting in front of the computer or driving for hours, but it was never this bad.  I have this pain in the back of my neck and it seems to get stuck somewhat, then I'd have to turn my head to make it back to normal.  It usually clicks/cracks when I do this and a few minutes later, same thing happens.

It might have something to do with the fact that I had to sleep sitting up for a couple of weeks after the surgery. I always woke up with my head leaning to one side.  I couldn't stand the pain anymore so I told my doctor when I went to see her for my hives.  She referred me to physical therapy. 

I felt like the youngest person in the waiting room.  Most of their patients were older people or injured people, who are also older than I am.  They must have wondered what the hell I was doing there.

My physical therapist interviewed me then told me to stand up, move around, move my neck this way that way etc.  He did notice that my two muscles on the sides of my neck were bigger than they are supposed to be.  He then told me to lie down.  He lifted my head off the pillow and told me to keep my head up when he let go.  I could barely do this and started shaking right away. 

In a nutshell, he discovered that I wasn't using some muscles that I should be, and was only using those two on the side.  They were being overworked but still wasn't enough to support my neck.  He thinks that's what's causing the pain and the clicking.  The first exercise he assigned me was to get down on my hands and knees like a dog with my neck down and push forward and back.  The other one was to lie down and slowly lift my head up.  These exercises are meant to teach my brain to start using the muscles. 

I thought they were funky exercises and frankly I wasn't sure what it was gonna do.  but surprisingly, after two weeks, my neck is so much stronger!  I can lift my head up without shaking as much.  So now he has me doing even funkier exercises.

One is to hold a ball between my forehead and the wall, with my arms up.  Turn my head to the right, then left, lift my arms off the wall, back on the wall, then bring them down.  This is supposed to activate the inactive muscles. 

Funny thing is that I actually have a ball I can use.  It was a secret Santa gift last Christmas from a teenage resident from my old workplace.  She went to the 99 cent store and got me a ball, a bottle of Jarritos, laser thingy to play with animals (?),  candy cane, and a couple of other things.  My fish doesn't seem smart enough to even be able to chase the laser thing.  Jarritos was yummy.  The ball just sat in the corner of my room until now.  Thank you, Santa!!