Anterior Neck Nerve Pain Help!

Hi all,

I'll try to keep mine point form:

SYMPTOMS:
- Right anterior (front) neck and throat nervy feelings and pain - sort of like globus, with feelings of fat and numb tongue, cheek numbness, tight scalenes/scm, shoulder pain - all right side - some swallowing issues(like slow motility, slight cough as opposed to any issue taking it down) too.
- Came on suddenly 1 week after 3 hour root canal and whilst sitting in front of computer with neck to the right.
- Some things have SLOWLY gotten better, others less so.

DURATION:
1.5 years now - just beating the crap out of me.

MEDICAL INVESTIGATION: Nothing found yet.
Gastrointestanologist (sp) - Did Endoscopy - very clean
ENT -camera down throat twice- nothing
3xGPs
Neurologist -ordered MRI - nothing new
Second MRI - neck and throat
X-Rays
Speech Pathologist x2 - also put camera down throat
Physios x3, Chiros x2, Accupuncture x1

PRIOR HEALTH ISSUES:
severe heartburn/GERD esp. in my 20s and early 30s (I'm in early 40s)
BFS - for about 1 decade now
body cramping including unexplained leg pain, foot numbness, hand cramping - assumed with BFS - nothing new.
Under MS watch for a while, but not diagnosed after 10 years+

ONSET:
- 1 week after 3 hour long root canal op during COVID
- was sitting at desk looking sideways when all this hit me - starting with prick in side of neck
- No accidents/trama, but in hindsight lots of stress, and years of poor posture of leaning back with outstretched mouse arm (right) and looking sideways at screens for years in horrid posture (always to the right)

MENTAL STATE:
- Married, but 3 kids including a new 1 year old
- two jobs - teacher and elected municipal official
- always really stressed and wound up - but this all makes it MUCH worse as I worry about swallowing/talking/pain/discomfort and the cause of said issues
- generally very frustrated but pleasant person
- lots of Sarno-esque history - people pleasing jobs, and little time to wind down with family (great to have, but I grew up as an only child in semi-isolation), perfectionist, feeling I can not fail at anything, troubled childhood etc...

READINGS:
- Read Sarno HealingBackPain & Doing the self-help wiki here (thanks!)
- I'm stuck betweeen a disease/un-healed injury (like hyoid displacement) and neck/throat/nerve tension (Vagus etc...) caused by TMS and not disease/injury.

It sucks not being able to even find a label for my issue, let alone a solution. TOS? RSI? Pinched Nerve? Disease? Globus? SCM Syndrome? Nothing fits, and I tell myself that with 1.5 years of this crap under my belt some super-sinister disease would have shown itself, but I still worry of this having had brushes with Neurological issues in the past.

Any thoughts would be great!

 

TOS and RSI get very little regard around here and I reckon rightly so.

I haven’t recovered and I’m fact am sicker than ever but the symptoms are shifting. Getting more emotional. I’m trying to open that space. And sometimes it works.

I still think I need to and will quit my job. Not a good fit for a “nice person”. I work in a lightly predatory business, and I do my best to make it not at all predatory. But I’d be lying if I told you I’m proud of what I do. Often times the nicest people pay much more than the hard driving or lucky rich folks who don’t need any breaks. I hate that.

 

Thanks for the comment - not sure I understand "TOS and RSI get very little regard around here and I reckon rightly so" - could you elaborate? Thanks!

 

Sure. Most mind body people think that both RSI and TOS are just different manifestations of mind body syndrome.

 

thanks - I figured as much.

Does anyone else have weird neck and or nevery/nerve pain issues? Throat tension or throat/neck muscle or nerve issues?

 

Are you still here? I have issues very like yours.

 

Thanks for sharing. I would recommend working with someone who knows these things intimately one on one. It's sad but many people suffer needlessly for too many years of their lives because they did not seek some kind of guidance which could have helped heal symptoms in a short amount of time and also provided to tools to live in safer more embodied way which dissolves the need for many symptoms in the future. Experience leeds to wisdom and wisdom is power. Too many people gain so much knowledge on this subject but their health doesn't change. Knowledge and reading doesn't always lead to healing. Being on 'MS' watch sounds like one of the craziest things i've heard. That's like being a mostly healthy human and being on 'death watch' for 10 years. Lol. I guess that is one way someones mental/emotional state could be constantly kept in fight or flight....no wonder you have symptoms my friend.

www.thetaowithin.com

 

Hi learningmore,

Yes I'm still here. I still have this issue pretty much at the two year mark. Pain wasn't an issue (too much) but really, really, really impactful on my life.

Doctor's have not found anything and I've moved on from that.

The good news is that I am better. The globus portion improved after a year. I am still WAY tighter on one side than the other, but it's functional now and not over-riding. I'm pretty sure that chronic posture issues + stress + anxiety all mixed up did me in. Relaxation, stretching, correcting posture, exercises have all helped.

I work full time as a teacher, but I'm also a municipal politician, and I got elected not long before COVID hit. I remember when I ran for office I felt really good after years of issues - good enough to open a new challenge in my life. Did tons of door knocking, debates, that sort of thing, and lots of stress but a good kind. It's probably not a coincidence that after about 6 stressful but healthy months on the job (lots of local issues pre-COVID) I've had one issue or injury after the next, with this neck thing being the worst. Coincidence? I suspect that if I was really chill my horrid posture would not have kicked in, but the body almost looks for ways to shake you up.

If I can answer any questions please ask!