What Causes Severe Pain In Neck And Shoulders?

Posted on Tue, 16 Feb 2016

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Tue, 16 Feb 2016 Answered on

Fri, 22 Apr 2016 Last reviewed on

Question : About 6 weeks ago while watching a very stressful movie I felt my neck kind of seize up. The next day it was very hard to turn my head from one side to the other and while driving I had to turn my shoulders just to see. Ive gotten adjustments from a chiropractor and it gets better for a time. It also gets better with massage but is still tight, its also tight in the middle of my shoulders at the base of my neck. I got an x ray and there is nothing out of whack except a minor tracheal deviation but other than that no arthritis etc

Answered by Dr. Swarnava Dattagupta (1 hour later)

Brief Answer:
Might be muscle spasm; follow as advised

Detailed Answer:
Hi,
Thank you for posting your query in Healthcaremagic.com.
This is Dr. Swarnava Dattagupta answering your query.

I have gone through your query and understand your concern.
From your history, it seems to be a case of muscle spasm. It takes time to get completely normal. Xray generally does not show anything as in your case.
I would suggest you the following-

Avoid heavy weight bearing.
Physiotherapy in the form of static and range of motion neck exercises.
Hot dry compression.
Painkiller gel application locally.
Muscle relaxants like thiocolchicoside for a week.

Continue the above for 2-3 weeks. If pain and stiffness does not subside, an MRI should be done to rule out any major soft tissue injury.
But dont worry, it generally gets better in due time.

Hope I have answered your question.
If you have any further questions I will be happy to help.
Regards.

Note: For further queries, consult a joint and bone specialist, an Orthopaedic surgeon. Book a Call now.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Prasad