Pinched nerve..

Oh man that sounds horrendous. Can you look up any non medicated ways of relieving tension head aches? Sunglasses and a pillow, I'm guessing. Hope you feel better soon.

Oh Wicky, that sucks! Hope the exercises work.

I woke up yesterday with a ridiculously sore neck and it's still bad today. Makes driving interesting when you can't move your head properly!

Thanks SW. Looking a lumbar support pillows and neck rolls on Amazon as we speak!

GP reckons its all stemmed from my bad posture from having heavy knorks.. seriously should've listened to my mother when she barked at me to 'sit up straight' every single day!..

He he. You said norks.

Oh - also, controversial to bring it up I know, but my W has always wanted a reduction, her little sister had one on the NHS because she nagged them about it that much, W is less proactive so her GP said no and she slunk off in a mood and never went back. If you've ever wanted one (not suggesting for a moment that you should, large boobies are wonderful, wonderful things, just I know that a lot of ladies of the well endowed variety often tend to wish they were less so) ... then this would be the right time to get it free, since your GP has said they are causing you health problems?

Ignore this post though, if I'm speaking out of line

Yeah, one of my friends a reduction done privately about 5 years ago and it pretty much changed her life! I'm not a the point of considering one as yet, I'm hoping (fingers crossed) that the exercises, new pillows, improved posture etc will help and also, losing weight will defiantly help!

I have suffered with this for a few years. Typically after a few hours in the morning, i get a nerve type pain down my arm and up my neck into the side of my face which makes one side of my head numb. Also have generally tightness and discomfort in my shoulder and back of the neck and have had bad migraines. I had various scans and the top of my spine into my neck is curved the wrong way slightly which makes me prone to slump my neck i.e bad posture. I have had a lot of physio which I would highly recommend getting referred for, have also had cortisone injections in the muscle which also helped significantly but you can only have these a couple of these.

I have also focused on improving my posture as when I don't think about it I tend to slump in a chair with my head tilting upwards. This has really helped and I try and sit ram rod straight as often as I can. Also if you spend a lot of the time on the PC check to see if your elbows are supported as I found what I did on the bad side was try and hold my mouse arm up rather then resting it and this causes the trapezium to tighten as you are using that solely to support the weight of your arm. I have also found these pillows really help and are dead comfy! as it is one piece the pillow does not slip as with a normal pillow so your head is better supported.

Definitely get some physio though. Do you have private medical insurance?

No, I don't have private medical insurance. My GP was reluctant to send me to see a physio, he said that they're in quite high demand and thought that they wouldn't be able to offer me much more than what I could read/follow from a book or online!! I was a bit perturbed by this I must admit! He seemed to think an osteopath was the way to go but couldn't refer on the NHS and I can't afford to pay for it myself unfortunately!

That pillow looks amazing, btw!! I've just bought a lumbar support and neck roll so I'll give them a whirl..

I've booked in for a free 15 minute consultation with my local osteopath. Fingers crossed for something positive!

Fingers crossed WickyWack

My friends husband has had something similar but in has back affecting his leg, he has been to a sports therapist and they have done more for him than the GP and hospital have done, it might be worth a shot. He said the appointments hurt, but he knows its better for him in the long run (he's only just gone back to work after being off since the end of November with it)

It's horrihle anywhere in your back/neck. Personally I have no faith whatsoever in GP's when it comes to things like this. I fractured the bottom of my spine and he told me I had muscle spasm.

Definitely try Physio and back/neck massage as it gets better. It's helped me no end and I've had loads of problems with one thing and another. The other great thing for posture is Pilates, it strengthens your core muscles.

Hope you get it sorted soon xxx

Osteopath was a bit meh. She said she could definately help me by giving me some exercised to do etc and encourage me to improve my posture.

TBH, I was hoping for a more hands on approach..I've just given my shoulder/neck area a good prodding and it felt so crunchy and horrible, plus this will be my millionth day with a headache behind my eye. FML!

Don't know whether to go with the osteopath or just go for a really good sports massage??

If I was you I would try the sports massage or sports therapist option, they were the only ones who could help my friends husband when he had a trapped nerve in his back.