Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Sore Muscles & Headaches?

Hey everybody. I was just wondering if these two things might have a cause-effect relationship. I've still had headaches and neck aches in the year since surgery. I've wondered why I still have headaches even though the Sandostatin seems to control other symptoms so well. I had an especially tense semester at school and ended up with a really bad migraine. So I went to see a nuerologist. She would've suggested meds but I didn't want them, so she sent me to physical therapy. The stretching exercises seem helpful. The one thing that's really seemed to help is the suggestion of sleeping with a different pillow, one that's cylindrical in shape, or even rolling a towel up underneath my neck. I wonder if each night I'm extending my neck in a way that stretches my neck muscles too much, or in the wrong position, and that may be contributing to my headaches and neck aches. I do notice that when I tuck my knee under me while I'm sitting in a chair, my knee will become very sore and tender for days afterward as well. Anyone else with similar experience?

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi there!

I really recognize your problems. What could be causing the neck- and headaches is the enlarged tongue.

I had specialized physiotherapy for my jaws too, due to TMJ disfunction, because the jaw has grown larger.

That's how I found out that because the tongue is much larger with acromegaly, it takes a lot of muscle energy to still keep you speaking and eating properly.

My physiotherapist said that the whole neck-head-tongue area is connected to eachother. So even chewing can cause neck pains, and neck pain can cause headaches...

Try getting specialized physiotherapy for your jaws and neck, it did WONDERS for me!

Good luck,
Greetz,
Chantal, The Netherlands

polarchip said...

Interesting! I never thought of that connection. I have the neck pain, and it has developed into arthritis of the next even, supposedly because my neck muscles are so tight, it's causing my vertebrae to grind against each other. Cold and dampnness seem to make it worse.

I agree with your results- I have found that massage, physical therapy, and "traction" helps a lot- that's where your head is gently pulled away from your body, lengthening your neck and the tendons/muscles. I have found a way to lay flat on my bed with the edge of the bed at the base of my skull, and somehow gravity creates a little elongating pull.

I'm a little confused though, are the different pillows helping or creating a new problem?

Anonymous said...

Ok, bit of trouble posting today, apologies if this comes out twice.

I've noticed headaches too, always in the morning and always behing my forehead. Sometimes they go away by lunchtime, sometimes they last all day and are so painful I can't work.

They were getting quite bad the other week, then I bought a new pillow and I've been fine since.

(What's TMJ?)

polarchip said...

PS I've found a heating pad against my neck to be very soothing.

niaodian said...

you need a doctor,cutie

Starbucks Addict said...

Thanks for the input guys. My tongue doesn't seem as enlarged as it was before surgery and meds, but I think it is still enlarged, and I probably do have TMJ. I notice my jaws feel like they're trying to pop out of place, and make clicking noises, it's weird. I never thought of a connection between that and headaches.

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