Arthritis help..

[Disneylover79]

I have arthritis in my neck, and it causes me to have headaches, so I am looking for some relief... thanks

 

[kirbydog48]

Have you thought of seeing a massage therapist? The headaches may be caused by excess muscle tension in the neck muscles. You can find qualified therapists in your area by checking out amtamassage.org. Are you on medication?

 

[chell]

Has your doctor prescribed anything for it? Have you tried putting a heat pack on it? I have one of those pea packs that can go from the freezer to the microwave.

If you are like me when it is bothering me in my neck it starts getting tense then I end up with a horrible headache. I hope you don't experience the same kind of headaches. I have to take muscle relaxers when that starts happening.

My sister sees a chiropractor on a regular basis for hers and it really helps her. He recommend ginger pills and turmeric pills for both of us for inflammation. I ended up being allergic so I couldn't take then.

I see you are another young one with it. It sucks to be young and in pain.

My dad swears by Pantothenic Acid - it is a B vitamin. I just forget to take my Vitamin B drops every day.

Good luck!

 

[a1tinkfans]

I have arthritis in my neck, and it causes me to have headaches, so I am looking for some relief... thanks

usually mine comes from the tension in my neck (with arthritis to boot) and I literally go in a HOT shower to relieve the strain. I use Excedrin tension now and it works better than advil, which I lived on ...

It is so difficult being in pain and even worse when you are young to boot, I hear you and I understand!!! Good Luck!!!

 

[Disneylover79]

Thanks to all of you....I guess I should have prefaced my post with the past 1.5 years of my life.... I have been on and off so many medications... I have been on pain meds but they only help for a short period of time.. i just recently went to a pain medicine doctor and he injected my joints under x-ray and it helped for 1.5 weeks... so I called and begged him for another when I return next week... it was the best 1.5 weeks regarding the pain...

I am on a muscle relaxer for the muscle pain and I take it on a regular basis because I hold ALL of my stress in my neck and shoulders....

I am glad to see that I am not the only young person on here in pain...

 

[chell]

Have you tried regular massage therapy? Since you hold your stress and tension there I think it would do you a lot of good. But you need to find a great massage therapist who understands your medical needs. Try to find one who works with arthritis and Fibromyalgia patients.

From all you have taken and been through with medical treatments it sounds like this may be your best bet. In the mean time I would try some heat therapy to help relax it. Heat really does help relax my shoulder and neck area.

Can you get in a hot tub or a heated pool? That may also help relax your muscles as well. I'm tempted to go check in a hotel just to use the hot tub!

Good luck! I hope you find something soon to help you with the relief you seek.

Another thing. Would your boyfriend be willing to go with you to a massage therapist? He could learn some techniques to use in between appointments.

Some insurance companies will pay for this type of massage (with a co-pay).

 

[TheBigBadWolf]

I saw on the NBC evening news a few months ago to eat Bing cherries for the relief of arthritis pain. I mentioned it to a friend whose mother suffers badly from crippling arthritis. She began eating cherries every day, and now her fingers have straightened out a lot and she is able to knit again for the first time in several years. Her son tells me it is amazing how well she is doing since she began eating cherries every day. I have no personal experience with it, just my friend thanking me for telling him about it. Maybe it will help you, too.

Google "Cherries and arthritis" and you'll pull up a ton of info.

 

[chell]

I saw on the NBC evening news a few months ago to eat Bing cherries for the relief of arthritis pain. I mentioned it to a friend whose mother suffers badly from crippling arthritis. She began eating cherries every day, and now her fingers have straightened out a lot and she is able to knit again for the first time in several years. Her son tells me it is amazing how well she is doing since she began eating cherries every day. I have no personal experience with it, just my friend thanking me for telling him about it. Maybe it will help you, too.

Google "Cherries and arthritis" and you'll pull up a ton of info.

How many does she eat? I've heard this as well but heard you need to eat a lot. I love cherries and could eat them daily but they are super expensive.

 

[Robindianne]

What about acupuncture? Could that help?

 

[6gr8kidz]

Have you been diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis or OsteoArthritis or another form? There are over 100 different types of arthritis and they some have different treatments.

If you Dr. has not already done the blood work, I would ask them to run a SED rate, Rhematoid Factor, & ANA just to start with. These will tell you if you have active inflammation going on and see if you have certain antibodies to different autoimmune diseases.

If you have an autoimmune disease like RA the treatment will be very different from Osteoarthritis. In RA your body actually attacks the joints and it is considered an auto immune disease.

The other is more prominent with over use and age.

The things that my daughter uses for relief are warm showers, tube socks filled with uncooked white rice (you can microwave for a minute and the heat really stays for a while, or you can put in the freezer to have a cooling effect.) She has it in her hands and uses the parraffin wax bath (won't really help your neck) but maybe a heating pad will. When she is terrible pain and nothing else works I have to give her tylenol 3 and start steroids.

Arthritis is a terrible disease, I wish the best of luck and will say a quick prayer for you tonight.