AS - Neck Pain

Heya Guys,

Just posting because I'm having neck pain and stiffness, the main issue with this is it's radiating to the back of head and sometimes to my teeth. Anyone else here with Ankylosing Spondylitis having this also? Just want to know whether it's normal before I go to the doctor and get spoken to like I'm a hypochondriac again.

I tend to get worse pain when I push my head back and in some sideway positions, my neck cracks an awful lot and was wondering whether this was just related to inflammation.

Don't see my rheumy for another 2 months, so wondering if I should wait it out ? Other than that, I get a ringing in my left ear occasionally which may just be fluid or something minor.

I should also probably mention that the anti-inflammatories that I'm on do actually help and eliminate some of the pain, if I haven't had any for acouple of days then thats when I really know about it.

Any feedback will be appreciated, Thanks.

David.

Crackles...I too have AS, I get trigger point injections from my Rheumy...however my issues seem to be with the insertion and origin points of the shoulder girdle muscles (mainly the trapezius) due to enthesitis...which I hear is common in AS...so no, you are NOT a hypochondriac, but this is somewhat common with AS...but again, AS is a zebra, and most docs (esp your Primary Care docs) are used to horses...so while your rheumy may understand, others may not...
Hope this helps...