need help - neck spasms

My muscles tense up in my neck and it can get very stiff, too, where I can't turn my head.  I massage my neck.  It's something I can reach and do pretty easily.  I find that I have muscle knots at the base of my skull.  I press on these.  It hurts but then it feels better and my neck muscles feel better, too.

 

Sherrine

thank you for responding.. this is more like someone is stretching my muscles in my neck as tight as they will go . I cant even lay down without horrible pain from the pulling of the muscles from that extra exertion. it takes a while for them to relax with the heat and the muscle relaxers but then it is very stiff and sore after they muscles relax. even my head is very tender if I move my hair when this is going on. I usually do have a stiff neck and rubbing and activ on does help however.. have you had anything like this?

Yes, I get what I call Fibro Neck which, at it's worse, actually includes the neck/head, down into and across my shoulders and upper back and will blanket down into my chest when it's really bad. Usually what I've found is I've done something (a perpetuating factor) to cause it - like cleaning out the fridge (or some sadistic physical therapist has gotten hold of me and I didn't say no when I should have.) Something about reaching into those fridges to wipe will do it every time as well as gardening if I'm not careful of body position. For treatment, well, you mentioned our favorite heating pad (that is if the cats don't spot it first :) and I will use either a Tennis Ball/dog toy ball underneath it to apply pressure to where it hurts for relief or I will use that over my little mechanical neck roller thingy. Otherwise, it's meds and in bed with the treatment. See if you can remember what you did in the days prior before these attacks to find your own perpetuating factor. It can take a couple of days to develop. Just a thought. I sure hope you feel better.

I like the term "fibro neck." :) Sometimes my neck, shoulders, and even the muscles up into the back of my head get EXTREMELY tight and painful. Lying down is out of the question, and I have to sleep propped up. I don't usually know what brings it on, and it takes several days to go away. My head gets really tender and sore too.

I try hot showers, heating pad, muscle relaxers and massage. That is definitely one of the most painful fibro symptoms I get, and it makes it very difficult to sleep which makes all of my other pain worse.

Hugs - Austen

I have the same problems too and often times I do lay my head against a pillow on the back of the couch.  It seems the pain is worse if you lay flat, for some odd reason.  I too use a bed buddy, which I absolutely need to get some new rice for. 

I know this is an old thread but having just found this website will post a brief reply. I have had constant neck and shoulder spasms for the past few years when lying down, getting progressively worse, along with severe headaches, neck pain and knots, and pain behind shoulder blades, particularly the right side (due in some to disc degeneration). A Hospital Neurosurgery Department has just identified Chiari Malformation with, I understand, Syringomyelia. This was missed on my MRI by the initial Radiologist and an Orthopedic Specialist. It can be quite a serious and life-changing condition which needs to be considered as a potential cause of long-standing issues such as those mentioned here.