Anyone else with tension headaches? Plus neck, shoulder or back pain?

I've been getting tension headaches several times a week. I've been getting knots in my neck, shoulders and back. And they are deep knots. I'm hoping to see a physical therapist soon that could hopefully help me.

I've tried exercise, medication and a couple different chiropractors, but nothing wants to stick. Was wondering if anyone else has/had this issue?

Yup, I get them all the time. I found that a heating pad works wonders to ease the pain. I rolled it up for my neck and I drape it over my shoulders for a bit.

I also do neck exercises where I do a "laying figure 8" and other exercises with my neck.

Learn trigger point release first. Its worth it. I saved about 5K in 6 years doing this myself. Buy a "knobler" tool to do this (goggle). Do this before pys therapy. Did you see the trigger point release chart info I posted a while back?

PT is not very effective if you have knots. Thats the reason PT fails some people and they dont know why. PT strengthens but does not correct knots. TP release does correct knots-over time.

Tie a knot in a sock. Now pull on each end. You stretched it but the knot is still there and tighter. Same thing with muscle knots. Yep.

All of the above!

PT, Acupuncture, heat, cold, miracle balls, trigger point release, neck exercises, anything and everything to cause muscles to release.

A few not mentioned: TENS unit - small box used with pads/leads similar to those used for an EKG. You place two sets of pads on either side of a muscle, then turn the unit on. It sends electrical pulse down the lead to muscle and causes to contract and then release. Gave me some relief. I would stick on the pads and leave attached, just disconnecting them from the unit between "sessions."
You can only reuse the pads several times before they no longer stick. Be careful of placement on the neck. I was usually able to trace the pain down to a muscle in my shoulder that was safer to contract/release (no carotid artery to worry about).

Rice Sock - take a man's sock, fill it rice, tie a knot and throw it in the microwave. Moisture in rice heats up and instant heating pad. I found it works better because it fits to the contour of your body. When it no longer warms up replace the rice.

Trigger point injections - my doctor would inject lidocaine into some of the trigger points. Lidocaine stings and can hurt going in and for the first couple of days, but for me it relieved the pain for a couple of weeks.

Tennis ball - you can place a tennis where the knot is (sometimes it works best to put it in a large sock to make it easier to place it), then use your body weight to apply pressure. It helps on getting the knot to release. It can be painful, but you control the pressure and therefore the pain. I found it works better than massage and chiropractic. Cheaper and you can do it as often as you want.

My diagnosis is Fibromyalgia not Lyme, but with headaches it as much about symptom relief (if not more) as the underlying cause. Pain is something I know about.

You will probably find that any "treatment" will only work for so long. I always found that using several treatments for shorter periods of time or in combination works better.

A word of caution on topical pain relievers. If you are using something like Lidocaine, even if compounded, more is NOT better. There was a woman living in my county who was given topical Lidocaine to use before some sort of medical procedure and instead of following the directions she figured if a little was ok More would be better. She died.

Topical creams are used because they absorb into the skin better and can reach a localized area faster, but the drug still goes into the blood stream. You can OD just as easily by absorbing through the skin as swallowing a pill.

I wanted to give you an update on my neck cream. I got a sample tube of it for free (no shipping charges) from Drug Depot. The phone number is (877) 378-4911. I'm not promoting this company. My LLMD thought this might help me since I have a lot of inflammation and pain in my neck and back. You can ask your doc or call them for more info. It requires a script.

It is a compound of various pain meds specifically tailored for me by my LLMD. With any cream or medication, someone is supposed to use as directed - only apply the allotted amount and not more often than indicated. It is a drug.

I tried the lidocaine patch. It did not help and made me nauseated.

So far, I have used the cream twice. I liked it better on my neck. I used it on my back along the spine also. It is too early to say, but it seemed to aggravate the areas on my back where I did not apply it. I'm not sure if I'm supposed to apply it on my entire back or not. I think it might require more than what I'm supposed to apply. Not sure. I might use it on my neck again.

Also, I just picked some scripts. She called in Voltaren gel for the same purpose. It is an anti-inflammatory gel. I might try that next because I would rather stick with an anti-inflammatory only med over a combo of meds if it works as well. I have been taking Voltaren pills, which have helped. It can be hard on your stomach, especially long term. Since I backed off the pills, my inflammation has gotten worse. Maybe the gel will help! I hope so. My pain has also gotten worse. I don't want to ruin my stomach. The joys of Lyme and co. :)

Neck pain, stiff necks, shoulder pain were some of my first symptoms and it just hurt to move my head period. I went to chiropractors, acupuncture, PT and finally I found a NUCCA chiro that really helped get some flexibility back in my neck it was so tight. But then after I got diagnosed and started treatment my neck doesn't bother me like that much. I do sit up against a heating pad but more so for the lower back now but did that a lot or bought those pads you put on that heat up, that felt good also.

Hopefully with treatment it will start going away.

When I did office work, my neck and shoulders hurt so bad, literally it was 24 hrs a day for 5 days straight, just chronic like tooth ache pain. I do have herniations and bulging disks.

One other thing to remember is that over the counter medication or "treatments" can interact with other medications.

If I recall correctly, Tiger Balm uses capsasin (I don't think thats spelled right). I don't know if capsasian interacts with anything.

Revive - In your signature you list Xylitol and I was wondering why you were using it. It is used in non-fluoride tooth paste and other products, so I was surprised to see it list with the other treatments.