Thursday, 22 November 2018

Physio for Neck Pain and Dizziness

If you read my previous post you'll know that I have been having some new and worsening symptoms over the past few months; namely dizziness, fatigue, and some neck pain (although I put that pain down to a fibromyalgia flare up). After various tests came back negative, my GP referred me to an ENT specialist and for physio. My ENT appointment is next month, but I had my physio appointment a couple of days ago.

When I signed in at reception, I was given some paperwork to fill out. I had to rate how severely the pain has affected certain activities, and whether I did exercise other than general housework/daily tasks etc in the past week or so. At first, I was thinking of my pain as a whole, but of course they only needed to know about my current problem i.e. neck pain.

When I was called through to see the physiotherapist, I found she was the one I'd seen about my hip bursitis a while back. She asked how I was, then asked me some questions about my neck pain and dizziness. She then got me to sit on the bed while she examined my neck and shoulders. She noted that I had a lot of tension there; which she said is common for people with Fibromyalgia (one of my diagnoses). Next, she asked me to do some movements, to check stiffness and pain when turning my head in different directions. Other than some stiffness when turning my head left and right, there wasn't much else that was noticeable. I explained that I get dizziness when turning my head left to right, and also find I have this weird scratching noise as I turn. I also told her that the dizziness was not only when I do that, but also when I stand from sitting, or sit up for a while. She asked if I'd ever fainted due to this, and I explained that I hadn't, but I'd been very close.

After this examination, she said that she believed the neck pain was due to my Fibromyalgia (which didn't surprise me) and that unfortunately physios can't treat that condition anymore. It is down to GPs and Rheumatologists. I did have a Rheumatologist for my initial diagnosis, but he told me he couldn't do anything else for me, so I don't actually have a specialist for that (or my Joint Hypermobility Syndrome come to think of it).

The physiotherapist gave me a few booklets for Fibromyalgia, Joint Hypermobility, and Neck Pain, which had some exercises in. I'm to keep doing them, but she doesn't need to see me for a follow up.

When I got home, my pain (especially in my neck and shoulders) was horrendous. It had started up ever since the physical examination, and kept getting worse. I took my painkillers (tramadol slow release) but they didn't do anything unfortunately. I really needed something that would work instantly. My pain is a little better today, and I've had a couple of things delivered to hopefully help. These are an unscented wheat bag to go around my neck and shoulders, and a bottle of orange flavoured CBD oil from https://okcbd.co.uk/ . I have only had a couple of drops today, so cannot say if they are working yet, but in the next week or so, I think I'll write a review on my blog, for anyone thinking of trying this oil.

I'll leave it there for now, I hope you are all as well as possible!