Walking around with an attitude

If you see me walking around with an attitude these days, that's because I have a pinched nerve on my neck.

For the longest time, perhaps since I started going to my massage therapist in HMB around 3-4 years ago, I have had a stiff neck mainly due to stress at work and sitting poor posture. Finally last Friday, I got this pain in the neck that was so bad that I couldn't turn my head to the left at all.

My neck and shoulders finally gave in and failed on me. I felt like there was a nail planted deep in my neck that was pinching me constantly. The based of my head hurt. When I move my head, I could hear and feel the internal fibers squeaking like a machine that was out of whack. My right arm and shoulder were so weak that even the simplest daily task such as brushing my teeth hurt. I tried different types of pain killer but none could relief my pain.

I felt defeated and handicapped. When I woke up in the morning, my body was so stiff I felt like I was 30 years older. Typing or reading were totally out of the question. I couldn't even sit to watch TV for more than 30 minutes without agonizing pain. So I just putzed around with my head slightly tilted to the right, and not doing much of anything all week. It was by far the most unproductive week in my adult life.

I need to take a break now, but next I will write down the exercises I have done for my pinched nerve in the neck. I believe some of these exercises should be done daily to reduce neck pain and back pain.

Stay tuned.