I have been dealing with chronic pain for almost 2 years now, and it has finally become unbearable. I wanted to see if anyone else has had anything like this, and how they handled it.
Two years ago I was training primarily in a crossfit-style exercise program (sub-20min workouts, sprints, heavy core lifts), and one day I decided to do a heavy bench press. I lifted, completed, and sat up, thinking to myself that it felt like I pulled something, I couldn’t quite turn my head all the way to the right, and decided to call it a day.
It was a feeling like you slept on your neck wrong, with a knotty ball over my right scapula. I’d had similar things occur in the past, but they always went away in a day or two.
This issue has never gone away. Every single day since this event I have been in excruciating pain in my right scapula region, sometimes up my into my neck/skull. The symptoms include:
- knotty, rope-like bands in varying locations from day to day (rhomboids, sub-scapularis, upper traps, lower traps)
- occasional (about once a week) tingling/numbness in my trapezius area
- headaches/ shortness of breath
I started by going to a doctor who injected cortisone into the muscle and told me to go to physical therapy. Ultimately this did nothing. My next stop was an orthopoedic surgeon who diagnosed it as bursitis (despite being an injury that came on suddenly, and despite having symptoms that respond well to massage). I have since been to numerous physiatrists, chiropractors, PTs, massage therapists, and accupuncturists. The only things that seem to help with any regularity are:
- rolling on a lacrosse ball
- myofascial release massage (although it is only a temporary solution, and the pain comes back each week if I don’t continue to go to sessions)
- stretching (although this only helps to a small extent, and on days when the pain is very bad, it seems like no amount of stretching solves the problem).
Things that seem to have little effect are electro-stim, ultrasound, and movement-based therapy. I continue to have snapping and clicking in the area, on top of the extreme muscle tightness.
The only thing I have yet to pursue are botox injections into the muscle to halfway-paralyze them and prevent them from spasming. I find this idea pretty frightening due to the permanent weakness this would likely cause in the area.
Has ANYONE ever seen/had anything like this? If so, how did you deal with it? I’m at a total loss as to how to proceed, and the pain is at a point where I am struggling even sitting at my desk all day!
Thanks in advance.
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