The neck stretches that the PT teach are helpful for me. But when they dont I use Boswellian cream twice a day. Helps decrease the inflamation. I do the entire neck except the very front quarter. Good luck, hope someones elses solution will help you.

Today I will be happy.

Yes, I had severe neck pain and headaches. I had nerves burnt in my neck over 2 years ago and no longer have the problem. It took a couple of months to adjust after the procedure but it was well worth it. Ask your Dr. about a nerve block

I get occipital headaches. They start in the neck and work their way forward from back to front (bottom to top). They are worse than the migraines that I got when I was younger. Try Alleave, it takes the edge off and makes them almost bearable. They are caused by my neck problems.

I just want to make a few comments about what Knight said, and what a few people said in response to his post.
Everyone is right, that he should not be telling ANYONE what to do, shouldn't be telling anyone that all they have to do is buck up and exercise and all will be right with the world.

On the other hand, it's not accurate, and it's not fair to say that anyone who does ANY type of exercise does not have or feel the same type or amount of pain as everyone else in this group. That's just not fair. I have migraines every damn day. And my back is in agony every damn day. But I know why my back hurts. I have zero muscle strength in my whole back. None. At all. I had zero pain about a year after I broke my back, I was a store manager that ran around the store for 8 hours a day, and lifted heavy boxes. My back muscles were so strong. I never had pain in my back. So I know that the ONLY way to get rid of my back pain now....is to exercise. It's going to hurt like a MF.....but what choice do I have? Does that mean I have less pain than everyone else because I'm going to put myself on an exercise regimen? NO! But to get rid of one really, really bad pain, I'm going to have to endure another for quite a while.

At the same time, my migraines keep me from exercising. So now I go back and forth of "I can't, but I have to, I can't, but I have to". And when "I have to" wins out, does that mean I have less pain than other people in this group, NO! But I have to take control of my pain the only way I know how. I can't take pain medication.....so I don't have that.

I think that was kind of....in a round about way something Knight was trying to say. Granted he said it in a very bad way. But it seems that ANYTIME someone even says the word exercise, even though they never mention what type of exercise it is, people in here automatically start to bash them and accuse them of not knowing what real pain is. I really find that offensive. I may not know the pain of anyone else on here, but neither does anyone know my pain.

I just wanted to post this, because I see it over and over every single time this subject comes up, and I just wanted to put another perspective out there.

Yvette

"and the headaches afterwards sometimes last for a day or two and leave me pretty much bed ridden".

? sounds kinda like a migraine. ? if migraine meds, the dissolve under tongue kind would stop it? just another thought for you. Now the obvious; muscle relaxers, ice, heat, stretches, tens machine, lidocaine, nerve block, and steriod injections. Less obvious; some docs inject botox every three months into the muscle group pulling your neck and preventing rotation. Ive done all but the last one. My nuero wanted to do it, but my physiatrist and I agreed with all the autoimmune diseases i have best to stay away from poison being injected into my body. I understand it helps lots of folks. Good luck on your journey.

Today I will be happy.