Fibromyalgia Support Group

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Need help. Collars and turtlenecks

Emily710
Emily710
My upper back will scream murder minutes or hours after I wear a necklace or a button down shirt with a high collar. I know that it is because the fibro wrecks our ability to down regulate pain, i.e. Ignore something distressing. If I keep wearing the item, the pain will spread down my back to a larger and larger area and my mood will follow suit.

What I want to know is why the collar is distressing to my body. In other words, is this typical to fibromites or is there something particularly different about my neck that maybe I could look into, maybe treat.

Would you please run a little experiment? Would you go one or two days without a collar/necklace/scarf and then start a new day with something on your neck. (I wear my scarf so that it covers my throat and hangs behind me without touching the back of the neck.) I know that this is not a good time of the year to ask because almost everyone lives in a cold climate. But, if you can try it and let me know, it would be very helpful to me. Thanks.
PeaceN2You
PeaceN2You
I wear turtlenecks and other high collars most days in this weather and they've never bothered me.

Interested to see other responses.
k83317
k83317
I've never wear turtle necks......always felt like they were choking me. I wear a scarf almost 24/7 in the winter cause the cold makes me hurt more. However I only wear necklaces on special occasions & then it's normally only a few hours.
Emily710
Emily710
K83317, do you feel worse when you do?
noreenb
noreenb
Not sure if this helps but whenever I wear necklaces or earrings, I only wear them until I get home and it's not something I forget about....home and then off! I don't think it's to the degree that you're talking about though. Wishing you well with this
deleted_user
deleted_user
I stopped wearing neckties back in the late 1990's as they just hurt too bad. My boss wanted me to wear them as all of the other men in the company did, but after several visits to an ENT doc & he could not find anything wrong (even wrote me a letter apologizing for not being able to help me - how often does that happen these days), my boss eased up & did not force me to do so. In my next job, I was able to wear polo type shirts.

Can't tolerate turtlenecks or chains or anything around my neck. Sounds like another one of the many side effects of fibro to me.

I also do not wear a watch, any rings or whatever any more as they are just too painful.
Wonderbaby
Wonderbaby
I have never been able to wear much around my neck. Light dainty little necklaces if any at all. Otherwise I'm ripping them off as soon as I can.

T-shirts with stiff collars...I cut them out. Same with sweatshirts. Just hate having anything near my neck.

They do make sensory friendly clothing. If you google it you'll find it.
k83317
k83317
I'm not sure if it's a causes pain thing or just irritates me so bad I want to take it off.
LeoX3
LeoX3
I wear a fairly heavy stainless teel medical alert necklace day in and out, but I've done that for 25 years now, so I'm so used to it that I may not be able to "tell" if it bothers me. It's sort of more I'm bothered if it's not there.

That said, I avoid t-necks and buttoning the top buton. I just dislike anything tight around my throat, for PTSD reasons.

I think this is another of those variable FM things---like I can wear jewelry and so on fine, but others can't. But God help me if I wear a belt. That'll trigger lower back FM yuck in no time. High-waist pants are the same. I loved it when hip-hugger type pants came back in!
deleted_user
deleted_user
I can't take anything tight on me. If it is a cowl neck, i am ok.
Fantod
Fantod
I have difficulty with jewelry. I can wear bracelets but not necklaces. Sometimes I can wear earrings but it depends on the day. I had an acupuncturist tell me that in some people wearing metal magnifies pain. If I am having a particularly bad day, I'll remove my bracelets and anything else made of metal. It seems to help.

I haven't worn a turtleneck in years. I can wear a mock turtleneck which is shorter and not as tight. I have Allydonia so wearing clothing is always problematic. I dunno - this is such a complex illness. I wish someone could figure out why we all have so many variations with the same end result - pain. Take care.
Emily710
Emily710
Went in for a massage today and the masseuse says that my shoulders are rolled forward a lot and all the muscles at the top of my back/shoulders are very tight. He seems to think that is part of the problem. Gave me a doorframe exercise to do and told me to roll my shoulders up and back frequently.
basketballmom23
basketballmom23
A couple years ago I had to quit wearing turtlenecks. They bothered my neck and made me feel like I was choking.
kitkennedy
kitkennedy
For most of the time you will not catch me without a scarf for warmth, cowl necks I can tolerate for short periods and some loose t-necks as for jewelry Nope has to be very light and dainty and for only a short period!
LynnJ55
LynnJ55
I'm ok with turtlenecks as long as they are soft material - no scratchy sweaters. But a regular T-shirt with a high neck will drive me crazy, I'll keep trying to pull it down until it's totally out of shape. But I'm overly-sensitive to just about everything touching me, so yeah, thanks, fibro.
susanbanthony
susanbanthony
Soft tee shirts or hoodies are what I put on my body and those skinny jeaans my daughter made be buy I wore twice with great horror.
I use to wear turtleneck loved them had them in evey color , GoodWill has them now. I am with noreenb, only post earings and short term use of my Pandora bracelet and nix on any necklace.

I am going to goggle Wonder-Gal's sensory friendly clothing.. thanks for the tip, you may have posted it before but then the fibro fog ate it.
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