Neck Pain After Surgery??

[Denise S]

I take it the pain returned?        I take it the doctor didn't mention anything about occipital nerve blocks or injections?    Since they feel that is where the pain is coming from, a lot of times they can do injections in the nerve to see if it helps.    You can read up on that if it still bothers you.       I tried on 3 months ago and it helped a little, but my pain also is farther in my neck too and finally was also diagnosed with cervical facet syndrome.      I was supposed to start the same medicine you are on, but am wanting to get off medicines and hoping for  other injection options.   Waiting to get back into doctor.

I too have used heat.  I was given a gift called a Bed Buddy.  It is basically like rice in a sock type thing, but already made up.   I've seen them at Walmart & Walgreens before.     I also love a good size gel ice pad that will fit on the base of my skull nice.

Keep us posted how the medicine works for you.
Best wishes,
Denise

[Asa52]

Syl, thanks for the advice.  I was getting ready to reply and talk about a thing I have called a Bed Buddy when I saw Denise's post.  I actually have two of them and, in my opinion, they're better than a heating pad...you can 'zap' it as hot as you want and position it anywhere you want without worrying about wires breaking and suchHave

And yes, we talked about injections but somehow got off the subject.  You ssid you've had them, Denise?  Did they work and for how long?

[Denise S]

I'm a bit curious as to what kind of surgery you had?   

I suffered from some neck pain and base of the skull pain BEFORE going into surgery, but not severe.   It was brought to the attention of my neurotologist and neurosurgeon prior to my middle fossa surgery.    Well, after my surgery, I started actually having some lower back pain along with the neck acting up too, and head pressure at times.    I did some P.T. and some meds for awhile, got a bit better and back was great.      My situation was tricky because I also was diagnosed with another thing (that I've had all worked up on and they seemed to rule out as source of pain for now, so I'll skip adding that confusion for now).    Anyways, suddenly my pains got worse again anytime I cough, sneeze, bowl strain, etc.   My main head pain seems to be the base of the skull, into the neck area, and then the whole head pressure at times.   I have seen neurologist who said muscles, and tension migraines, etc.       

I too went to a pain clinic who did some trigger points and an occipital nerve block and some other oral meds, over a period of time of course.   This all helped keep me from trips to ER in my pain.   Well, the pain isn't getting better and the pain clinic doctor, who is also an anesthesiologist, recommend I go to the Michigan Head Pain and Neurological Institute here in Michigan.  He said he thought I needed a better diagnosis to work with.     I just went March 1st.   There we did discuss something that I have read on here before that was related to trauma to nerves, muscles and ligaments after surgeries.    We talked about how the head is positioned in a vise like device for such a long period of time while doing the surgery and it can be a huge trauma to parts of the body.    For me they said especially made since how it went about because I had some mild issues before the surgery and it all worsened after.      I was in a car accident where I hit my head very hard on the front dash and had a bad concussion 20 years previous to the surgery too, it is possible that some degeneration/arthritis stuff has set in my neck area because of that too.?.?

I ended up being diagnosed with cervical facet syndrome, cervecogenic headache, myofascial spasm , tension migraine, TMJ disorder   and they said that is it for now.    I have to go back.       Also because I am deaf on the one side I tend to turn my head a lot to try to hear, so that puts a lot of extra strain on all those areas, ugh.     I had never heard of the 1st 2 diagnosis, but when looking into them, they made lots of sense to me.     Now as for treatment, they actually recommended me for an inpatient hospital stay, which I want to do, but haven't done yet.    I was shocked at the TMJ thing too and mentioned I thought I had a tooth ache the past few days, NOPE low and behold I needed a stupid root canal.   I  have to take care of the tooth and go back.          So, no good treatment plan for me yet, sorry.


Sorry this ended up SO long, I think your topic is basically a lot of what I was thinking, so I thought I would explain my 'story' a bit here.    I have not been one to post too much on the ANA forum about my neck & head pain because I still believe my pain/situation was here somewhat prior to the surgery.   BUT, since I have been following lots on here about similar stories, I figured I need to share now my findings anyways.     

I DO believe the surgery positioning and vise and length may have an impact on these head & neck issues!   "My opinion"

Denise (MI)

I quoted something I posted on another Headache  topic recently because it  seems to "cross paths" a lot, the pain stuff that is.   This kind of shares more of my stuff.

Denise (MI)

[Asa52]

Well, here it is 9 months after surgery and two or three months after the severe neck pain began.  My local neuro originally prescribed Gabapentin.  Combining it with a heating pad (microwavable Bed Buddy) worked for a little while, but then seemed to lose its effectivenss.  We then switched to Lyrica (the same medicine used for fibromyalgia).  For those of you suffering from the same pain...the Lyrica is working.

I'm supposed to take Lyrica twice a day but feel that's a bit much since the pain isn't consistent.  I talked to my neuro and now only take it once a day right before bed time. 

That hasn't completely stopped the pain.  I STILL get hit with it at odd times.  And let me tell you, the pain is incredible!  VERY intense burning sensation up the back of my neck and onto the side of my head.  Very consistent with everything I've read on the occipital nerve.

For now, although the pain crops up from time to time, Lyrica is effective.  I hope that helps any of you with the same problem.

[Denise S]

Glad to hear the Lyrica is helping better!!   
My doctors decided for me not to even start the Gabapentin but try injections instead.   (I am tired of meds and scared for my liver and kidneys).   I DID end up getting another occipital nerve block (injection) along with 2 cervical facets and it helped a lot, but only for about 3 weeks    I just went back for another round of injections to see how it goes.    I also have been approved by my insurance for botox injections for headaches, migraines, and the neck pain.  It will be discussed more at the end of the month when I got back to pain clinic.   

Best wishes for LESS PAIN!!
Denise (MI)

[JAndrews]

The retrosigmoid approach comes with a high chance of headaches for a lifetime. I was told that by Dr. Link and Driscoll at Mayo Clinic...that is why I got more opinions and went to House and had translab. Good luck to you...hopefully the headaches will go away!