Question
Hi.  I don't know if you can help me or not or if my question really requires an exam by a doctor (which I'm actually on the verge of doing anyway).  

About 6 years ago, I had an accident where I broke a bone in my neck.  I broke the spinous process at C-7 (also called a "Clay Shoveler's Fracture").  It's an injury that I've come to learn is extremely rare and I've had multiple surgeries to help correct the injury itself.  One of the lingering issues has been that I also have severe nerve damage in my neck.  I've had procedures done where they've tested the many facets joints in my neck for pain and as a result, I've had a couple rhizotomies done.  Over the past 3 months or so, I've been having random pains down my arms.  Specifically, my joints in my fingers, wrists, and elbows have been hurting.  Within the past week or so, the pain has gotten significantly more severe.  And it's scaring me.  Sometimes, it feels like nerve pain or even pain in the tendons or ligaments because the pain sometimes shoots down my arms and into the joints.  But sometimes, it feels like only my joints are hurting and it has nothing to do with my nerves, etc.  

I was just wondering your thoughts.... I'm worried about a lot of things here.  I'm worried the pain might be stemming from my neck (with good reason since I've had so many surgeries on it), but I'm also worried that this joint pain has nothing to do with my neck and it's just the start of a more serious problem.  I have an appointment with my family doctor next Friday so I will bring it up then, but I was just looking for some other thoughts on the matter.

Also, any suggestions you can make to help alleviate the pain is greatly appreciated.  I'm willing to try anything because I'm reaching a point where I can't stand it anymore (and this is coming from someone who broke her neck and can deal with pain!).  I don't want to just go to my family doctor and have her prescribe pain medication to help this because I don't want to take pain meds.... I don't think they are good for you.

Thanks so much for your time and energy and suggestions.  I appreciate your help!

Answer
Hi KC,

Sorry to hear about all your pain issues.  Your pain issues do make sense from the neck injuries you've suffered.  I do think there is a lot that can be done to relieve or eliminate your pain.  The good news is that you can probably do a great deal of it yourself.

I'm going to recommend you visit my website, Do-It-Yourself-Joint-Pain-Relief,
http://www.do-it-yourself-joint-pain-relief.com/
where I have follow-along videos for every joint in the body.

I'm going to recommend that you visit the main Neck Pain Relief page,
http://www.do-it-yourself-joint-pain-relief.com/neck-pain-relief.html
and go through all the videos thoroughly.

I would imagine that your neck and entire shoulder girdle probably have many areas of inappropriate tension that needs to be released, but if you do release it, then your pain should be relieved or even completely go away.

You can also visit the pages for fingers, wrists and elbows, which can only help, but it sounds like your neck and shoulder girdle are the main players in causing your pain.

I do genuinely believe this could be that answer you are looking for, so I do hope you'll give it a shot.

All the best,

Gary Crowley