Question
Hello. 5 years ago i was in a 4-wheeler accident and broke either my c-3 or c-4(cant remember for sure) bone in my neck and tore some things in the front of my neck. I havnt been back for a check up since i got my neck brace off which was 3 months after my surgeries. For over a year now i've been having intense neck, back, head, and shoulder pain. And for the last few months i have been experiencing these symptoms: constant pain in the back of my neck and head, random blood taste in my mouth every so often, frequent sore throats, kanker sores in mouth(never more than 1 or 2), sore ears and ringing in my ears, hard to breathe and shortness of breath with slurred words sometimes, headaches and frequent dizziness, hurts to swallow often, and for the last few months i have noticed a sore on the left lower side of my neck. I am just wondering what may be happening or has caused these symptoms?

Answer

Hanna Somatic Educatio Hi, Kimberly,

I can account for some of your symptoms:

[intense neck, back, head, and shoulder pain]

Injuries trigger a reflexive muscular reaction, a guarding reaction known as "Trauma Reflex".  In the neck, it's a bracing response that can be intense enough to cause pain.  The reflex often persists indefinitely unless corrected by movement/muscular control training.


[constant pain in the back of my neck and head]
same explanation

[random blood taste in my mouth every so often]
can't say, there

[frequent sore throats]
When the muscles of swallowing (front of the vertebrae, back of the throat) get tight, they produce the sensation of sore throats.  That may or may not completely account for your symptoms

[kanker sores in mouth(never more than 1 or 2)]
can't say

[sore ears and ringing in my ears]
tight jaw muscles and sterno-cleidomastoid muscles, same cause

[hard to breathe and shortness of breath]
The shock of the original injury may have triggered muscular tensions in the belly wall and ribs, which would restrict breathing.  Likely.

[with slurred words sometimes]
Speech involves fine muscular control.  Probably interfered with from the same cause as noted.

[headaches and frequent dizziness]
Please see my write-ups on headaches and dizziness:
http://somatics.com/conditions.htm
http://ezinearticles.com/?Headache-Relief-From-New-Somatic-Techniques&id=2352580

[hurts to swallow often]
see above

[and for the last few months i have noticed a sore on the left lower side of my neck]
can't say


The next question is about what to do.  With neuromuscular complaints, the most direct approach I know of is clinical somatic education (as explained in the write-ups).

practitioners:
http://somatics.com/practitioners

description:
http://somatics.com/pdf/What_Really_Happens_in_a_Somatics_Session.pdf

Certain somatic exercises can help (I can make recommendations), but your best option is sessions with a practitioner proficient in the procedures you need.

Write-up on somatic exercises:
http://somatics.com/SLEx2.htm

All in all, many of your problems stem from the same cause and can be corrected fairly quickly with the right practitioner.

regard,
Lawrence Gold