Question
Hello,

I have been having pain in my neck and back for a minimum of 6 years.  I am now 23 years old and at times feel 3X my age.
My main discomfort and pain is in my neck which, I feel, leads into pain into my back and also causes headaches.  At times, I will have headaches for weeks at a time.  The discomfort and pain is constant. It feels as though my neck is a big rubber band; I am always wanting to stretch it out and am able to pop it at a moment's notice (which I am working hard on not doing, but there is some pain relieval from doing it).  When rubbing my neck back and forth, I can feel ligaments (?) and other things are very mobile.  It is difficult for me to do daily activities because I am always so aware of the discomfort I am feeling.  Even watching TV is annoying at times b/c I am uncomforatble at almost all times.
I have done Chriopractic numerous times from differnet providers.  At one time, I recieved adjustments for 8 months consecutively and saw no results.  It would feel better for an hour or two after leaving the office, but by night, I was back in the same condition.  I also went to a physical therapist, at my MD's request, for months and no results from that either.  I am extremely frustated as I do not want to feel this way for the rest of my life. I am young and want to fix this!  I do stretches daily that different Dr's have recommended but no long-term results from that either.  I am consious of my posture and sleeping position as they directly relate to how I how feel.
One last thing, some healthcare providers I have been to think there is a link between how I feel and a childhood accident, others do not, but here it is.  When I was 9yo I had a playground accident that knocked my out cold and dented my left forehead in.  I had surgery and have a plastic plate in my head as a result.  Makes me wonder if things were knocked out of sync then (as the blow as very hard) and now I am feeling the results of years of deterioration.

I thank you in advance for any help you can give me.  

Answer
OK.  In brief, you need to retrain your control of your neck muscles, and that should be altogether sufficient to restore your comfort.

Yes, it sounds like the playground accident was exactly what set your neck muscles into contraction.  It's a brain-level response to the shock of the injury.

Billi, you've already discovered that stretching doesn't work.  The article on stretching at the following address explains why:  somatics.com/stretch.htm.

Headaches typically come from tight neck muscles.  Article:  somatics.com/headaches.htm.

The quickest and easiest way to get improvements is to work with a somatic education practitioner.  Access:  somatics.com/practitioners.htm.

Lacking access for perhaps geographical reasons, I would recommend you work with the self-training procedures in the program, Free Yourself from Back Pain.  The title shows the usual use of the program, but there are procedures for freeing the neck (and actually, your whole spinal musculature is probably involved).  Preview:  email [email protected].

If I were working with you as a client, I would feel very confident of your getting the desired results.

with regard,
Lawrence Gold