Question
Hello,

I'm in my late 20's.  Since I have undergone a surgery 4 weeks ago which has nothing to do with my back, I've been experiencing a pain in the back of my neck, especially on both sides.  I think it's the bad posture that I adopoted with sleeping on 4 pillows while recovering for the first week and a half.  I've been massaging several times a day a muscle/joints spray  on the area since then, to no avail.  It reliefs it for a while, but the pain keeps reoccuring quickly.  I experience muscle spasms which pinch and restrict my neck movement and increase the tension.  It gets very painful then.  I don't know what's the injury, whether it's the muscles or nerve endings that are irritated.  I don't know what else to do?

Answer
racheal,
i see your from malta? wow. that is far away. I don't think that would be classified as a sprain, considering there was no trauma to your neck. It very well could be from all the pillows propped up behind your neck. I would have someone slightly traction out your neck. that means gently pull your skull away from your body(massage therapist can do this). If this does not help and it hurts to put your head back or you get a pinching feeling then it is most likely a subluxation of a spinal vertebrae. You can try heat (if pain has persisted more then 3 days) , see a chiropractor if you have access to one. Or try an anti inflammatory with heating pad and it should subside if it hasn't in 1 to 2 weeks , then consult your physician/chiropractor for an xray.
ps- if you have numbness or pain into the arms or hands, then this is definitely a pinched nerve and possibly a disc bulge or herniation. If that is the circumstance, then MRI or at least an x ray is on order.
hope that helps! for more info on chiropractic, pinched nerves, etc..:
go to www.SynergyWellnessNy.com