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Stiff neck

Messages
76
@KaitIsTired
My entire trunk is stiff, front and back, from the base of my skull to my tailbone, and it's quite uncomfortable. I spend a lot of time on a heating pad due to this. Sometimes I am so stiff it's hard to breathe.

Not sure if this is the same thing you are experiencing or not.
Stiff neck is a funny phrase because it really means shoulder pain
 

wigglethemouse

Senior Member
Messages
776
From what I gather a stiff neck can be a sign of brain inflammation. After all we have the word encephalitis in myalgic encephalitis.
Quote from John Hopkins website
Symptoms of encephalitis vary depending on the affected area of the brain, but often include headache, sensitivity to light, stiff neck, mental confusion and seizures.
 

wabi-sabi

Senior Member
Messages
1,489
Location
small town midwest
The difficult part is that loads of things will cause a stiff neck- from referred pain elsewhere in the body, to injury, to poor posture, to encephalitis, to meningitis, to fibro, to lots of other stuff I can't think of. It's nearly impossible to say based on the one thing alone.

You're not alone in the symptom-you can take heart in that-but we can't really tell you why you have a stiff neck in particular, although we can share our stories of what causes our stiff necks. It's frustrating, but it really does take a sensible healthcare person to sort this out.
 

morgan_25

Senior Member
Messages
133
Has anyone else suffered from a stiff neck with this condition? Mine is killing me.
Yes! I recently had an MRI done because I had an abnormal CT scan and I was having severe headaches an neck pain. It was a brain MRI so not everything in my neck was visible, but they said my lymph nodes are very enlarged and could definitely cause some severe stiff neck pain. I still don’t think it would be a bad idea to get an a neck MRI. I am going to next time I see my doctor.
 

morgan_25

Senior Member
Messages
133
@KaitIsTired
My entire trunk is stiff, front and back, from the base of my skull to my tailbone, and it's quite uncomfortable. I spend a lot of time on a heating pad due to this. Sometimes I am so stiff it's hard to breathe.

Not sure if this is the same thing you are experiencing or not.
This is very similar to what I experience. A lot of times when I get up my color bone and sternum are in extreme pain as well.
 

morgan_25

Senior Member
Messages
133
I have chronic pain and tightness in my shoulders, neck and upper back and have for years.
This is something I have more recently been dealing with. Previously it always was my arms, legs, and head. Never really had much of any issues in my neck or upper back, now ALL of that is so stiff and a lot of times my collar bones and sternum are in a lot of pain as well, especially when I get up from laying down.
 

morgan_25

Senior Member
Messages
133
From what I gather a stiff neck can be a sign of brain inflammation. After all we have the word encephalitis in myalgic encephalitis.
Quote from John Hopkins website
This was exactly my thought was when I was having severe migraines pretty much every day along with a horribly stiff and sore neck. However, I had a brain MRI done recently and there was not any sign of inflammation, but some microbleeds from my constant migraines and my brain AVM which I’ve had for years.
 

valentinelynx

Senior Member
Messages
1,310
Location
Tucson
There's a thing called "coat-hanger pain" which refers to pain in the neck, upper back and shoulders. The distribution is in the shape of a coat hanger with the hook at the head and the two ends on the shoulders. It is associated with POTS or orthostatic hypotension.

Here's a link: https://www.facebook.com/DysautonomiaInternational/photos/a.335327843232768/1441142409317967/

and here's an article from Nature: Spinal Cord—The prevalence and association of neck (coat-hanger) pain and orthostatic (postural) hypotension in human spinal cord injury
 

morgan_25

Senior Member
Messages
133
There's a thing called "coat-hanger pain" which refers to pain in the neck, upper back and shoulders. The distribution is in the shape of a coat hanger with the hook at the head and the two ends on the shoulders. It is associated with POTS or orthostatic hypotension.

Here's a link: https://www.facebook.com/DysautonomiaInternational/photos/a.335327843232768/1441142409317967/

and here's an article from Nature: Spinal Cord—The prevalence and association of neck (coat-hanger) pain and orthostatic (postural) hypotension in human spinal cord injury
That is very informative, thank you! I have been suffering from this type of pain for years but it has recently become somewhat intolerable and I feel it more in my neck and upper back a lot more than I use to. I’ll have to do some research about it, thank you again for bringing that up!