Back pain report

When I left the ER in October 2005, the doctors concluded the pain, weakness and difficulty breathing was from a herniated disc in my neck. My neurologist dismissed this diagnosis immediately; it never made sense to me either considering I hurt my neck when I was 18. (In a cheerleading accident. Ooh, that sounds dramatic. Simply put, avoid catapulting a cheerleader from your calve onto your shoulders at 6 am. She could, and did fall forward onto my head. My neck was very sad. And my 8 am Greek class sure got interesting on muscle relaxers.) This was an old injury. We later discovered the reasons I was miserable.

But my neck has been hurting me, and not all my pain is due to sjogren's, I am sure. I get the impression there's not a lot of great solutions out there when your spine is injured . Gee, where have I heard that before.

I saw this segment this morning on GMA. Dr. Timothy Johnson discussed the reality that most back and neck pain is related to the muscle, not the spine. Surgery doesn't solve this problem. There is a theory out there about injecting the sore muscle with a needle, to increase blood flow. This seems to mirror some of the theories posited by yoga, acupuncture and massage.

Something to consider:

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=2668782&page=1

Meanwhile, I am using heat this morning to get through the day. It'll do.