My husband is a c3/c4 complete quad, 15 years post injury. He was in great health up until

2 years ago and since then we have been on a downhill spiral. He suffers with a lot of pain

and tightness in the muscles around the neck and going down the back of the shoulder area.

This all started due to neck muscles tightening because of undiagnosed acid reflux. Reflux

has since been fixed but the neck has got so stiff that he cannot move it without getting

pain and it is hyperextended a long way back. As a result of all this he has spent the last

two years flat on his back in bed as even raising the head of the bed pulls muscles and

creates pain. Spent 3 months in a local rehab unit and came home worse than he went in.

Doctors he has seen say there is nothing more they can do except manage his pain which we

find very frustrating. Has just had botox (the 3rd treatment) to try and relax the muscles

and ease the pain (with little sucess) but we still don't know if this will help to get neck moving again. Just

wondering if there is anyone else out there who may have experienced similar muscular

problems and how they managed/treated them. Quality of life for my husband has become very

low. Only so long you can look at a roof without going crazy. Any feedback anyone may have

or anyone who has experienced similiar health problems we would like to hear how you have

managed these. I have posted here in the hope that there may be someone else out there who has been through similiar experience.
Thanks

Hi Wendy,

Although I have not been through a similar experience, one off the cuff thought is acupuncture? The only reason I mention this is that Royal North Shore Hospital now have an acupuncturist that comes into the hospital specifically to deal with patients with Spinal Cord Injuries. Although I have not tried any of this kind of alternate medicine myself (since I have been in a chair) I do hear very good things with respect to pain relief. It maybe Scientific, Hocus Pocus or even psychosomatic that it works for many people, but if you have pursued all other avenues, why not try and give it a go and see if it improves your husbands lease on life? If you are interested I could try and look into it a little more - get the contact details of the acupuncturist that RNSH use, if you like.

Let me know.

Cheers

I would just like to add my voice to acupuncture it is overlooked and works well I have a bad back injury and acupuncture got me out and off the couch now while it will not fix the problem it stops the pain and muscle cramps,give it a try.