I am a 35 yr old female and about 2 months ago I woke up one morning with a pain on one side of my scalp, over the days the pain in my scalp got worse to the point I couldn’t brush my hair, over several weeks the pain remained I went my dr and was told that she had no answer other than stress and she Prescribed nortriptyline which I didn’t take, over the weeks after that the pain has travelled down my neck to my middle back and ribs, I have had an X-ray which showed no damage to my neck but did show muscle spasm, I am now awaiting an MRI, but as my condition is not priority that is a long wait. Meanwhile I am on ibruprofen and codeine for the pain. I would just like to hear your thoughts any information or advice would be appreciated because up to 2 months ago I was completely fine

Thanks

Hi kmrwab

Yes, a second (or third) opinion is advisable. You need to see a neurologist.

While with nerve injuries there can be a significant improvement after many months (sometimes longer than 6 months), it is nevertheless prudent to have it evaluated and managed by a medical specialist like a neurologist. Given the age of the person and that his dominant hand is affected, every measure should be taken to ensure that he is receiving proper care and advice during the recovery and rehabilitation period as this can significantly affect his life.

Constant interfering with the affected limb can be problematic. The extent of an injury cannot be evaluated since he cannot report pain and if there are no visible signs, the repeated trauma may complicate into an infection. Some restraint has to be shown by the school mates.

Hi TKN2HVN

It is unlikely that they did not check the entire spine at the time of the accident. That would have just been negligent of them. An x-ray is a very effective tool but seems to given little merit these days (by the general public) due to CT scans and MRIs. If is related to the vertebrae, then an X-ray may detect abnormalities. For soft tissue injuries, an MRI will be more effective.

Hi 3TXCats

I see what you are asking – muscles attach to bones and while muscles are integral for moving bones at joints, an unstable bone, will prevent the muscle from acting properly. It is possible that your muscles attempted to stabilize the spine for a period of time and ultimately went into severe spasm. This could happen after a few days, or weeks, even months but not over a prolonged period of time. Secondly, you may be looking at two separate issues and attempting to draw your own conclusions here. We cannot comment because we have not seen your actual results.

Hi 3TXCats

Your question was missed as you had submitted two posts. A bit confused about the relevance of your muscle having guarded against the thoracic column injury. Muscles do have a protective function for many of the internal structures and offer support to sensitive areas to prevent abnormal flexibility of the bones and joints and related structures which could result in damage. Nerve root compression could affect heart rate but this is often related to pain. From what you say, you are experiencing palpitations and it needs to be investigated as you may only be focusing on your musculoskeletal condition and may be missing more serious underlying disorders. Please speak to your doctor or seek a second opinion if you are still concerned.