Question
Since you invited me to post on this subject let me do so. Assuming you have neen to a physician (I recommend you do so) and have ruled out a cardiac condition, let me suggest the following. When you are in pain, have a friend apply axial traction to your head. This is traction upwards in an imaginary line with the spine. If the pain immediately disappears you have pinching of the nerves. This can be due to what is called a "subluxion" injury, usually caused by whiplash, or simply is the cumulative result of bouncing around in heavy equipment. Stress forms a major componant of these injuries in constricting blood vessels and preventing lympatic tissue to drain. These injuries will get progressively worse. The drill in treating such an injury is this. You require an anti-inflammatory agent. Unless going through a physician you are limited in choices, but aspirin works nicely, except you need to take several doses a day (keeping within the max specified on the bottle because aspirin can be a toxic poison and cause bleeding). Next wash the neck and rub back of your neck on the back with a topical steroid. Do this twice a day for a week. Avoid a cervical collar because you lose muscle tone. Now you need an axial traction device, which is a head harness they usually sell with a water bag to provide tension. Throw away the water bag and attach clothesline to the top of the harness. Hook the line to a truck door or tree or support suspend yourself SLIGHTLY until the pain disappears. You need to do this initially for three to four minutes at a time every half hour for a a couple of hours. You don't actually "hang" yourself. This relieves compression on the discs and allows the area to drain and the inflammation go down. NEVER EVER PERFORM NECK MASSAGE. You have fatty deposits in your carotid arteries and massage can caused them to dislodge and preciptate an INSTANT STROKE. I go nuts when I see non-traditional practicioners massage the neck on the sides. You may gently rub the neck on the back. You may want to try an ice-cube. At this point avoid heat because it causes swelling. Avoid any driving for a few days if possible. It should take 3-7 days to relieve the swelling. The second day you may only have to use traction four or five times a day. Continue the aspirin or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory. In the past medical practicioners would sometimes administer a steroid for the first two or three days (prednisone, for example) but long term use of steroids is very bad, and very correlated with malignancies and other bad things. Do not massage the back during this time. On the second week you can start back massage. The third week you can try hot and cold showers. The fourth week you can start range of motion exercises, moving the neck around in a 360 degree arc. Don't do this while the area is inflamed. Normally pain is mother natures way of telling you to stop doing what you are doing, but in this case you ignore the signals. I am assuming you have been seen by a physician and a film taken to insure you have no broken or chipped vertebrae. Drink plenty of fluids. Do not touch ANY BEER during this period. It generates urine and uric acid which deposits in the vertebrae, complicating recovery. After a month you are ready to start doing sit-ups. This will strengthen the muscle tone. Then begin isometric exercises, placing the flat of your hand against the head at about 45 degree intervals and use your muscles to press against the hand while you count to twenty. Do this several times a day. At the beginning valium or a muscle relaxant is helpful, but of course this makes it dangerous to drive. The basic therapeutic regimin is: (1) Reduce Inflammation (2) axial traction (3) range of motion through the limits of pain (4) muscle tone exercise (5) Cold only initially and after inflamation goes down hot and cold. Sometimes this condition continues to produce tingling down the arm and eventually you may not be able to pick up a pencil. DO NOT USE A VIBRATING ELECTRIC MASSAGE MACHINE ANYWHERE ON THE NECK EVER!
Answer
To complete this post. Muscle relaxers (of which their a variety - a prescription) are VERY effective initially and recommended by some physicians, but long term use affect muscle tone. They are especially beneficial in "breaking a knot" of muscles. They also make you an unsafe driver. Ben-Gay is not recommended because although it increases oxygenation it also increases inflammation. Massage, when administered to a pinched nerve can cause permenant disability. Thus axial traction for two or three days, THEN massage. Avoid massaging a pinched nerve sheath. An axial traction device consists of a strapped cloth adjustable harness (so you don't hang yourself) with two D rings on each side attached to a bar with a ring in the middle. They sell (without prescription) for between 30-50 bucks. After inflammation nis down and you feel better eventually you should start gentle exercise and build this up to modeerate exercise. Push-ups, sit-ups, and leg-ups are nice. If you have a bar available chin-ups. Shoot for being about to do three repetitions (with a break) of a dozen each, both morning and night as a goal for the first six months. Then shoot for the moderate level, which I put at sets of two dozen. The rubbing of the back of the nech should be with the tips of the fingers of both hands pressed down near the skull and press as you move the fingers down to the bump in the neck, always in the same direction. You are applying pressure to "milk" the tissues. Place your chin in your chest and try to "strain" your neck muscles gently. Place your hands in the back of your head and try to force your head backwards. Range of motion exercises are called goniometric exercises, and the measurmenet of range of motion is called goniometry.