Strained Neck

[Zero]

I sustained a strained neck about 4 weeks ago when 400+ pounds landed on my head/shoulders.  Lucky for me that is the most serious of my injuries sustained that day.  I even got up and tried to walk back after I regained conciousness, but they made me ride the cart back to the pits.  Needless to say, this strain is taking forever to heal it seems.  Are there any excercises or treatments I can do to hlpe the healing process, or is time my only weapon to fight this thing?  

BTW: I got the entire incident on video, I couldn't watch it for a couple weeks, but now I watch it one frame at a time.

 

[bud]

What did your doctor say? If you think it's taking too long to heal, a repeat visit might be a good idea. When I got a groin strain recently, it didn't heal as quickly as I thought it should, so I went back to the doc and was prescribed anti-inflamnatory pills and gel, along with stretching instructions. That made all the difference, the stretching especially - the healing tissue needs to be stretched gently but frequently for about a minute at a time. I expect it would be similiar with any serious strain, but ask your doctor to be sure

 

[philb]

i'm glad your mostly ok. i jammed my neck 20 yrs ago playing soccer. i dove head first into the goal post trying to stop a goal.but i suffer daily from it even now. severe headaches and more. what has really helped is deep muscle massage therapy and time.be careful with that injury, if i had taken it more seriously yrs ago after it happened , i would be much better off.give it time.
philb

 

[Zero]

I wondered what the long term effects would be. I currently have been getting some chiropractic treatment, but I definately need some massage therapy.  I was hoping someone had some secret trick that I could use that would help the healing.  I am very lucky that is all that happened to me.

Thanks for the tips.  I'll just keep up with the light stretching and whatnot.

 

[YOGICHICK]

I also injured my neck about 3 months ago in a skiing accident.  It still hurts after I get done riding on weekends.  Does massage thearapy actually help this?  I couldn't stand it if my neck is going to hurt after every race.

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******Ashley********
(on my bad boy kx100)

 

[philb]

yogichick, deep muscle massage therapy does work. my injury was 10 yrs old before i finally submitted to family pressure and went to see the voodoo witch doctor guy. at the time, my posture was being affected. the muscles on the right side of the neck were knotted up so bad that my head was pulled over to the right side at nearly 45 degrees. my shoulder had dropped nearly 3 inches lower than the left side.i noticed it , but didn't realise how serious it was until someone took a picture and showed me.
the muscle therapy ( this is not simply massage therapy, it goes much deeper into the muscles )didn't work over night, it took about a year to see progress. now 7 yrs or so later, i stand straight and only see the voodoo witch doctor every 2-3 months instead of every 3 weeks.
this has worked much better for me than any chiropractor that i have ever been to. not to take anything away from them, but my problem stemmed from muscle trauma, not spinal problems.hope this helps. i could go on and on.
philb

 

[KTM360MXC]

any chance of you putting the accident online for all of us to appreciate?  good luck with the sore neck

 

[Zero]

If I ever find a buddy with a TV Tuner so I can convert it to a computer format, I will definately put it online for all to wonder how I am walking around today.  I should be able to get it converted at the end of the month. So check back here after April 1st.

 

[Reeko]

I'm dieing to hear this story. Did someone jump and land on top of you?
Also, my wife is a massage therapist. They really know a lot of tricks for how to stretch muscles that have restricted range of motion due to injury.

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Reeko
99KX250 (Me)
00XR100 (Wife)

 

[Rich Rohrich]

Zero - If you want to send me a copy of the tape I can convert it to any computer based format you want. We might even be able to get Okie to host it on one of the servers in RealPlayer format. We did some tests with RealPlayer a while back and it worked out pretty well.



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Rich Rohrich

"I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious." - Albert Einstein

 

[Motogirl]

Have you visited a chiropractor?  If you get a good one, they can work wonders.  Also cold packs are good to have, when your neck is sore just put a cold compress on for 15 min. it helps bring fresh blood to the injured area and promotes faster healing.

 

[philb]

chiropractors can help or like in my personal situation, really hurt.
i began to really notice the problem after high school and missed work with headaches so bad that i puked and seriously contemplate more drastic measures to solve the problem. i went to a chiro. and after x-rays, which showed the curvature of my neck to my shoulder,the adjustments that i received aggravated the problem rather than helped. the tension in the muscle, which was basically a muscle knot,was shocked by the jerking motion from the adjustment and formed a tighter knot.this led to severe headaches immediately following the visit and could split atoms for 2-3 days later. i refused to see anyone else especially anyone who wanted to touch my head and neck. i believe that unless the x-rays show bone spurs or dislocated spinal joints or the like, most neck pain will be muscle related and the most benefit will come from relaxing and loosening the muscle knot. just my opinion based on experience
also , the cold compresses do work well, i usually wake up with a headache even now and just a few minutes with an icepack wrapped in a towel will get rid of it.
philb<p align=right>03-16-2000 :Edited

 

[philb]

sorry, double post.<p align=right>03-16-2000 :Edited

 

[Zero]

Philb - It sounds to me that you are suffering a lot more than I am.. I do know ice seems to help.&nbsp;&nbsp;I will look into finding a good deep massage therapist.&nbsp;&nbsp;Have you ever had an MRI on your neck?&nbsp;&nbsp;

I agree with you that the muscles are causing more problems than any mis-alignment by the bones.&nbsp;&nbsp;I am knotted up in my traps all the time. Drives me crazy.&nbsp;&nbsp;I am trying to work on my posture as well.

 

[philb]

its not so much like suffering anymore. more like enduring the discomfort. but my posture sure has changed and the headaches definitely are not as intense, although frequent. i used to have what they call a "migraine personality" or "party pooper" ! always saying " no i can't do that because i'll get a headache" but since i'm straightened out and have a positive outlook , i'll try anything! so my advise to anyone with neck trauma (like an atv falling outa the sky onto it!) is to take it serious and get the right help NOW!
yes i had an MRI about 7 months ago because a HEADACHE from HELL put me in the ER. but it showed nothing wrong and the docs and my voodoo witch doctor agree that it was a barometric pressure change probably due to the hurricane that hit Virginia and east coast. go figure.
philb<p align=right>03-20-2000 :Edited

 

[Zero]

I figured I would update everyone that replied to this thread. My neck is fully healed now from my crash. From chiropractors to stretching, it is good to go, however I will always have to take special care of my neck.

Two things that have helped my recovery themost..stretching..LOTS of stretching. EVERYDAY. I can't emphasize stretching enough. And the other thing that has seemed to help me, is a water pillow. My Chiropractor gave me this water pillow that has really seemed to help a LOT. I don't wake up with a stiff neck anymore.

A couple of you wanted to see the video of my crash. Rich Rohrich hooked me up and converted to an AVI, I need to convert it to a smaller asf without losing the quality. Until then, if anyone is interested in downloading a 15 meg file let me know and I'll shoot you the FTP site to get it at. (its worth the download)
[email protected]

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Zero - Trev
-CR250- Ride.Red!

 

[psycho]

Just downloaded that video and it is ugly! Zero is one lucky fella. It is definately worth the time to download. Kinda makes me queezy(sp?) though.



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Psycho
'99 RM125
'96 KDX200
'98 PW50 (too fast for me, but my son likes it)

 

[txkawboy]

All---
Also, don't forget to raise your bars, if u r tall like myself...I never knew that my neck needed taller bars until I had already ridden for ~20yrs and began having severe pinched-nerve symptoms. Sleuthing revealed that the position that triggered the pain was: lean over, rt arm outstretched, and head up---duh!
It took awhile to get used to the 1" higher bars, but I will NOT ride with anything else now. Spurs are very painful, and I am told the only thign to (temporarily) get rid of them is to surgically scrape them off. I weight-train my neck, which has been very helpful, but they are def still there.