A Doctor's Pain in the Neck
What is *your* body’s “check engine” light telling you?
ICYMI 👉
Do you have a specific body part that flares up periodically, especially when your whole system is on the fritz?
Does your low back start aching after sitting for too many hours at a time? Does your head start throbbing due to stress or a spate of sleepless nights? Our physical container—the vehicle that drives us through life—can signal when it’s time to take a look under the hood.
My personal “check engine light” is—quite literally—a pain in the neck. It’s been pretty bad lately. It’s a deep ache that lives under my left shoulder blade and radiates up my neck. It gets worse after a day of sitting at my desk, and it’s definitely exacerbated by stress.
Here is where I will remind you that doctors are certified experts in denial, avoidance, and magical thinking. So, yes: I did what most people do first when their skeleton is on the fritz: I ignored it. But wishful thinking only got me so far. When I found myself rubbing my neck most hours of the day, I took the next obvious step: downing Advil. That went well for about five days until my stomach also started aching.
Here’s where my medical brain went completely offline. 😱 I Googled: “How to fix neck tension.” I spent more time than I’d like to admit reading product reviews and feeling sorry for total strangers with neck problems. I was able to snap out of my internet trance by express-shipping an inflatable neck pillow and a home traction device. But despite smart packaging and promises of a miracle, no guru or gizmo was going to do the trick.
So I took myself to a physical therapist, hoping she would swiftly unlock this ball of mad muscles and send me on my way. Unsurprisingly, two things happened: 1) I felt significantly better after one session of manual mobilization of my tight neck and shoulders, and 2) I didn’t do any—not one!—of my physical therapy home exercises. As a result, the muscles in my upper back and neck revolted. They clamped down so hard that my left arm throbbed in my sleep.
Many years ago, an X-ray of my neck showed narrowing of disc spaces. So I knew exactly what was going on: the nerve that supplies sensation to my left arm was pinched and inflamed. The surrounding muscles were misfiring. I asked myself: Are tight muscles causing the pinched nerve? Or is the pinched nerve causing the muscles to misfire? I wonder if I should see a doctor? 😆😭
As I pondered these questions, it dawned on me: it’s time to practice what I preach. Instead of relying on pills, Amazon purchases, and my own mental musings to fix me, I needed to ask for help.
It was time to figure out what my aching neck was telling me—for real—about my whole health ecosystem. And it was telling me a few things:
That my desk setup at work is a problem. My computer keyboard is too low, my screen is too high, and I slouch in my chair. I turn my head to the left to look at my computer while I’m talking to patients in front of me.
My upper body strength has taken a nosedive. I abandoned my muscle strengthening exercises, oh, 4 years ago (see: March 2020). But I do remember this from anatomy class: when muscles in one area are weak, others try to compensate. That overcompensation can cause muscle tension and pain. The solution isn’t simply to loosen the tight muscles; it’s to strengthen the ones that are weak in the first place.
I’m under a fair amount of stress. There’s no five-alarm fire; it’s just life. As I say to my patients: stress lives in the body, especially if you give it a home. The solution isn’t to completely de-stress your life (that’s not on the menu anyway); it’s to find other places to house your stress. For too long I’ve abandoned my go-to stress management tools: journaling, reading, and going to Pilates class. No wonder my neck was in a knot.
It's time to do what I remind my patients to do every day: to address my mental and physical health in tandem.
So, what am I going to do?
Prune my calendar. I’m going to remove any non-essentials from my work and social schedule, turn some meetings into emails, and delegate where I’m able.
Spend less time on my phone. On the one hand, I find it relaxing to scroll through videos on Instagram and to connect with friends online. On the other hand, it takes time away from reading a book or getting an extra hour of sleep.
Resume Pilates. I’m going to get back to a weekly, EASY class, where I will work on spine flexibility and strength, without stressing my neck. This will require careful attention to form and not pushing past pain. I went to my first class on Saturday and it feels good simply to have shown up.
Do my home PT exercises. I’m going to be consistent with physical therapy exercises. Bring on the cat-cow, seal, and sphinx poses—plus a heavy dose of foam rolling.
Correct my desk set up. I’ve adjusted my keyboard position and screen height at work. I put a lumbar pillow behind me in my chair. I’m trying to be more mindful of my posture as I talk to patients. (It turns out it’s hard work to keep the shoulders “back and down” and the chin “tucked.”)
Change scenery. I booked a short weekend getaway with my husband. We are well overdue to catch up in a location other than our kitchen. Planting seeds of joy on the calendar is important for mental health.
Ask for help. I made an appointment with my doctor in April. Last week I hired another top-notch executive assistant for my medical practice. Just because I’m good at multitasking doesn't mean I should. There’s something about giving yourself permission to ask for help that is freeing (of brain space and muscle tension, too).
Recognize that this is a process. Rome wasn’t built in a day, nor will my new routines rebuild my upper back and neck. I don’t (and can’t) expect perfection from myself in any way, shape or form. I also know that taking two steps forward and one step back is still progress.
Even while writing this little ditty, my neck feels better. Journaling is part of my coping kit. It also feels good to confess to you that I, like everyone else, have stress and bodily manifestations of it. I know I’m not alone.
So tell me: What body part tells YOU when your system is on the fritz? What does it signal about what’s going on inside?
P.S. My podcast guest Tiler Peck, principal ballerina for the NYC Ballet, describes her process of self-discovery after a “pain in the neck” forced her to. Take a listen!
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Disclaimer: The views expressed here are entirely my own. They do not reflect those of my employer, nor are they a substitute for advice from your personal physician.
I have a difficult time dealing with all the insanity in the world. Some people or activists give us their daily dose of how bad it is, and who is to blame. But they do so without providing any solutions. I can't stop the genocide in Gaza, the war against the Ukraine or the fact that Rumpelstiltskin (It's my name for Him) is actually going to run for president when he should be in prison. But what I can control is being kind to my family, friends, co-workers, volunteering in our own communities, in other words things that I can control. That is why I wrote, Freedom is the only worthy goal in life. It is won by disregarding things that lie beyond our control. My blog is on Kindness and compassion, Zen Buddhism, The Tao from China. I get trolled, but who cares.
MAKING A DIFFERENCE: THE STARFISH
A man was walking along a beach in a well-known tourist destination, Varadero, Cuba and there were literally thousands and thousands of stranded starfish that had been swept in on the tide and soon to die. He noticed a man (me) in the distance who was throwing them back into the water, one at a time. As he approached me, he said, ‘But there are so many. You can’t possibly make a difference.’ I simply threw another out and said, ‘Made a difference to that one.’
Hi there, Dr. McBride, sorry to hear about the neck-pain-saga. This is a short note to offer another tool to consider for your belt of options.
In the past, I provided consultation in the area of workplace ergonomics. That was my gateway, however, my mission after discussing chair, desk and computer height setup, was to dial into the underlying problem. At least in my humble opinion, excessive sitting/standing and repetitive, unabated movement patterns often lye at the core of the problem.
The tool to consider is simple and won’t add time to your busy schedule.
A) Every hour spend 1’ in “prisoner pose”. Standing, hands interlaced behind your head, pressing your elbows back. Trying to engage the rhomboids and trapezius muscles (moving shoulder blades towards the spine). Head and face neutral, breathing deeply. This will stretch the often tight anterior muscles of the pecs, delts, serratus and rectus abdominals, while strengthening many of your postural muscles.
B) Band rows, This one can be done in conjunction with the above and will literally take 1’. Get a resistance band, anchor it in the hinge side of your office door, perform a set of rows, along with shoulder retraction, 12 to 15 repetitions.
Best, Martin jones