Kamden,
I've read a number of your posts now and conceed that it could well be a muscle issue I have, especially as I have had a number of operations on my hip and do have some back pains. It's interesting that I've never had neck pains as a result of my nerve/stress (??) condition, yet since reading your post about how deep muscle knots can cause this I've been having a neck ache all day - physcosymatic or what!!! A question though, you said the condition was called myofasical syndrome. i've looked up info on this on the web and it refers to myofasical pain syndrome. However, I don't suffer from 'pain' as I understand the word to mean, could it still be that. Also, do you think cranial sacral therapy is the answer? Sorry for so many questions but even if my problem is nothing to do with my muscles your comments have been a lot more helpful than my doctors..."it's just stress".

James, funny, I just posted another reply to your other post, and then saw this one addressed to me! Please read my other post to you. I only recommend physical therapy, because that is what i have experience with in dealing with these symptoms. The myofacial must have been mentioned by somebody else. You can go about this any way you choose, by either being checked by a back and neck doctor, having them check the trigger points, like rgraf's neuro. did, or you can do like I did, and be referred to PT by your GP. I do want you to know that this PT was called soft tissue work, where they kneaded the knots and tension out of my muscles by hand, and it was pretty painfull, yet nothing else worked. So i guess I had a choice, live like that or get it taken care of!! BTW, I heard the stress and depression theories from my doctor also. You should start noticing a difference in your symptoms almost right away, but the amt. of sessions depends on how severe your muscles are. I really hope this helps you.

Hi again James. I just read over some of the messages for the first time in a couple of days and saw your reference to myofascial pain syndrome. It was me that brought it up in response to your previouse post so I thought I'd explain a little bit further. I've been experiencing many of the symptoms discussed here that make the doctors say "we can't find anything wrong with you, maybe it's just stress or anxiety." I finally saw a neurologist that thinks MPS may be the cause of my problems (keep in mind my symptoms started well over a year ago, I've seen everyone else and finally got to see this doc about 1 week ago. Don't give up. Keep pushing the healthcare system until you feel better). Anyway, as I understand MPS, it all starts with knots that develop in your muscular or fascia system (the fascia is a continuous net or grid that covers your body from head to toe and basically holds everything together). The cause of the knots is debateable but usually relates to stress, injury, posture, etc. I even read somewhere that people with "desk jobs" tend to develop the condition more than anyone else because they stay in one position most of the day. The symptoms vary from person to person and can include cronic back and neck pain to nothing at all. The key is that an experienced neurologist or physical therapist should be able to touch these points, which are usually very deep, and cause some pretty major pain. The other by-product is termed refered pain. Because the knots are so deep, they can impact nerve function and blood flow. When that happens, the symptoms can include almost anything. I suffer from constant light-headedness, facial pain, a dull throbbing headache, tinnitus, hearing loss, positional vertigo, arm numbness, but have very little back pain. Stress and low pressure systems make the conditions woerse. I'm still trying to locate a therapist that specializes in "trigger point therapy" and takes my insurance. As soon as I do, I'll let you know how things work out. The other option my ENT doc threw out there last night was some drug called elival (anti-depressant) and I don't want to go there, I'm not depressed, only pissed that it's taking this long to get better. Best of Luck.

[This message has been edited by rgraf8 (edited 10-17-2002).]

Thanks for spending the time to explain this. I will look into it further.