Anyone have cervical spine hypermobility?

[tacosforlife]

I had a physical therapy assessment today, and it turns out that I'm so susceptible to neck issues because I have a hypermobile cervical spine but hypomobile thoracic spine. So my neck overcompensates for my lack of upper back flexibility and then messes everything up.

Anyone done PT for this? Did you find it helpful in relieving and preventing pain? I'm really hopeful that this will help me get lasting relief.

[wambam]

HEY GIRL.

Yes. This is what I've been dealing with all summer. Basically, my trapzillas do everything that my mid back should be doing and my t-spine has approximately zero mobility. I definitely made a lot of progress in PT. I wouldn't say I'm entirely fixed though. Most of PT was trying to figure out how to turn off my traps and let bigger muscles in my back work and then actually strengthening those mid back muscles.

[tacosforlife]

Oct 5, 2015 14:38:54 GMT -5 wambam said:

HEY GIRL.

Yes. This is what I've been dealing with all summer. Basically, my trapzillas do everything that my mid back should be doing and my t-spine has approximately zero mobility. I definitely made a lot of progress in PT. I wouldn't say I'm entirely fixed though. Most of PT was trying to figure out how to turn off my traps and let bigger muscles in my back work and then actually strengthening those mid back muscles.

OH MY GOD. When I got my massage on Thursday, the massage therapist was like, "Whoa, your right trap is INSANELY tight. I mean, I've seen tighter, but not much." This is starting to make sense!

[wambam]

Oct 5, 2015 14:46:59 GMT -5 tacosforlife said:

Oct 5, 2015 14:38:54 GMT -5 wambam said:

HEY GIRL.

Yes. This is what I've been dealing with all summer. Basically, my trapzillas do everything that my mid back should be doing and my t-spine has approximately zero mobility. I definitely made a lot of progress in PT. I wouldn't say I'm entirely fixed though. Most of PT was trying to figure out how to turn off my traps and let bigger muscles in my back work and then actually strengthening those mid back muscles.

OH MY GOD. When I got my massage on Thursday, the massage therapist was like, "Whoa, your right trap is INSANELY tight. I mean, I've seen tighter, but not much." This is starting to make sense!

My second session with my physical therapist, he was doing trigger point therapy and said "I have never felt a trap this tight. Ever." That was when he stuck the lacrosse ball in my trap and secured with a rubber band and I literally sobbed.

Dry needling was the magic sauce for me. Nothing else worked.

[tacosforlife]

Update that probably only wambam is interested in: I had my first PT session. We did some crazy stretching, and I have a regimen of daily exercises to do. The PT actually said that a) I can move my neck crazy far, and b) for as tight as my shoulder and upper back muscles are, the fact that I can move my neck that far must be due to some sort of black magic.

He also did a minor adjustment on my T2-T3, and my neck is virtually pain-free!

Now we just have to get my neck functioning right so this doesn't recur.

[wambam]

That's great!

I did have manual adjustments done by both a chiropractor and my PT. It helped, but it was temporary.

It was so hard for me to learn to turn off my traps and turn on the right muscles. They kept telling me to do it and I got frustrated and yelled "I DON'T KNOW HOOOOOOOOOW"

[tacosforlife]

Well, right now I'll take temporary because I've had 10 straight days of pain! It doesn't help that Velociraptor, that orange furry dick that he is, stole my pillow last night!

[keweenawlove]

If you need a rec for a chiro or dry needle provider, let me know. I've been spending quality time with mine over the last couple months.

[tacosforlife]

Thanks, but I am of the chiropractors-are-quacks school of thought. I'll stick with physical therapy for now.

[wambam]

The dry needling sounds quacky but OMG did it help