I have neck pain, which is not relieved by a steroid shot and Percocet tablet. Please help.

Question

Hi doctor,

I have been having excruciating neck pain that goes into my shoulder or shoulder blade down my arm for four days. I can barely move and have not stopped crying because of the problem, so I went to the emergency room last night, and they gave me a steroid shot and a Percocet tablet, but it has not relieved the pain. I do not know what to do at this point.

Answer 1

Hello,

Welcome to icliniq.com.

I read your concern.

In my opinion, you should get your neck appropriately evaluated. A good investigation like an MRI neck will help to point out the cause of pain. As possible, a disc lesion will give such pain in most of the cases, and other structures like facet joint and irritated muscle can also cause a similar issue.

Please do not wait, as this can only cause pain and discomfort, so act promptly to zero down the cause and treat it. It will get alright with proper management. You can also think of possible causative factors like posture and activities that might prevent the reduction of pain, triggering it like every time with activity.

As of now,

Keep ice in your neck once every two hours for 15 minutes.
Gentle massage over the neck will help you relieve the spasm.
Gentle stretch within limits of pain will help you regain movement range, in turn reducing the stress imposed on the neck.

I hope this is helpful to you for now.

Kindly revert to me for any queries.