I know the pain. Not necessary to take 3 a day if they make you loopy. A hot pack should help, as should massage and ibuprofen,

I think you should discuss this with your doctor and pharmacist because they know YOU and they know medicine.

Thanks Party, that's what I was hoping to hear. I've taken muscle relaxants before and took one pill only when a muscle was aching.

Today I took a half pill and it worked. I hate feeling loopy and sleeping in the daytime. A cold pack helps too.

Sheesh, it's not a big deal. I'm more interested in treating the spasm because it's a common ailment. If I took the med as prescribed, I'd never wake up.

DH has spasms, like last week. He was prescribed a stronger muscle relaxer, but he doesn't want to feel loopy all day, so he just takes one at night. It has helped. Ice, ice, ice also.

Yes. I had an extremely tight achilles tendon a few years back. In fact, the dr. I was sent to wanted to do surgery and clip it. I told her she'd have to come up with another alternative. She agreed to PT for so many weeks with the warning if I wasn't showing progress, that was it. (HA) PT was a life saver and if you don't get relief, I encourage you to try it. Pills don't really solve the problem, just the symptoms. I didn't take meds for mine. I can't take NSAIDS, so they "pushed" a steroid cream into my leg via electrical stimulation. I even had dry needling, which I would do again right now if I was having the trouble. I can't believe the relief. As far as heat/ice, the therapist used heat at the beginning (to loosen the muscle) and ice after treatment (as treatment was painful and I obviously had inflammation in the calf and heel). I did the same at home. Heat felt the best. They also used massage in my treatment and at times it was down right painful, but greatly helped the spasms.

Do you have any numbness or tingling? Sometimes a pinched nerve or pressure on the nerve causes the pain to travel. Good luck!

I would ask my doctor those questions.

I'd second the recommendation for physical therapy. They do wonderful things with pain in the spine and neck - and what's cool is they teach you exercises you can do on your own to help in the future too. They are vastly undervalued.

Count me as one on the physiotherapist bandwagon. I've had back spasms, neck problems and on going shoulder issues, and have found that physio (including hydrotherapy in my case) has been very effective over the longer term. Drugs can address the immediate pain issues but they don't really get to the underlying problem, whereas the exercise programs provided by physios do, assuming you follow them on a regular basis.

Yes, I've had this happen before when I was having a lot of neck pain. I can't give you any suggestions about the muscle relaxors. However, I will say that finding a great massage therapist (not just a day spa kind of person) was the only thing that ended up saving me. I tried an orthopedic doctor and a physical therapist and wasn't able to make any progress with them.

Oakley, I am so sorry. You have really a lot of stress going on lately. Do you think this is contributing to/compounding issue? Can you talk to doctor about overall stress reduction? I know you are handling it all, but, personally, when I ”handle it all” I grind my teeth and burst blood vessels in my eyes, stress will out. Stay well, you are in my thoughts and prayers.

Funny you should mention stress Local, I did read it can contribute to neck spasms. Reading up on the cause for my spasm I'm pretty sure it has to do with how I hold my head while using my iPad..head down really far..and posture in general when sitting. I use my iPad a lot. I'm talking about many years of doing that.

Tech Neck I need one of those soft cervical collars to use to help keep my neck in neutral. Head up and centered.

Allison, I haven't needed anything all afternoon which is good. At my age it's dangerous to take it 3xday. good luck to your husband!

Your questions are good ones that you should be asking your doctor, who is familiar with your medical history. Ask about a PT referral, and ice vs heat (I think ice is best initially, but…I’m not your doctor). I hope you feel a lot better, and soon! Neck and back spasms are miserable.

Thank you. He gets in the pool to stretch/exercise 2x a day, and then the Hot Springs spa. Both have helped, but his conditions are permanent and ever changing.

FYI if your ortho writes an RX for the spa, you do not have to pay sales tax. It was an easy process and our local dealer told DH exactly what the ortho needed to write in order for their approval.

@Oakley, do you have a Myofascial and Structural Integration Therapist in your area? I went to one every two weeks before we moved. When I first started going for my neck I went 2x a week for a month, then 1x a week for two months, then every other week. Helped so much.