That's interesting about icing the neck, Shawn. I've been using a heated neck and shoulder thing I got on Amazon. I plug it in and it gets nice and warm and toasty. It seems to help and I put it on when I get in bed. For some reason, icing seemed the wrong thing intuitively - but then none of this is intuitive so maybe I'm wrong. How do we know when to use ice and when to use heat?
Almost 3 weeks in, I am doing ok with almost no pain, except tweaks, aches, twinges, that kind of thing in neck and shoulder - but not intense. Very weak arm and shoulder and it's hard to tell if it's getting better.
The exercises my PT has me doing (2-3x a day) are:
Chin to chest x10
Look right, look left x10
Tilt ear to shoulder (both sides) x10
Lift both hands above head vertically x5
And then one for my deep neck muscles - lie on my back on the floor, look to my toes with my eye balls only(!), then follow the gaze and lift the head only 2 inches off the floor (any higher and you don't get the right muscles). x5
Almost none of these are working on my shoulder muscles, they are all about the neck. I also have an inflatable cervical traction device which I got myself from Amazon - does anyone find those any use? You put it around the neck and hand inflate it with a hand pump until it's where you like it, then wear it about 10mins - helps provide traction to help gently pull the spine/neck.
I spoke to my PT about getting an MRI (I live in the UK) and he said the only reason to get one would be if it's going to affect treatment in any way. And as we are treating this conservatively at the moment, it won't affect treatment. So no reason to get one unless things need to move to cortisol injections or surgery. But I will ask for one on the health service - my GP might not agree to it, if it's not medically indicated but I'm going to point out this has happened many times before, has just happened worse than ever, and I'm left with weakness. There will then be a 6 month waiting list at least. Or I can go private for one, but where I live (not mainland UK) that's very expensive.