Hi martinjoe,
I am new to this forum but immediately was drawn to your post. I have chronic neck pain that started with a whiplash injury from a roller coaster in 2007 and was exacerbated by fibromyalgia-which was kicked off by the original whiplash injury. I was diagnosed with retrocollis, a type of tortocollis by the pain specialist, but they’re all soft tissue injuries, which cannot be alleviated surgically. I got in a car wreck as a passenger in an Uber about a year ago, suffered another whiplash injury, and have been on pain meds and doing PT ever since. My current physical therapist is a GODSEND-and that’s coming from a staunch Atheist (or scientist-you choose the label you prefer). I have had over 10 years of chronic neck pain experience and have a lot of ideas for soft-tissue damage injuries. Have you had the full MRIs and X-rays and all and nothing structural is wrong? Let me know what your pain is like, dull or acute, or changing-like alot of neck issues are. Deep Tissue Laser Therapy (Light Force) and Isometric muscle strengthening exercises are my current routine, but I have been through Botox, trigger point injections, epidural injections, they even cauterized some nerve endings (which I did not enjoy and had bad side effects with). Let me know. I’d love to trade ideas. My inability to heal from the 2007 whiplash led me down the road to find the fibromyalgia diagnosis, and treating that helped with the neck pain. Thyroid conditions can also affect certain pain in the neck/back/shoulders. Have you had your thyroid checked regularly/lately? Let’s start a dialogue!