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Childhood Whiplash Resurfaces After 30 Years

I have done some research on neck pain and injury, and there are a lot of people out...

Posted by PhantomPain

I have done some research on neck pain and injury, and there are a lot of people out there with worse problems than mine. I hope not to belittle any of their trials with my bellyaching, but I come to this forum looking for people who can relate to my experience, and maybe help me understand it. When I tell people about my problems, they tell me "Yeah, I have neck pain too." But I really don't have much pain in my neck, just swelling. The pain happens throughout my body.
I was standing up in a moving car when I was about 5 years old. The car hit a pothole and I smashed my head on the ceiling, then down on the back of the seat. As a teenager I had severe headaches and severe leg cramps at night, but for the most part I have lived free of pain. Then a year agoI fell apart. It started with a small bruise on one ankle that soon made it impossible to walk and ended with my hands swelling as if I had severe arthritis. This became a constant condition, and having no health insurance I decided my best option was to go to the chiropractor. He determined that I had a rib out of place, which caused pressure on the nerves, which led to my breakdown. Why did I have a rib out of place? In that first session, I felt the vertebrae at the base of my skull slip into place like stones rubbing together, and he told me there must be some scar tissue in there, because of the resistance. Then I remembered hearing the story of my neck injury.
I am well aware of the role of attitude when it comes to healing the body, especially with neck injuries. Unfortunately, I pay too much attention to the things going on with my body, and I try to understand them. I am just starting to see that there are many aspects of my life which have been effected by this, so it can get a little overwhelming. But ignoring the role of my neck injury is not going to help me heal it. I would like to think it can be healed, but my body has grown around it, so I do have my doubts.
I didn't understand why an injury I had at five years old would suddenly start making my life hell. It was difficult to wrap my head around this, and my chiropractor has said as little about it to me as I let him get away with, which is to his credit. But I did my own research. Then I found that nerves come out of tiny holes in our vertebrae, and these holes get smaller as we get older, constricting the nerves. In my case, I already have scar tissue right there. These days, my neck is always swollen, and I am aware of it.
The far reach of my neck injury becomes evident when I put ice on my neck, right at the base of my skull. My vision gets better, my sinuses open up, my jaw will relax (I have a dislocated jaw, or at least I thought I did) my stomach will start to growl (I have had a problem all my life with not knowing or caring when I'm hungry), my legs and feet relax (I feel my tendons creaking and see my toes uncurl), if I had a leg twitch it goes away, my mood gets better and I suddenly have energy.
Mostly I decided to write this because I have fear for the future, which is like the very thing I should try to avoid, but I feel like right now I know just enough to be dangerous to my health. Here are some questions that I do have. Will I have a heart attack at 40 because of pressure on my heart? Will I eventually go blind, or lose my hearing, no longer be able to chew food without my jaw cramping up? Is my body slowly eating away the cartilage in my knees, is that why they hurt all the time? Rheumatoid Arthritis at 45 and debilitating headaches the rest of my life? Is mid-30's too young for the holes in the vertebrae to get smaller? I've had lots of calcium. How much smaller are they going to get???? Should I be looking for something else? Assuming the neck injury is simply scar tissue, is there anything useful I could learn from getting an MRI? Should I shut up and just enjoy the good years that I have left? Thanks for your time, I look forward to any responses.
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Posted byPhantomPain

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