Cervical collar

Mike1

I have to wear a cervical collar to support my neck when I am not sat in my recliner (I have OA and a detached disc in my neck, elsewhere I am riddled with OA and have several other musculo-skeletal problems!) Anyway, I am sick to death of waking up screaming in neck pain after a couple of hours in bed despite being on Morphine and having spent hundreds of pounds on different types of pillows. I am aware that some cervical collars can be worn in bed so I would like to know if any of you do and how you get on. I live alone with my cat and am scared that wearing a collar in bed may cause problems for me.

stickywicket

The only surgical collar I've been prescribed is one of the 'soft foam' ones which some of the adverts say can be worn for sleeping and which my orthotist said couldn't :roll: I'd guess that the danger is that, while our breathing is depressed during sleep, especially when lying down, plus tissues maybe a bit expanded with the warmth, they might constrain the trachea and we might not be able to get them off in time to breathe.

Could you ask for a referral to an orthotist? It's years since I was prescribed mine (I rarely use it but it does a vital job when needed) so they might have better ones on the go now which would be more suitable for sleeping.

Incidentally, I've always used mine the other way round ie until I got my shaped memory foam pillow I often woke up with migrainey-type headaches, sometimes to the point where I was actually sick. That's when I put the collar on (once the vomit danger was over :roll: ) and it sorted the headache in about two hours.

dreamdaisy

Oh Mike, I feel for you. I cannot help on the collar front (I think you need specialised advice on that) but if your neck needs support would a rolled towel, worn like a scarf, help? I assume you take pain relief before bed to help you settle and have more to hand in the night, as we all know they merely dull but I find that a couple of cocos and a session on my Kindle is enough to help me settle again. DD

phoenixoxo

Yes, a referral sounds like a good plan, and perhaps a pain meds review too. Mike, if your neck doesn't require support while you're in your recliner, would it be worth considering a recliner bed? I have a rise/recline model and it's very comfortable.

Mike1

Thanks for the suggestions people. I have an electric adjustable bed and have tried various positions to no effect. Tried rolled towels, additional morphine etc to no effect. Trying to get a referral is next to impossible, I tried last March and was told that there was no point as I had been turned down for surgery 10 years ago plus had been discharged by the Pain Clinic as there was no more that they could do for me. My GP will not give me sleeping pills as, in his words, as I cannot work it doesn't matter if I fall asleep during the day; it just seems that at the age of 61 they have given up on me. (When I was diagnosed with Clinical Depression and PTSD by a trick cyclist a few years ago my GP said "I can give you some pills if you want" - I declined.) I have tried Nytol to varying effect but apparently I should not be taking them as I have Occular Hypertension which is a forerunner of Glaucoma. I know I say it quite often but thank goodness for my cat!

phoenixoxo

You're welcome, Mike. Sorry I couldn't think of anything useful, though :?

My next suggestion (by all means ignore it if it's another dud!) is to consider changing your GP, to see whether a different doc might be more helpful either in pushing a referral to Orthotics or in prescribing something to help you sleep. Your current GP's remark that it doesn't matter whether you sleep during the day was unprofessional, to put it politely. Cats are cool