Neck and spine Osteoarthritis Dizziness and headaches

Liberally13

Hello I am OA in spine and neck also knees and hands and possibly hip. I am at the moment having an increase in pain in the neck. Whilst the pain is not nice I could put up with it a lot better if it did not sometimes cause dizziness slight sick feeling and headaches. I can only take paracetamol have been told I can't take ibuprofen by GP although I can sparingly use ibuprofen gel 5%. I have in desperation taken one Tramadol which were prescribed some months ago for gallbladder pain I no longer needed them having had gallbladder removed earlier this year. The gel and paracetamol hardly make any difference. A heat pad does help. It is affecting me going out and doing housework etc. I realise there is no cure and have hesitated seeing GP again as not sure they can offer anything else. I explained in another post about the problems in out lounge and having tried rearranging furniture almost impossible room is so small my husband is loathe to get rid of our 2 sofas although we are keeping an eye out for second hand suitable chairs. It is difficult at the moment with heating bills etc being pensioners. So my question is does anyone have any advice or deas to help me. I am also looking round for a new pillow not the v shaped one which is find ok for propping up on sofa but not in bed to sleep. What about neck support and is there one of the heated stick pain killers especially for necks. Thanks for reading this.

stickywicket

I have a soft neck support which I use very rarely as, like most forms of support, they encourage muscle weakness which is exactly what we don't want. Careful exercises are best as they stregthen muscles but we do have to be careful when exercising necks. Until I got a shaped memory foam pillow I sometimes woke up with a kind of migraine headache but the memory foam one sorted that.

Even if you can't do much in the way of exercises it's still a good idea to get up and move around a lot especially if, like me, you tend to sit and either read or watch TV on an evening. Fortunately, my aged bladder ensures I don't go too long seated(!) especially as I love my mugs of tea.

This site gives some very good, comprehensive advice on necks https://creakyjoints.org/symptoms/arthritis-in-neck/

Liberally13

Thank you for your kind words and advice. I have tried a couple of memory foam shaped pillow and really tried hard but found them far too hard to sleep on so wasted money. I did wonder is it me every one seems to sing the praises of memory phone pillows and mattresses. I am a side sleeper don't know if that makes a difference.

Yes I smiled about you saying your aged bladder ensures don't go to long seated me too I do bring de caf tea but no difference where bladder is concerned. I am trying to cut down on the amount drunk. I used to drink lots more water so trying a return to that. Thanks for the link will have a look.

stickywicket

Re memory foam pillows - not everyone gets on with them. I've always bought the shaped ones ie a thick end and a thin end. You're supposed to sleep on the thick end if you're on your side and the thin end if you're on your back. I've always been a side sleeper but now have to sleep on my back. For me, both ends work. The idea is to get your neck fully supported by them.

Water is probably better than tea but my view is that the more pills we take (and I take a lot these days) the more we need to flush out our kidneys so whatever goes!

Liberally13

Thanks for your reply I agree about pills we need a lot of liquid to flush out kidneys as you say what ever goes.

Changing the subect I know you cannot recommend any particular products on here but I wonder if you have any experience or advice of computer stands I realise as I have to sit at the table where we eat I need a stand so I don't need to look down. I would probably buy online.

stickywicket

I confess I use a thick, old encyclopaedia😉

Liberally13

Yes I did wonder about trying thick books first to see how it feels.

Bobbibrowngirlie

https://community.versusarthritis.org/discussion/comment/699349#Comment_699349

A latex pillow might be better than memory foam. I use Relyon latex formerly known as Dunlopillo serenity deluxe