Incoordination and Numbness
• Are there now some noticeable problems with coordination and walking? Hard to say because I’ve always been a klutz. I trip sometimes, particularly walking up stairs. My coordination isn’t good but it never has been.
• Do you find yourself unbalanced when you walk? no
• Do you “misstep” unintentionally much more than you use to do? On stairs, yes
• Do you have trouble keeping your balance in a pitch black room? A little
• Has your handwriting changed? no
• Do you now have trouble picking up a dime off a counter, zipping a zipper or buttoning a button? yes
• Do you find lightening type electrical charges down your spine if you tilt your head backwards? no
• Have your bowel and bladder function substantially changed in association with any of the above symptoms? no
Onset and Length of Time Symptoms Have Been Present
• How did the pain start? I’ve always had neck pain and headaches that I attributed to muscle tension. The more severe neck pain started in January and has been progressively getting worse.
• Was it a gradual onset over years or was there one specific activity or injury that caused it? I don’t’ know if there was something in particular that triggered it in January.
• When did that injury occur? Don’t know
• Describe the activity or action that brought on the pain. Was it a lifting injury, a bike accident or did the pain onset come on gradually? It came on gradually
• How long have the symptoms been present and have they changed in quality or intensity? The more prominent symptoms have come on over the last few months. The intensity seems to have stabilized.
• For example, did you lift something one year ago that caused neck pain and in the last month you have developed severe arm pain that radiates down to the hand?
Activities
• What activities increase or reduce the pain? Turning my head side to side or up and down makes the pain worse. Sitting and standing for long periods make the pain worse. Laying on my side with a pillow under my head provides temporary relief. I need to switch positions every 20 minutes or so to keep the relief.
• Think carefully about this question as the information produced is very valuable. Is it sitting that increases the pain where standing reduces the pain or visa versa?
• Can you sit for 15 minutes or one hour before you have to get up? How far can you walk? I get up every 20 minutes or so to get relief. I cant walk for very long. Maybe 20 minutes before I’m need to laydown on my side.
• Does prolonged exposure to the activity cause more pain? yes
• What does bike riding, sitting, standing, walking, lifting, jumping, computer work, driving or flying do to the pain? They all make the pain worse.
• Does the activity cause different symptoms? No, just more intense discomfort.
• Does the neck hurt with sitting and bending but the arm hurt with bending the head backwards? no
• Does the neck pain become worse with bending forward vs. backwards? no
• Does raising the arm cause pain or does it relieve pain? neither
• What does overhead activity do? Makes it more uncomfortable
• Does sleeping relieve the pain or does the pain wake you at night? Sleeping relieves the pain. Sometimes I will wake because of pain.
• Is there instability pain? That is, is there only mild pain with activities that becomes excruciating with a certain movement that you avoid like the plague? Running, or any activity that requires turning my head side to side or up and down
• Does daily function go relatively smoothly unless you lift something up? no
