Like you, Steve, I have learned to live with it. As long as I can keep busy, stay interested in different projects-our horses, gardening, grandkids, my volunteer work, and the Internet, it is a big nuisance but not overwhelming. We all have different levels of pain, and I have been fortunate to have a high threshold for pain, both before and after my accident. I take Tylenol for neck and shoulder pain when it becomes too demanding for me to ignore. After 18 years I am still getting return in different areas, but unfortunately it is only to the touch return. No matter how hard I exercise (I have a sling that we suspend my arms in and I exercise the little bicep muscle that I have by moving my shoulder and then trying to stop the sling motion to build up my muscles J) it doesn’t seem to do anything, but it makes me feel I am trying the best I can. My neck and shoulder muscles are exceedingly strong and I have never used a headrest after leaving rehab, so I can relax by tilting my chair way back and then dropping my head back and letting my neck stretch out. It really helps.
Joan
