Before you got the courage to go were you taking pain killers every day as well to combat the pain?
I don't take "pain killers," if you mean prescription pain killers. I just hurt all the time, took otc meds, constantly twisted and stretched, couldn't sit still.
How were you sleeping? I'm finding no pillow is sometimes the only way to sleep.
Tried everything. And I did that^ for awhile, too.
Your neck is probably jutting forward (common for people on screens) all day so it feels relief straightening out/ not jutting forward when on a flat surface.
I discovered I was doing that in front of screens and also when driving - and tensing up my shoulders around my neck. I've spent 3-4 months now constantly consciously tipping my chin down, pulling my head/ neck back aligned to my body and the top of my head pulled up toward the sky, relaxing my shoulders, and strengthening my scapular muscles, along with shoulder muscles. Everything was doing its best, but doing it wrong. And in my case was exacerbated by some mod-severe compression of a couple of major nerves due to a couple types of cervical stenosis (broad term referring to narrowing of the space between bones).
Also lowered my monitors at work to help prevent falling into lazy sloppy posture.
You have got the procedure done just recently and you are finally no longer in pain? That is great news. Life without pain must be a whole new world.
The procedure was an epidural steroid to reduce soft tissue swelling from the stenosis and agitated nerves. It did not fix the problem; the purpose was pain reluef/ nerve squish relief, and critically, the ability to start doing the PT. It provides relief in about 50%, for a day, week, few months, or longer. Usually if it helps at all, people end up doing it every quarter or so. For me, it helped some for sure. But the PT and improved alignment and strength (and better habits) are what make a difference I feel day to day. If I don't keep up the exercises for 2 days, I get a lot of pain/ ache back. Do them again, abd a day or two later, it's better.
The point of that detail is to make the point that sometimes there is no magic bullet (for anything, including body pain), or at least - any magic bullet also requires a person to put in effort.
I can't deal with anxieties it's just too strong, I can't force myself to go face things, and it never gets better even if I do, i can't shake it, it just won't go away.
Two things help somewhat with that: meds and therapy (CBT therapy, most practically). You don't have to live in TOTAL pain and fear. Which is to say: there is an element of choice in it. Problem is, our pain and fear is often what gets in the way of thinking of dealing with it. So that's the loop. And sometimes you have to take a leap and just do things that your mind or body is telling they want to run away from. And even if at first awful, eventually you trust the ground will not actually open up and swallow you whole or take a bite out of your leg. So et nes you've got to do it even if you hate every second. I mean, if you hate every second anyway, might as well increase the odds of improvement from 0% to 2%, or 20%, or 90%, no?
Next week someone else is also away and that means nobody will be able to do what I do, so therefore they will probably cancel my leave, and even if they don't, i'll get called every 5 seconds.
Turn off the phone. You're unreachable.
Literally no one is this mission-critical. No one. Not you, not me, not people making 100 times what either of us does. I simply don't believe you work in a place that high-intensity or in a role that will literally stop business and cripple the company if you say you won't have phone/ internet for a week.
They literally directed you to take time off two months ago. They know how to handle it. And if they don't, that's their problem, not yours.
It's so hard for me to get a break.
You cannot sit and let life to just happen to you then be disappointed it doesn't happen how you wanted it to.
Really I can't, I can never get one. I was on call over the new years break.
You had a new years break?
Try what for 3 months, doing the stretches or going outside?
Getting to a PT and doing the exercises they provide you for your pain/ strain.
Or hell, even Google or tell AI where it hurts and ask for PT exercises to address it. Go on YouTube to see example of how to perform those. Then ask AI for a progressive program starting with one exercise at low reps. Then do it/ them everyday.
Does your instructions include working on your neck though?
The exercises I do strengthen the muscles that need to be doing the work that my neck was trying to do. So when they are better aligned and strengthened, the neck pain goes way down and neck is less tight and in a happy place. 3-4 months of effort after 25+ years of increasing pain. And that is for someone with cervical bones still crushing together and impinging on nerves.