— Begin quote from “vandaml1”
BTW, Scott, when you get your six-pack, you must post a picture or change your avatar for the ladies 
!
— End quote
:lol: It might be 2047 by the time that happens and, by then, you won’t want to see anything!
Scott,
Congrats on finding some relief with trigger point therapy.
I am really intrigued by this and am going to try to find a therapist.
Thank you!
This roller is my friend for when my muscles are tight and I need a massage (works better than my door edges). Thought some of you might be interested.
(NB from admin: this image links to a product this member has found helpful and at the same time helps fund the site: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. More recommended products here. Thanks for your support!)
p.s. I just need to be really careful about getting up after using the roller, to avoid getting dizzy. I still rush out of bed and am trying to take my time by stretching before getting up…I’ll learn one day (so I don’t fall on my face like I did a month ago!).
Scott,
I have major neck problems and my MAV symptoms actually started after I flipped my hair over and back and something cracked in my neck. After that day, everytime I turn to the right my neck clicks and grinds back. It never had done it before. And I slowly and progressively started experiencing every MAV symptom in the book until the violet vertigo hit 18 months ago during a major home remodel that left me living on fast food and too much sodium that gave me the vertigo which gave me a diagnosis of MAV and secondary endolymphatic hydrops which is now gone. I have always sworn it was my neck but the MAV doc likes to turn his ears off when I mention it. My only problem is since my diagnosis, massage makes me dizzy! I practically have to rub my own neck to get the pressure right. Glad it is helping you
i know that my neck contributes to my overall dizziness. If you ask a neuro, ent, or especially a nuerotologist- the more specialized that you get, the more they will have no idea about other areas. i tried to talk to my regular neuro about my neck playing a role in the dizziness, and because she didnt see anything on my mri, she kept saying no no…my point is, you can’t ask those specialists about the neck bc they wont know anything about it. the best is to talk to your primary care dr and then see a good physical therapist who knows about neck dizziness. each of these drs only knows info in their specific areas, unless they happen to have a special interest in something else. For example, my neurotologist that first diagnosed the mav had a special interest in mav, and knew all about how to treat it, diagnose it, etc.- but i knew he had a special interest in this. he even had the heal your headache book on hand to sell to patients at a discounted rate- i can tell he is very passionate about the problem.
leshurd, if testing for the neck is normal, i would suggest trying to get to a good pt that knows about necks and dizziness- i have found enormous help from doing this- maybe you need to stretching and strengthening exercises to help you.
Are there other tests to check what’s going on in the neck besides MRIs?
Yes my neuro ordered one it is something to do with checking the arteries in your neck- I forget what it is called though.
Thanks Sarah,
I’ll ask her on my next appointment. Anyone had any light shed from this type of test? xoxoxo
Lisa
Lately, when my neck/back are stiff I lie on the floor and do very slow crunches, massaging it against the floor. This doesn’t get my neck directly, but once my back’s reasonably limber I can then roll in and out of a full plough. Plough or plow is an inverted yoga pose, on the floor with my toes over my head. They rest on the floor superior to my head once my neck’s fairly long; when it’s more tight, they’re in the air.
This is plenty enough rolling for my back and neck.
David - can you post a photo or diagram of this pose - I can’t quite get my head around it - sounds like you need to be a gymnast or yoga expert!
Barb
— Begin quote from “scott”
I had no idea I had one at C2-3 all this time! How the hell I missed it I don’t know but man am I glad I have found what appears to be a very big fish to fry.
I am surprised that yours won’t release despite having PT work on it. I sort of assumed that they all release if smashed enough with someone’s thumb etc. What a drag. Thanks for bringing up the injection plan as I hadn’t heard of this but cannot see why it’s not worth a go if nothing else works. It’s clear to me that trigger points can be and, for me, are SIGNIFICANT chronic migraine triggers. I’m still gob-smacked over how things have suddenly shifted for me having released that point in early December. I feel like a born again migraineur! Is there a religion for that? :lol:
Is there any way that you have any other as yet unidentified trigger points in your neck? I ask because I have another one at C2 as I mentioned on the right side. This one NEVER stopped killing me no matter how much it was mangled. It now appears that as long as the queen of trigger points was active, there was no way one earth the other one at C2 was going to let go. Now that C2-3 has been defused, C2 followed right behind it. No more pain shooting down into my scalenes either.
Unreal how a trigger point(s) can set off all of this weird neurological stuff huh?
— End quote
Hello Scott. I had a nasty trigger point although mine was in the lower part of my body and unrelated to migraine.
When I was reading up about trigger points I found that one of the best sources was the original work on the subject by Travell & Simons (“The Trigger Point Manual”.). One part deals with head and neck pain. The book is referred to in the The International Classification of Headache Disorders.
-Wexan
Thanks Wexan. I’ll look for it. 
After reading Scott’s experience, I managed to find a trigger point therapist and had my first session on Saturday.
He was very thorough in taking a detailed history of my problems and I told him about this forum and your experience Scott.
Wow, I felt instant relief from the massage. He could feel with his fingertips where the tension points in my neck and shoulders were before I even told him. When he massaged them, I felt pain but it was a good pain if that makes any sense- it was relieving not aggravating.
I felt great afterwards as well as Sunday and Monday. Tuesday I am feeling more achey as I’m back at work hunched over a desk for the 2nd time. But I definitely have significantly less knots in my neck.
I knew it would be good for me, I just wish I could afford it every day- or every week. But it’s not cheap for 1 hour- £60 for an hour and £30 for half an hour.
I’m pretty sure my insurance would not cover it though I suppose it’s worth asking. It would be hard to get a GP to write to say I needed to have this.
I really recommend anyone to give this a go if you can find a therapist. I’m going to try to find the cash to have some more sessions and see how this goes.
MM
Trigger points are a start. Check out Terry Pratchett on retrophrenology.
Was looking around on the web regarding the trigger point issue and came across this:
http://www.minnesotamedicine.com/PastIssues/PastIssues2010/May2010/Clinical-HubbardMay2010.aspx
Scott – provides a lot of validation for why you are feeling better. Hope you still are.
Andy
Well, I’m back in the migraine hole again after 2 months of bliss. The last 2 weeks at work has done me in again. Long hours at the computer with deadlines. The last straw was an all-day workshop on Thursday where the trainer was on my right. I spent most of the day in a room full of fluorescent lights and my neck turned to the right for 6 hours. Bad plan.
So now it’s like someone hammered a spike into that C2-3 joint on the left side of my neck. Massaging the hell out of it is not working and I end up feeling worse. Bizarrely it’s a whole body experience going on. Light-headed, slightly drunk feeling, aches and pains everywhere and a sore lower back. Not sure if the neck thing is triggering this alone or if the neck is part of the whole overall attack.
Anyway, I’ve booked a physio appt for Tuesday to get this neck mangled and have him force out this pain and get everything moving properly. Once that happens everything else usually follows (I hope).
Hi Scott,
Your left SCM muscle is probably inflamed. The left SCM contracts to turn your head to the right. There can be trigger points all along the SCM, which are probably sore if you give the muscle a gentle pinch.
— Begin quote from ____
People are rarely aware of trigger points in their SCMs, though their effects can be amazingly widespread in the head, neck and jaw. They cause four kinds of symptoms: 1) pain, 2) balance problems, 3) visual disturbances and 4) autonomic abnormalities.
1.Pain can be sent to the top, sides, back or front of the head. A frontal headache is practically a signature of sternocleidomastoid trigger points. Pain is also sometimes sent to the back of the neck and occasionally spills over to the sides of the face, mimicking trigeminal neuralgia. SCM trigger points can send pain deep into the ear and to the eye and the sinuses. They can make the back teeth and the root of the tongue hurt.
2.Dizziness and a tendency to lurch or fall unexpectedly can be the result of trigger points in the clavicular branch of an SCM muscle. They can be the reason for otherwise unexplainable loss of appetite, nausea, sweating of the forehead and fainting. They can also cause a degree of reversible hearing loss, due to their effect on the inner ear. Doctor Travell believed that the distorted perception caused by trigger points in SCM muscles was a hidden cause of auto accidents.
3.A droopy eyelid, excessive tearing or reddening of the eyes can often be traced to SCM trigger points, as can blurred, dimmed or double vision.
4.Excess mucous in the sinuses, nasal cavities and throat can come from the effects of SCM trigger points, as can sinus congestion, sinus drainage, and persistent hay fever or cold symptoms. A persistent dry cough or sore throat can often be stopped with massage to the sternal branch near its attachment to the breastbone. SCM trigger points can be the source of a painless neck stiffness that keeps your head pulled over to one side.
The good news about this confusing conglomeration of symptoms is that you can fix all of them yourself with self-applied massage. To massage a sternocleidomastoid muscle, simply take it between the fingers and thumb of your opposite hand and knead it firmly, aiming at a therapeutic pain level of seven on a scale of one to 10. Try to discriminate between the two parts of the muscle. The sternal branch is in front of the clavicular branch, each about as big around as a finger. Search for trigger points from behind your earlobe all the way down to your collarbone and sternum. When sternocleidomastoid trigger points are bad enough, a little squeeze will actually reproduce or accentuate a headache, giving you a very convincing demonstration of what trigger points do. SCM massage can often make a headache better almost immediately. The same is true for dizziness and many other SCM symptoms.
(By CLAIR DAVIES, Remedies For Osteoarthritis, September 21, 2002, American massage therapy association)
— End quote
Maybe that will help until you see your physio on Tuesday…
Janet
Hi Janet,
That’s really good information! Thanks for posting.
Had I been thinking about this at the time I should have moved my position in the group so that I was facing straight ahead. :?
This link is good. Major trigger points work to maintain secondary smaller ones – in the jaw for example – causing more pain in those areas. Seems to fit my case. When the physio knocked out the “grape” over my C2-3 area, all of the other hotspots settled down to zero pain.