you mentioned that this symptom began during the pandemic. Was it after a bout of illness? After a vaccine? Were you under an unusual amount of stress? 

I’m asking because so much of the post-covid syndrome has a tremendous amount to do with functional imbalances, and in particular oxidative stress and damage and mitochondrial dysfunction where ATP is not sufficient which leads to body wide fatigue, weakness, higher perception of pain, aches, and stiffness.

A hypo-adrenal state can lead to low cortisol and increased pain/stiffness. Are your symptoms worse in the morning? We need cortisol to be able to effectively contract muscles that line vessels that pump fluid against gravity to come back up to enhance recirculation, otherwise we can end up with numbness/pain in our extremities when exercising/moving especially.

Are you/were you supplementing with high dose vitamin D? High dose vitamin D can deplete magnesium, increasing a person’s need for magnesium, which can contribute to stiffness.

Do you know if blood sugar dysregulation or insulin resistance is at play or even high cortisol? This can also create a higher need for magnesium, and also damage the lining of blood vessels in nerves that can lead to neuropathy.

In terms of nerve pain, are you taking a B complex with pyridoxine in it by any chance? If a person cannot convert pyridoxine (B6) to P5P, high B6 can lead to neuropathy and nerve pain.

On the flip side, we also need sufficient levels of B6 for healthy nerve function. Have you ever tested this?

In fact, I would also check B12 status as insufficient levels can lead to inflammation of the nerves and compromise nerve function.

Have you ruled out heavy metal toxicity such as mercury? This is known to cause nerve damage.

These are just some initial thoughts of possible root causes other than structural reasons. Please let me know if any of this resonates with you and we can help you dig deeper and suggest some additional tests.

 so birth control is notorious for depleting B vitamins so if this is something that you’ve been taking regularly for a while, I’d definitely want to look into B status and/or supplement with a methylated B complex. And make sure fasting insulin is also included. A hair mineral analysis is an easy way to check for heavy metals (if you don’t color your hair and if you do, waiting at least 6 weeks for the roots to grow out is essential).

I’m pinging in  as well to see if he has anything else to add.

Hey ,

I used to work a lot with releasing trigger points and stiff necks and I do have some advice I can share. I will have to divide my reply into different posts. I will start by sharing some advice on what techniques are efficient in releasing trigger points. In the other parts, I will discuss some tips that you can share with your therapists since I noticed that a lot of therapists miss the contribution of these muscles when they treat a stiff neck.

Reducing tension in muscles can be done quickly with certain massage therapies. Although a lot of massage therapies can reduce tension in the muscles, only a few techniques remove trigger points. This results in that most massage techniques only give some temporary relief. 

I often use a massage technique that is called “Active release”. These massages are quite intense, but they do remove trigger points. A second form of therapy that can work efficiently is a technique called dry needling.

Trigger points can come back. Sometimes trigger points can be functional. For example, when tissue is injured, the body sometimes stiffens an area to help the tissue heal. Movement in weakened tissue could potentially do more damage. Finding the reason why the body wants to create a trigger point is essential.

Often with a stiff neck stress plays a big role. The stiffness causes stress which can lead to more tension. The longer the stiffness is there, the more stubborn the stiffness is and the less likely it is that ‘normal’ massages will work.

Here are some other tips for when you have found the right therapists. I often see therapists focusing on the neck only. But other muscles often play a role as well.

Trapezius
The trapezius is a big muscle often involved in stiffness in the neck. Most physical therapists will focus on the upper part of the trapezius. This should be done. Trigger points are often found at the X near Upper TrP2 (see the picture below) creating stiffness or hard muscles in this area as well. The muscles in this part will get stuck in a shortened position.

However, sometimes the lower part of the trapezius can be weakened because of another trigger point located at Lower TrP3. The lower part of the trapezius pulls the shoulder down. If the lower part doesn’t function like it normally should, it is often likely that the upper part just gets stiff again.[upper-trap-trigger-points-functional-performace-physical-therapy.jpg] 

The Shoulder muscles or “Deltoideus”

The Deltoideus is actually a group of 3 big muscles located around the X in the picture below. These muscles are more located at the sides of the shoulder joint and not on top. When trigger points or stiffness in these muscles aren’t released, the upper part of the trapezius will stiffen quite quickly again leading to a stiff neck.

Releasing this muscle is even more important than releasing the lower trigger points in the trapezius. I would advise you to discuss with your therapist if he can examine the deltoideus and the trapezius as well.[posterior-deltoid-trp.jpg]

Iliopsoas

Last but not least, with stress the psoas muscles often get tense as well. Trigger points there can lead in some cases to stiffness or pain in the lower back as well. Sometimes the stiffness in the iliopsoas can lead to some sensitive or tight feeling areas in the front of the body (in the region where the arrow of ‘lesser trochanter’ points too).   

The shortened muscles can cause a pelvic tilt, influencing the position of the neck and the neck muscles. If stiffness slowly returns, the psoas could be part of the cause.

Releasing the psoas with dry needling is often hard since the psoas is located more inside the body. With active release techniques, the psoas is also harder to reach, but it is reachable. If you can’t find somebody who can release trigger points there, let me know and I will demonstrate exercises you could do that can help you.

I hope these tips and those mentioned by  can help you find some relief!
[Psoas.jpg]