Been to the Doctors today

Don't be having any of that rubbish. I'm pretty sure that's doctor language for 'I've had a long day and I can't be bothered'.

That said, there are lots of things that can cause a stiff neck that are so often overlooked.

Daft question, but are you up to date with your eye tests? Sounds daft but if your eyes are under strain, sometimes you'll feel neck pain way before the headaches come. It's because subconsciously when you strain your eyes, you also tense your neck and crane it forward.

Or, what if on some level you are worried about the neck pain. Then your shoulders would be slightly tense, and your breathing might not be fully relaxed. Not tense enough to notice perhaps, but tense enough to cause muscle fatigue over time, which leads into a vicious circle, tense because of pain, pain because of tension.

I don't know, these are just a couple of suggestions based on my own experiences.

 

I've read this thread with real interest as to be honest after the last 21 days that we have had with the NHS it's no wonder a lot of people don't have confidence in the system any more.

My Father-in-law.... (Dad to me given that both my parents passed away in my teens) has had a terrible time.

Dad is 87 years old, mentally and physically fit, he dances and swims twice week and is generally very active for his age, and yes like the rest of us has the usual aches and pains.

Four weeks ago he attended his GP and said that he was getting out of breath and pains in the right hand side of his back. The GP checked him over and told him for his age he was a very fit man and that all was ok however would give him some Amoxicillin just in case he was heading for any chest infection. He wrote a prescription out for 500mg and told Dad to take the dose 3 times a day.

When Dad told me this I thought....that's a bit excessive and somewhat of a high dose, but then who would question a GP!!! I did check it on the internet and this is what I found..

• For more severe infections Amoxicillin may be doubled to 500mg three times a day

Less than a week on Dad could not breath and luckily a friend also in his 80's visited him to find that he couldn't even get out of the chair without fighting for breath and called me to which I called an emergency doctor.

He was rushed into hospital to find that he had fluid on his right lung...

Some 3 days later.... in a side treatment room on the ward, they decided to put a drain into his lung, after 5 attempts and the drain in place the force of the fluid filled a litre canister within a few minutes, poor Dad was doubled up in pain, the student doctor was flustered and admitted they had never seen anything like this before. To give Dad some rest from the pain they had to stop the fluid and drain it off in one hourly intervals... in total he had over half a stone in weight of fluid removed from his lung which obviously now had collapsed and was the next day sent for a MR scan to see what was going on

You would think after this things would go well....

The results all came back - inconclusive so they decided to send him for a camera into his lung.... they prepped him for the procedure and he was told the next morning..... they did the wrong test, they had looked at his thyroid gland.

3 days later they re-arranged for the camera into his lung ..... they looked at his stomach!!

Another 3 days they re-arranged for the camera again, prepped him to go to surgery and brought him back as they had forgotten to book him in!!

By this time .... my blood was at boiling point....so as calmly as I could muster... I had a chat with the doctor who told me he was lost for words to which I replied very calmly maybe the words he was looking for were unprofessional, incompetent and negligent.... He looked flabbergasted!! and was lost for words.

Today....when I arrived for visiting 3 Doctors approached the bed with a plan!!

 

Dear God, @Apple Blossom and @pete! I had some pretty bad experiences with the NHS, but it sounds a hell of a lot worse now. The contributions to the French health system are high, but the standard of care is generally excellent. If folks in the UK have got the right to come over here for treatment, it might be worth considering...

 

A colleague's father in law had a near fatal heart attack while on holiday in Spain. The only consolation I could offer at the time was, at least it happened somewhere where he's got a good chance of being saved. He was saved, and I was told afterwards that compared to many people's experience, he was looked after very promptly, efficiently and professionally.

I'm not going to knock our nhs front line staff. I think they do the best they can in extremely difficultconditions. There's just too much bureaucracy and not enough staff.

 

Mine could have been fatal if my GP hadn't have been as good as she is.
The staff at Northampton hospital have always treated me really well, especially in the 'Heart Centre'. I can't fault them at all. I have even had messages from nurses passed onto me when I have arrived for appointments. I think that is a lovely thing to do.
My doctors surgery is generally pretty good too

 

Oh golly @Apple Blossom what a dreadful time your poor Dad has had & how stressful for you too. I hope he's now getting the correct treatment & is on the mend.

@clanlass, I know what I'm about to say may sound daft but I'm going to say it anyway! My friend Peter (he's in his late 70's) has been having dreadful problems with his neck for sometime, it started when he had heart surgery last year, he tried everything (pain killers, deep heat spray/gel, new bed, new chair, wearing a scarf etc) by coinsidence his daughter hurt her neck & went for some physio who said she needed a different shaped pillow! When they told me I raised my eyes & thought what a lot of nonsense but it's made a huge difference to him. I will find out what type of pillow they have bought & let you know later on.

 

Hi @clanless, I've spoken to my friend Jo, she bought a dorma contour pillow (it was from dunelm mill) it's shaped & made of memory foam, she said she highly recommended it & it had been a great help! Today she went back to dunelm mill to buy two more for the kids! I have no idea how much they cost but it sounds like they are worth while, I hope this helps you my friend

 

Thanks - I'll give it a try. I'm taking cod liver oil capsules - they seem to help. Whether they do actually work or are just a placebo effect - it doesn't matter - as they do help.

Aramandii - thanks for the piccy - it looks expensive - you don't normally get pillows in their own box

Merry Christmas everyone :merry christmas:

 

Best cure in the world @shiney.....I mean a back massage of course!

 

Hi @Beckie, sorry for the late reply and thank you for your concerns, I'm glad to say that Dad is now home. I spent 10 days with him at the hospital to ensure that the remaining tests were completed and we are now just waiting to receive the results Hopefully they will come back all clear and we can look forward to a nice Christmas.

 

No not at all @shiney