Bad neck and shoulder pain

[Manok101]

Recently I've developed at times quite crippling neck pain about where I turn my head to look in to my scope, now I do also use my arm quite a bit in my job, what do I do about it so I can keep doing my favorite hobby?

[brantuk]

Which scope do you have Manok? Sounds like it may benfit from the use of a diagonal for the eyepiece and/or a right angled finder. If it's too low it may be a good idea to get an observing chair (I use ironing chairs). But if you tell us which scope I can be more specific

[Manok101]

Its an Orion XT 4.5, my dad built a bench for the back yard, which I sit it on top of, it's still not tall enough for me, and I occasionally use a stool, that isn't quite tall enough then either. I will look into a diagonal.

[brianb]

Recently I've developed at times quite crippling neck pain about where I turn my head to look in to my scope

Go see a physiotherapist. Not a chiropractor unless advised to the contrary by your doctor. National Health physio services are a bit patchy but you may be lucky. It may help to state that the neck problem causes difficulty with driving and may therefore affect your employment prospects - if you're not able to work that bumps you up the waiting list.

That neck pain needs sorting. If left alone you will end up with seized vertebrae & trapped nerves which is, I assure you, far worse. The required exercises are in fact fairly similar to those required to access the eyepiece ... a diagonal will not help with your Newtonian, you probably won't be able to reach focus with one fitted. Tube rings - allowing the tube to be rotated to get the eyepiece horizontal - are a big help if your Newt is mounted equatorially.

If physio does not fix the problem, you may need a CAT or MRI scan of your neck to check for benign growths which can restrict mobility of the neck joints - and possibly surgery to remove them. That's definitely a NHS job unless you have very deep pockets or very good private health insurance.

[brantuk]

Ok I've just had a google and think it's a SkyQuest dobsonian. Firstly it won't benefit from a diagonal which is meant more for the cassegrain or refractor type of scopes.

Your's is a dobsonian and best placed at floor level. Then you can either stand at the eyepiece or sit on an adjustable stool depending on which object you're viewing. Some stools you move the seat to a higher/lower position and others spin up/down.

For the finder it may help your viewing position to use a right angled finder (RAF). There are many makes and different qualities. I use the Orion right angled correct image finder which helps with my achey back.

Here's a couple of links:

Adjustable stool: Ironing/ Perching stool HEIGHT ADJUSTABLE with backrest on eBay (end time 28-Nov-10 21:18:19 GMT)

RAF: Orion 6x30 Right Angle Finder

These are just examples so you may need to google around for choices. Hope that helps

[brantuk]

" It may help to state that the neck problem causes difficulty with driving and may therefore affect your employment prospects - if you're not able to work that bumps you up the waiting list"

Great bit of advice - I'll remember that one lol

[Manok101]

Ok I've just had a google and think it's a SkyQuest dobsonian. Firstly it won't benefit from a diagonal which is meant more for the cassegrain or refractor type of scopes.

Your's is a dobsonian and best placed at floor level. Then you can either stand at the eyepiece or sit on an adjustable stool depending on which object you're viewing. Some stools you move the seat to a higher/lower position and others spin up/down.

For the finder it may help your viewing position to use a right angled finder (RAF). There are many makes and different qualities. I use the Orion right angled correct image finder which helps with my achey back.

Here's a couple of links:

Adjustable stool: Ironing/ Perching stool HEIGHT ADJUSTABLE with backrest on eBay (end time 28-Nov-10 21:18:19 GMT)

RAF: Orion 6x30 Right Angle Finder

These are just examples so you may need to google around for choices. Hope that helps

If it were on floor level, I'd need the tiniest chair in the world to sit in.

[Manok101]

I will say that I just had a bout of very severe bronchitis, in which I was coughing pretty close to 24/7 at points, could this also account for my neck suddenly becoming sore lately?

[brantuk]

I see - well I just looked at the spec a bit more and it's only 3ft high so a low stool with a revolving height adjustable seat would seem appropriate. Try something like this:

Revolving Stools, Multipurpose Use Stool, Bedside Foot Stools, Adjustable Metal Stool Manufacturers, Suppliers, Exporters, India

You can move around with the ep cos it's on castors and adjust the height to get a more comfortable position. Failing that I think you'd need to be measured up.

I'd also suggest you tell your dad about the neck aches and pains

[Capricorn]

Has something similar years ago, sort of screamed one morning, searing pain down the neck and into the shoulder. Mine was on my right hand side.

Now NOT saying yours is the same and I doubt it is.

Mine was caused then by me not relaxing the shoulders. The muscles remain taught and eventually you pull/tear something.

When the Doc realised I rode a motor bike he said that could be the cause, you tend to get on the bike and tense/lock the shoulders, he then said that people using keyboards were another group that had the problem. I did both at the time, software engineer. I suspect that of the 2 it was the keyboard use that was the cause.

I didn't bother telling him about the archery and judo. Think he would have said I deserved it. :D

Another option to the cause is do you sit in the flow, even gentle, of air from on air conditioning unit. I did for a while and found my nexk+shoulder was slowly getting small "pulls" in it that caused me trouble. Had a deflector fitted and no more problem.

[brantuk]

I'm sure the bronchitis doesn't help if you're coughing a lot - maybe it's best to stay indoors in the warm till it clears up and you're fit again

[Manok101]

Hmm. This has given me plenty to think on, I've noticed that the pain is a lot less after a shower, or when I use a massager, is there a way i can tell if a muscle is torn?

[brantuk]

If it was torn you'd be in excrutiating pain all the time and wouldn't be able to lift your head off the pillow or turn it side to side. I'm no doctor but I tore a back muscle years ago playing squash and I couldn't stand up for a month. Coughing a lot will tense the muscles in your neck and probably make them ache more. Best thing is to see a doctor if it's getting unbearable and get some pain killers. Also the bronchitis needs to be addressed if it hasn't allready.

[adamsp123]

Does sound like it is to do with your neck vertebrae, I had a very nasty skiing accident many nears ago when I landed at high speed on my neck, after some time a physio on another skiing holdiay diagnosed 4 vertebrae were "out" she sorted it with head and neck manipulation.

Occasionally I get pain again but I can normally flex my head till something clicks, failing that I take a dose of Ibruprofen, that as an anti imflammatory works well.

[glowjet]

Thats tough Manok, sounds like muscle strain, try and use your ep in a different position if you can, one way to help relieve the symptoms is to acquire a wheat bag which you put in the microwave heat up and then place on the affected part, and no you can`t make beer from the contents once you have finished using it.

[ollypenrice]

Go and see a doctor and maybe an osteopath. I have had very positive experiences with osteopathy. (I have some spinal arthritis and sometimes trap a nerve.) Don't get involved with amateur diagnosis!

You can reduce time spent craned over by shooting a laser through your finder to see roughly where you are pointing, assuming you not on flight paths etc. This saves me a lot of discomfort.

Olly

[dogfish]

There seems to have been a number of these threads lately and everyone pitches in with their experiences, often these are horrible, and they talk about ending up crippled. The guy has neck pain that is clearly worrying him, so let's not make it worse. Indeed, the scientific evidence is that worrying is one of the key predictors of chronicity.

So, chill out. Nearly everyone gets back and or neck pain at some point in their lives and the vast majority recover in a few weeks; months at the most. The best advice is to take simple analgesia, don't get too protective of your neck and at the same time be sensible. Get a referral for physiotherapy, rather than pay for osteopathy or chiropractic treatment - these aren't miracle cures, despite what some will say (e.g. "I was in agony for weeks, tried everything, until blah, blah blah"). There simply isn't the evidence that these are any better than anything else. We (astronomers) tend to regard ourselves as scientists, but when it comes to health you'll always find someone on the board whose prepared to swear by 'tail of newt' or some such. At least physiotherapy is part of the NHS where evidence based medicine is supposed to prevail and if you do have something seriously wrong they are more likely to pick it up and be able to refer to Orthopaedics/Neurosurgery. Physios in many areas can order scans and x-rays as well which will be undertaken in proper hospital x-ray departments. I'd also direct you to Simon Singh's (BBC science journalist) battle with the chiropractic establishment over the exaggerated claims they make. See:

Simon Singh - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

BTW, I'm not a physiotherapist, rather a psychologist who has been involved in pain management for the past 10 years.

Good luck, Martin

[Manok101]

Go and see a doctor and maybe an osteopath. I have had very positive experiences with osteopathy. (I have some spinal arthritis and sometimes trap a nerve.) Don't get involved with amateur diagnosis!

You can reduce time spent craned over by shooting a laser through your finder to see roughly where you are pointing, assuming you not on flight paths etc. This saves me a lot of discomfort.

Olly

I live next to an airport so lasers are out of the question. I will be getting one of orion s goto dob s in the near future, will be lots taller and hopefully not bad on my neck.