I've had alot of back problems and sprained muscles. I have always been told by various drs to ice 20 min heat 20 min. What they explained is one causes the muscles and blood flow to contract the other to inflame so by switching back and forth you're loosening and tightening the area which causes more blood to be pushed through the area so it helps the healing and your comfort. Do make sure it's not a straight ice pack because you can burn yourself ( especially if the meds make you fall asleep and you go over that 20 min cycle. Not pretty I promise). Another thing you might wanna try is throwing some Epsom salts in a bath and soaking for your heat instead of always using a heating pad

Time for the third opinion.

You can almost never go wrong with application of cold. Cold provides an immediate numbing of the strong pain signals. Cold also works to improve circulation to the area (just as heat does) because the body will increase blood flow to the area to warm it up. If you have any active real bruising there is more likelihood of increasing the bleeding in the tissue using heat than in using cold.

Ice or cold packs should be separated from the skin by a layer of cloth or thin toweling, you want to cool the area not freeze it. Apply for 20 minutes on and then 30 or more minutes off, repeat. Don't just leave the ice pack on for long periods.

Contrast application can be good too but you should be applying warm and not hot temperatures. Remember the analgesic effect on the skin of cold can fool you into not recognizing how hot something is. Moist heat is best, not a dry heating pad.

But, I would stick with cold for the first 24-48 hours after an injury (in your case, spasm) to ensure that no active tissue bruising is occurring.

Both.

Or at least, that is what I was always told when I hurt myself playing sports. Rotate between hot and cold to relieve the pain and relax the muscles.

Apply heat. I had a similar issue. Back spasm! OMG, it hurt!!!

My nurse practitioner said that the body's way to heal is to cause inflammation, so heat should be used to help this.

Just be careful if you use a heating pad not to burn yourself. My NP warned me, but I ended up burning myself anyway! OOPS! That hurts too! :(

Good luck and feel better!

:)

Well this convinced me that I should also try to send my parents, my elderly parents to an assisted living wherein they can enjoy the community.

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I know you don't want to hear this, but you NEED to go to the doctor and get treatment for the sleep apnea. Even if you lose weight it might not go away. Not all people who have sleep apnea are fat btw.

In any case, get over your doctor aversion unless you want to wind up dead. Sleep apnea is quite serious. You stop breathing when you sleep and it wakes your brain up every time you do so you can continue to live. It causes your heart to become enlarged and you lose brain cells if you don't get enough oxygen. Not only that, you won't sleep right and you will be incredibly fatigued...even more so than you realize.

Even if you *think* you are sleeping through the night, with sleep apnea you are NOT. I thought I was getting a good 8-12 hours of sleep per night or more, but really I was waking up 111 times per hour with untreated sleep apnea. Mine was a pretty severe case, but still.

The treatment is a bi-pap or c-pap machine.

If you don't get treatment eventually your body will give up on trying to wake you up every time you aren't breathing and you will DIE!

I'm not really trying to be too alarmist, but the truth about sleep apnea is that it is scary and can be deadly.

Just go to the damn doctor!!!

Be cautious about those one-size-fits-all jaw-repositioning devices they advertise on TV. The principle is sound, but the DIY approach could seriously mess up your jaw and cause you to develop TMJ, bite problems, and much pain.

I use a custom-made version of this gadget, and it works great. It was fitted by a dentist that my sleep specialist referred me to. It cost a bloody fortune, but at least I had insurance to pay for part of it--and the cost includes all the followup and tweaking to get it to fit right. The first one I had was a less comfortable model, but fitting and adjusting it went smoothly. My newer one is generally more comfortable, but getting it adjusted right was a bitch--I was in pain for several weeks until the dentist hit on the sweet spot where it opened my airway and prevented the apnea, and didn't make my jaw ache. I can't imagine doing this on my own with a non-adjustable device.

Aside from seeing a doctor? WHICH YOU SHOULD DO?

Losing weight.

"zombie vampire organ trade"

Is this something YOU'RE invovled with, or that you're afraid of becoming involved with?

You can't, unless you can find someone willing to blow forcibly into your nose every 60 seconds while you try to sleep.

(If your sleep apnea is caused by being significantly overweight, the other solution is to lose the weight.)

I have sleep apnea and wound up with a CPAP machine. They are expensive but work great.

Don't be so silly. Just go to the doctor already.

I went tanning for about a month before I went to Maui this February so I wouldn't have to worry about getting burned. When I lived in Texas and Oklahoma I used to lay out all day (almost) every day during the summer. Since moving to Seattle, I rarely get to lay out. In my humble opinion, tanning for a few weeks once every other year or so is probably about the same amount of damage as I would otherwise be doing if I could lay out in the real sun.
So, if you do it in moderation (a few weeks out of the year) and don't become tanorexic, and since the Pacific Northwest only gets like freaking 3 days of sun anyway (!!!grrrrrrr!!!!!), I have come to the conclusion that it's probably not that bad.

I grew up in a very much sunnier clime, before sunscreens existed except for coating your nose with zinc oxide. Being fair skinned I had to be careful to build exposure to the sun slowly each year in the summer. As a kid I got sunburned many times. Still I was not as crazy a sun seeker as some I knew in high school.

Even if skin cancer was not the risk it is in deliberately exposing yourself to UV radiation, then the damage to your skin's elasticity and youthful appearance should give you some caution. Unfortunately, this effect takes many years to show and most people can only look back with regret.

I remember going to my ten year high school reunion and seeing the girls that had always been at the beach and always had the deep perfect tans. Most of us looked to be in our late twenties (as we actually were), they looked to be ten years older (no kidding). Now many years later I look at the skin on my arms and see the lasting damage that was earned by my exposure. Look forward to a long life of more youthful appearance and good skin, avoid the unnecessary exposure, use sunscreens, utilize sunless tanning products if you want that look, be healthy!

"Compared to people who had never used a tanning bed, indoor tanners had a 74% increased risk for melanoma." - WebMD

And that was just the first link...

I am saying this in an honest spirit of helpfulness, not snark: if a person spent the time they would have spent tanning exercising instead, and the money they would have spent tanning on their wardrobe or a good haircut, the improvement in their appearance would be much greater than if they had spent that time and money tanning.

Your twitch is likely gone by now but my mom always told me to eat a banana when I had an eye twitch and it usually helped. Low potassium can cause it I guess.

I cannot give you an authortative response, but here in Australia the issue was highlighted a few years ago by reason of a woman named Clare Oliver who died at 26 from cancer linked to tanning in a salon.

Since her death tanning salons are now subject to much more regulation.

Here is a link to a piece from one of the less sensational news programs in Australia:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KmHEJXYZrQ

If you Google "Clare Oliver" that will give you links to a wide range of articles.

My simplistic understanding is that UV radiation is going to increase the risks of skin cancer and melanoma no matter whether you get exposure - at the beach or in a salon.

Have you tried t-shirts with a more fitted feel? My bf couldn't stand the cheap-o wallgreens t-shirts at all, his fav is this faded glory t-shirt which seems to have a more fitted/ergonomic cut. 

Can you not stand mere touching? As in the following image: 

I personally can't have a collard shirt like this buttoned all the way up. Honestly, there is only one collard shirt like this in my business casual wardrobe. I can't really stand them either, but I'm a girl so there are pleanty of blouse options. 

i actually have a similar problem. I have no idea how to change it though. The way I deal with it choosing shirts that are lower cut or at least have wide neck holes. I often rip off the collar on shirts I just wear around the house. I only a lot or tank top and sleep with out a shirt on.

If you really want to change it slowly expose your self to tighter necks and deal with the discomfort you maybe able get use to it if you can tough it out.

Do you have any other physical or mental symptoms? Is the discomfort in a particular area of your neck? On the skin or deeper? Getting worse over time? Have you had your thyroid tested? (It's in your neck.) If this gets bad enough it'll be worth seeing a doctor about, and it would be useful to have some more observations to share.

Stop wearing things around your neck?

I get eye twitching occasionally. The worst and longest case I ever got was during the most stressful period of my life and I wasn't getting a enough sleep. In general, when I get the eye twitches, it's usually during a period of low sleep and/or high stress and goes away very quickly (a day or so). Apparently it feels bigger than it looks. I've never had anyone notice. Don't worry about it and try to relax and sleep more.

It is most likely lack of sleep/stress like everyone is saying. However your co-worker is not completely wrong. Twitching and cramping can be caused by electrolyte imbalance. Which is why you can cramp up after exercise. So if you start having cramps other places in your body drink some water, eat a banana or salt your food. Honestly though, the electrolyte boosting drinks are bull shit. All real food has electrolytes. Unless you've been sweating a lot or vomiting you won't be likely have a serious problem.

Hmmm whatever you do..DON'T BLINK!! Not even for a second. DO NOT BLINK!!!

When I went to the doctor about this a year and a half ago, they told me it was only stress. When I suggested what I thought it might be from, they told me that I was actually insane. The internets guided me instead. Not only did these things help with the eye twitch, but literally every mental (okay, maybe not EVERY problem) and physical problem I have ever had. Coconut, garlic, onions, avocados, mango, pomegranate, acai, bitter melon, papaya (seeds and skin for extra oomph), pineapple, lemon (and seed), lime, grapefruit (and seed), fennel (and seed), anise, butternut squash, pumpkin (raw seeds too), olives, olive leaf extract, chamomile, sage, rosemary, cloves, saffron, cardamom, nutmeg, yarrow, honey, real maple syrup, lemon balm, cinnamon, peppermint, lavender, sarsaparilla, psyllium husks, flax seeds, kelp, black walnut hulls, Pau D’ arco, aloe vera, castor oil, tobacco (eaten), jasmine, ginseng, wild bergamot, slippery elm, burdock, bayberry, black cohosh, kava, skunk cabbage, blackberry leaves, witch hazel, wild geranium, agrimony, comfrey, oregano, thyme, Oregon grape root, goldenseal, marshmallow root, licorice (root), yellow dock, cascara sagrada, rhubarb root, hawthorn, rose hips, raspberry leaves, senna tea, mullein, mustard seed, tansy, ginger, basil, wormwood, turmeric, cumin, cayenne pepper (all peppers), nettle leaves (and root), dandelion (and root), Triple Leaf Tea- Detox (a really good Chinese root tea that you need to eat/drink lots of vegetables/ fruit and water with), diatomaceous earth, lots of local wild flowers/leaves/roots/berries (but do your research and be careful), and loads of other foods will help kill off any parasites (we all have them) causing stress and imbalanced pH and allow full access to the nutrients in your food with out having to share with our unwelcome and usually unacknowledged guests. Foods like tomatoes, potatoes, blueberries, apples, carrots, bananas, huckleberries, oranges, broccoli, swiss chard, prunes, grapes, etc that might not have as many or as potent antihelmentic compounds will boost your immune system and help you fight off underlying infections (rarely diagnosed by doctors but instead as insomnia, acne, anxiety, depression, ADD, high blood pressure, fatigue, lung/liver/kidney/digestive disorders, ALLERGIES, bacterial infections, and often more severe conditions, because our society relies on our belief that parasitic infections (I’ll just say it, WORMS) are only a tropical disease).
Some websites will insist you must not have any fat in your diet to ensure you get rid of them all. Er, definitely don’t do that. It is hydrogenated fats that won’t help. Fish, nuts, seed oils, anything with Essential Fatty Acids, tons of water, exercise and yoga for better sleep, deeper breathing, and anything to reduce stress should help. And..er…it may get worse before it gets better as people cleanse, so do stay on top of your electrolytes as some of these foods may make you sick when you first start out. Try authentic Thai or Indian food if you haven’t already. See if raw cow or goat milk works for you. All this stuff should be safe, but look up drug interactions online if you are experimenting with stuff you find in the woods. (ie DON’T drink California poppies with fox glove if you like it when your heart beats). Try to avoid the preservatives in many processed foods, (not sure about how bad all of these are) such as sodium caseinate, sodium benzoate, monosodium glutamate, sodium aluminum sulfate, sodium aluminum silicate, sodium aluminum phosphate , sodium sulfite, sodium metabisulfite, sodium carbonate (not bicarbonate), sodium tripolyphosphate, disodium guanylate, disodium inosinate, sodium alginate, calcium disodium EDTA, sodium phosphate, sodium erythorbate, sodium nitrate, sodium stearoyl, sodium citrate, croscarmellose sodium, sodium borate, sodium selenate, sodium molybdate, sodium meta vanadate, sodium starch glycolate, and lots of others. (These are just the “sodiums”). I recommend sea salt (not Morton!!!!!!), foods with potassium chloride, and avoiding fast food. Essential herbal oils and pure sodium bicarbonate for home made bath soaps, shampoo, face/body wash, and toothpaste (instead of sodium fluoride) might help. Try to find a natural detergent, one that will actually CLEAN your clothes instead of just making them smell good. I realize this wasn’t a direct answer to your question, but hopefully you find something helpful in here.

OMG going on ten days now. Sore throat, dry cough, tired all the time. Can't focus at work, can only respond to Questionland questions...

It's not a vitamin deficiency. Do you have contacts? Have you seen your optometrist lately?

I've had the random eyelid twitching before...it's kinda fun for a few minutes, and then VERY annoying.

My doctor told me mine was probably triggered by lack of sleep. Not really much you can do in the moment, but maybe go to bed early tonight? (this would probably also help, if the cause is stress, as suggested above/below).

Your cold may be allergy related, especially if you're sensitive to grass pollen.

As far as 95 degrees, be careful what you wish for.
Heat index is 107 today with EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNINGS POSTED FOR SEVEREAL STATES....

PS: Love your avitar, Doctor!

I just got over a nasty one.

At present I feel nothing but rage and hatred for our climate.

To all of you out of state whiners: 95º? Bring it.