Sadly, the only thing I have ever found to relived the pain is medication. However, I have found that massage has helped the neck problem a lot. Sort of a last resort I went to a lady who opened a business in town and I went mainly to see if she could help on the daily headaches I have. When I went, I could not remember the last day that I had not had a headache and many times they are so bad (migraine) that I was totally out of everything. Shut out the light, stop all noise, etc. I'd like to say I got immediate relief but I did not. However, after several times, one day I went all day without one
! Amazing. Later, I went 2 days without one! I still have them but most of the time they are not as severe.
As for the back, there just is not much. Of course a fellow could simply do nothing all the time and it would not be so bad, at least for a while but that would not be life at all.
On the medication, I do not like taking it and make sure I do not take too much as I just do not want to get hooked. However, when the pain is so bad it really decreases your quality of life, you must do something and if taking a little pill will help on that, I'll take the pill. Sometimes the alternative is not so good. I'll even admit right here that at one time they locked me in a looney bin. I had no idea what was happening to me but it was not good. I asked the doctor there what on earth was wrong with me. He said to give him 2 days and he would then tell me. Two days later he said it was really quite simple. I had been in too much pain for too long and if I did not take medication for it, I could count on being in the looney bin for a long, long time. Talk about a wake-up call! But it was not only for my benefit, but also for the medical doctor's benefit. In fact, the third day I was in there my medical doctor came to see me and they sent someone to my room to tell me. I was supposed to go meet him and I was in the furthest room from where he was (they had a special room for that right there in that department). I could not make it to see the doc. He finally came to see me. That day, he fully admitted he had no idea I was as bad as I was even though I had told him. Needless to say, they made some massive changes in medicine and yes, to this day I take the medicine. I don't like it, but it keeps life worth living. So, when I hurt too much, I pop a pill. As you've probably noticed, I do not stop working but I surely work a lot less and things take me a long, long time to complete. I just learned how to live with it and so have the doctors.
So, I do a lot of things and some things I probably should not do but that is my choice. I do what I have to do to be able to live my life in a reasonable way. Many folks wonder and many laugh at me with the posting I do about splitting wood vertically rather than horizontally. If you read the above, you should understand. For me, it is the only way I can do it!
and that I am of the belief that one's wood heat savings can be eaten up pretty quickly with the more gadgets one purchases.
