Forgive me for interupting a very interesting thread. I'm a long term C/S patient and feel I must say that I'm so glad that some Physios are now tending towards 'hands off ' therapies. My experiences tell me that most C/S symptoms (headaches, stiff neck, etc.) are associated symptoms caused by the neck trying to readjust to a percieved threat of nerve compression. As such, any interference can easily hamper or aggravate the problem. Any applied therapies should really be concerned with how the patient sleeps, because sleeping postures create the default associated symptoms for the next day. Good sleeping conditions can greatly relieve associated symptoms and allow the neck to readjust rapidly to it's best functioning mode, which is what it's trying to do all along. I don't know if this is of any help to the problem posted in this thread, but as a general overview of neck problems I think it shouldn't be overlooked.