Not doing a reply to myself here. Just another 'note to self'. But, as I consider myself part of the 'Global Self' anyway, that seems ok !

I'm going to go out on a limb here and try to explain, in layman's terms, what might be at the core of the problem of why so many long term C/S patients are not content with available treatments. And, it's got nothing to do with the fact that they're just a load of whingers. Much the opposite, it causes the whingeing and moaning.

Firstly, I believe that my C/S condition, first diagnosed 30 years ago, to be an injury based ( I/B ) C/S, although this has never been confirmed. Suffice it to say that, at age 59, I have no other arthritic based ( A/B ) symptoms. Therefore, the C/S is unlikely to have been caused by an underlying arthritic condition, which would, in turn, have it's own 'wear and tear' 'degenerative' connotations. I also believe that the (vast ?) majority of C/S cases, particularly where the elderly are concerned, are arthritic based ( A/B ) and, as such, they come with a certain inevitability of degenerative rates of deterioration normally associated with underlying arthritic conditions.

However, with ( I/B ) C/S this isn't the case, where an injury may have occured at a young age, and the neck may be continually trying to repair itself, without the hindrance of an underlying condition. This constant / intermittent / unpredictable process, (regeneration), over many years, even before any trapped nerve symptoms might manifests themselves, can cause 'associated' reactive symptoms, which I would argue are more difficult for the patient to deal with, because of their nature, than any actual trapped nerve symptom. In fact, when a trapped nerve symptom does eventually occur, it is very likely that the 'associated' symptoms will ease off, simply because the neck no longer needs to protect a nerve from being trapped....it's already happened ! This is what happened to me a couple of years ago, and kickstarted my attempts to understand the complex changes I was experiencing.

Meanwhile, the professionals, seemingly, are basing their overview of C/S on recognising that the majority of cases are ( A/B ) and are elderly, with all the inevitability that that implies. Any consideration of long term ( I/B ) C/S seems to come under the same umbrella, and therefore, treatments are meted out the same for both. This might be a mistake because it doesn't necessarilly take into account that, as with long term ( I/B ) C/S, any regenerative reactive processes which the neck engages in over long periods, whilst further 'wear and tear' only progresses at normal rates, as in a healthy neck. What I'm really saying is that different therapies should apply where one condition ( A/B ) is definitely degenerating, but the other ( I/B ) is constantly repairing itself. Perhaps they ought to be classified separately so the appropriate treatments can be targeted properly.

There's also the implication that a younger ( I/B ) C/S patient will experience 'associated' symptoms without having the luxury of manifesting a 'real' symptom which other people can relate to and empathise with. Maybe they should just be grateful they haven't got ( A/B ) C/S, but that's just meaningless, speculative, relative comparisons, as we all know. The 'associated symptoms can cause all sorts of difficulties ( a sub-text of undermining disbelief ) when dealing with others, and yes, even when dealing with professionals.


So there you have it. Plenty for any aspiring P/therapist to get their teeth into. Use or discard at will !