hi "benmort" , thankyou for your comments .i think you are correct in assuming its my neck and poor ROM in other areas that is causing the issues in my spine that is over compensating and getting regular painful sprians and spasms. its so annoying that the spine specialist dodnt allow my neck for the mri , only the lumber and thoracic spine.but i was happy at the time just to grab that as they dont dish out MRIs willy nilly ......
easing factors are keeping moving/working and being upright . looking down/reading realy hurts the base of my cervical spine . i can feel a large hard lump of i think is scar tissue that gets soooo painful and stiff and cracks out loud when i look left and right when its the cold . my gp says it is normal but because im managing with it i feel they are just fobbing me off .
ROM in my shoulders is average to good but i cant do that broomstick stretch where you hold the ends and move it up and over ... i just dont have that flexibility but practicing with rubber bands.
as regards to the original herrendous pain , this just eased off after four or five days and touch wood hasnt returned but i did long light session of barbell curls very strict with no swinging and after my thoracic spine was screaming/painful for the reamainder of the evening but almost fine by the morning. i realy do feel it in my cervical spine and in turn my thoracic area.
all the best !

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hi judith
thankyou too for your most helpful comments . i do train ALOT lighter and stricter now and trying to keep pressure off my spine . getting a suitable doctor or physio on the nhs in my opinion os impossible.... i simply get pigeon holed as have a poor posture and core so again they just fob you off with half a dozen core exercises for a few months then tell you to return to your GP if problems persist which obviously they do. just geytting the MRI took around 18 moths from seeing gp to getting physio refer after physio refer then finally getting allowed an MRI.
BEST REGARDS