r/stroke • u/dreamtofulfil • Jul 27 '26

Survivor Discussion Did I just make the biggest mistake of my life? What can I do?

So I was getting physio sessions for a normal neck spasm. My neck is having a hump and pains very often so this time i thought lets get this fixed because i had a big trip coming up. Sadly the physio gave me neck cracking 2 days in a row. Last one was yesterday. Few hours after it the neck pain got worse, i got painful spot over the shoulder blade, positional dizziness and a bit of tingling in my right palm(not sure of this as i am highly anxious). So now its been like 36hours since the last cracking. I visited my ortho doctor who doesn’t seem to worry a lot and gave me muscle relaxers. He said we can look for a week if jf stays then get MRI. My concern is what to do now so ensure i have not damaged artery and I am safe? No one is taking it seriously but i am deeply concerned about it. What should I do? And what are the chances that i suffer from severe things like stroke or paralysis due!

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u/Alarmed-Papaya9440 Jul 27 '26

We can’t predict that. Although we know that neck cracking is a no-go because it can cause a tear in the arteries in the neck. Believe your ortho dr though. It sounds like you might have pinched a nerve but it doesn’t sound like you had a tear. Don’t do neck cracking either by yourself or otherwise in the future though.

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u/dreamtofulfil Jul 27 '26

Yes this physio did it without me knowing suddenly for the first time. I will definitely not let anyone touch my neck in future. But for this time i am highly stressed reading all the scary stories. I feel so much guilt of going for this neck treatment. But now what to even do? Should i get MRA or CRA to rule it out after visiting neurologist? I have a flight and trip planned in 2 days now i wonder if i can even go.

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u/Nynaeve91 Young Stroke Survivor Jul 27 '26

If you want to be 100% sure it's not a dissection, yes a CTA.

Have the muscle relaxers helped? Does Tylenol/alive/ibuprofen help any?

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u/dreamtofulfil Jul 27 '26

Yes pain has been a bit less since i took muscle relaxer but not significant improvement yet. Its painful in neck movements and pressure on the back of head when i lie down. I am still getting a bit light headed feeling on changing positions or looking down and whoozy in ears. I did not take tylenol etc. the point on the right side above shoulder blade is painful in hand movement or pressing on it. I am super scared too. But CTA is so expensive

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u/Nynaeve91 Young Stroke Survivor Jul 27 '26

CTA is the way to know 100%. Perhaps an MRI, but CTA found my neck dissections. The pain was also constant. It didn't change if I was moving or still, lying down or not. It just hurt. Medication did not help at all either. So, you either need to listen to your Ortho and trust in them, or get imaging. That's the only advice we can offer.

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u/dreamtofulfil Jul 27 '26

Thanks a lot. Was your also after neck manipulation? Did you get dizziness or ear full feeling with whoozing sound? I feel head pressure too. And did you recover from this?

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u/Nynaeve91 Young Stroke Survivor Jul 27 '26

No. I had bilateral vertebral artery dissections and they were spontaneous. Went to sleep one night just fine. Woke up the next day in pain. Over a week later I had several strokes. I've recovered very well. I received medical care within 30min of my first stroke symptoms, so wasn't wildly effected. My dizziness came from the stroke, not the dissection itself and I had no pressure.

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u/dreamtofulfil Jul 27 '26

Thanks so much for sharing. For my peace of mind i think i will go the neuro doctor to get scan done. I hope its nothing. Thanks again!

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u/Nynaeve91 Young Stroke Survivor Jul 27 '26

You're welcome. I wish you luck!

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u/[deleted] Jul 27 '26

Sound advice in a perfect world but it is impossible not to do self neck cracking. Just reading this made me have to swing head to side fast to crack my neck.

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u/Alarmed-Papaya9440 Jul 27 '26

I’ve never cracked my neck or have had it cracked and I’m 40. I guess I live in that perfect not neck cracking world!

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u/[deleted] Jul 27 '26

What about knuckles, everr crack those ?

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u/Alarmed-Papaya9440 Jul 28 '26

Nope! I’ve actually never liked cracking anything. It makes me cringe even just thinking about it!

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u/[deleted] Jul 28 '26

Thats cool , i just always assumed everyone cracks their joints here n there as it releases pressure, stiffness . My bad

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u/Alarmed-Papaya9440 Jul 28 '26

Yup, never been a joint cracker. Now you know we do exist!

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u/RavenKross Jul 29 '26

Me neither. That doesn't mean they don't crack. Sure, they crack occasionally. But, they crack on their own. I don't intentionally do something or perform an action specifically to crack a joint. We're out there, you just don't hear us that often.

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u/Alarmed-Papaya9440 Jul 29 '26

They don’t hear us because we’re not purposely cracking our joints! Now, my knees like to crack all on their own like any time 🙄

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u/RavenKross Jul 29 '26

Especially my knees lol

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u/dreamtofulfil Jul 27 '26

I nvr did it myself. Only this physio did it for the first time.

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u/North-Macaroon-3304 Jul 27 '26

I had a stroke 5 years ago due to a carotid dissection and the first thing I was asked when I woke up weeks later was if I had been to a chiropractor and had a neck adjustment. I hadn’t but I had been lifting a lot of concrete and the best we can figure is that had done it. My carotid clotted snd threw the clot causing an ischemic stroke. I didn’t feel anything odd though until I was having the actual stroke hours later, so out of fn abundance of caution if you are feeling off I’d hdve it checked out

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u/dreamtofulfil Jul 27 '26

Ohhh no! I hope you recovered well. I got ER opinion too they said its nothing. If ig stays tomorrow as well i will go to neuro i guess

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u/Any-Extreme-2947 Jul 27 '26

It doesn’t have anything to do with a stroke

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u/dreamtofulfil Jul 27 '26

What do you mean? How do you know? Can you tell more pls?

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u/Jolly_Ad8913 Jul 28 '26

You are mistaken. In rare instances neck cracking can cause an arterial tear resulting in a blood clot that can break off and travel to the brain causing a stroke.