Brief Answer:
Have you had your neck examined/imaged

Detailed Answer:
Good evening. Very sorry to hear about your symptoms. It sounds as if you may be suffering from a headache as a consequence of CERVICALGIA (neck pain) which itself could be due either to muscle stiffness or spasms for being idle in the recliner or in a compromising position. This pain then, radiates from the neck up into the head resulting in the headache. The other possibility is that you have arthritic disease in the neck which is commonly seen in folks about the age of about 55-60. This is referred to as degenerative arthritic disease. It can imaged easily by either CT scan or Plain X-ray. If there are things called OSTEOPHYTES present then, pain will almost always occur when the neck is placed in certain positions. Perhaps, the recliner neck rest needs to be adjusted so that it is more forward. It sounds as if your neck may be in extension or hyperextension which can generate pain from muscle fatigue and lack of use...especially if you were to fall asleep and remain in one position for very long.

There are several ways to avoid this problem. One is to FIRST get an examination of the neck by an orthopod or neurologist to make the diagnosis of what may be causing the CERVICALGIA to begin with which would more dictate course of treatment. If you wish to continue using the recliner then, determine which position is offending your neck and put the seat into a different position. Perhaps, it's not extension that's causing the problem but maybe you actually have the chair upright and you are keeping your neck straight flexed forward. Again, the weight of the head may be causing stress and discomfort against either arthritic joints or an osteophyte complex in which case the solution may be to lean the chair backward.

The other thing you could do is to intermittently choose to do circular rotational movements of the neck clockwise then, counterclockwise every 15-20 minutes just to keep the neck muscles and tendons in the neck limber. You could get up and walk about and just move your neck about. Try not to find yourself in just one position for a long time.

You could also try a heat pack on the neck to see if that offers any relief. I would stay away from medications such as pain pills, muscle relaxants, medication in general unless it is determined that these are absolutely necessary and just stick to very conservative and physically oriented interventions for a couple of weeks and see how things go.

Along those same lines you could be referred for PHYSICAL THERAPY or even AQUATHERAPY by your doctor once they've evaluated you to determine what if any neck condition you may have which is contributing to your problem.

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This query has utilized a total of 15 minutes of professional time in research, review, and synthesis for the purpose of formulating a return statement.

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