Why Does My Wife Have Spasms In Her Neck?

Posting Date: 04/25/2001

The doctors are telling you with what they prescribed that they don?t think anything serious is happening, that Valium should help when this happens once in a while. It won?t be anything dire, unless she develops what we call focal signs, which means, along one side of her hand and her arm suddenly it becomes numb or tingly. If these symptoms happen it implies a more ominous type of a neck problem, namely, something is pinching the nerves as they come out of the neck.

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In general, you?ll hear a lot of bull about muscle spasm and cramps being caused by insufficient calcium or too much potassium. Sometimes you hear that you should take quinine?it goes on and on. In my experience, muscle spasms like this relate to how you treat your body. I have no idea how active she is. Sitting at a computer and leaning forward with her neck to see the screen can cause problems.

If you want to eliminate the things that could be specific, you need to see an orthopedist. A neurosurgeon could evaluate the nerves, the neck, and x-ray and make sure she doesn't have a slipped disc, but that may be overkill at this point.

Whoever your wife sees, she should describe all her symptoms to that person and then once you eliminate the symptoms that portend potential problems, I?d go at it functionally. I?d consider stretching, yoga, massage, whatever you have available. And while it?s fine for you to massage her, a pro knows where to work in those fingers and make her feel better and get her to a point where they can prevent this from happening in the future.