Is it normal to be able to feel lympnodes in toddlers neck?

Neck Strain--Desperate, can you help?

• I am 23 years old I sit at a desk job for 8 hours of the day, and the repetitive strain on my neck has produced severe pain. It started as a dull, throbbing ache and stayed that way every work day for about 6 months. I didn't think much of it, just applied a heat pack and it went away, only to return a few times throughout the rest of the work day, I would feel better when I went home Then it burned, and knotted up in my neck and right shoulder and I found myself using the heat pad and ice pack more frequently throughout the day. The muscle knots would make me cry Now, whenever I flex my neck downward, I have a shooting, stinging, sharp pain that goes up my neck, into the back of my head and down my right shoulder. My whole neck and back of my skulI spasmed constantly, even when I laid down. I was pretty much crippled for two weeks after that started and missed alot of work. The scary thing is, now one side of my neck feels different, like its depressed inwards/ concave and I have visible, dark veins that I am not sure are bruises or just veins that have come to the surface. They don't hurt, but they haven;t gone away in 2 weeks It is feeling better now, and I was referred to Physical Therapy. Here's the kicker...the Therapist wants me to do the same stretches that I feel make my pain worse, as in, tipping my head down strained my neck, so why should I do the exact same moves that hurt me in the first place? I did stretch how the thrapist told me to, and immediatly my neck went stiff, spasmed and a pin prick bee sting is poking at my neck... I asked the therapist about this and he said it was normal to hurt. I am wary of him because his facial expressions and body language suggest he doesn't take my pain seriously..he even questioned my testimony several times that a desk job could do this to someone so young. I haven't been in a car accident. Is he thinking I am trying to get worker's comp or something? I just want relief from this pain. I have cried so much because of this pain, and I am tired of people questioning me about its legitimacy or cause. More importantly, this is my first full time job and I am afraid this pain will be present my whole life, since pretty much 80% of all jobs in America are desk jobs My questions are: will stretching make me worse? And, what's up with these bruise-like, spidery veins/ capillaries in my neck? I asked the therapist about those as well, and he has no idea. In fact, he kind of brushed me off.... what do I do?

• Answer:

  physical therapists are, like medical people in general, ignorami when it comes to finding the cause, and yes, stretching/exercising your neck is exactly the wrong thing to do. it aggravates the cause of the problem, making the effects/symptoms worse. the cause is nerve interference to your neck muscles. it is also affecting your circulation in the neck area. the cause of the nerve interference is cord pressure from a subluxated (misaligned and fixated) atlas vertebra (the top neck bone, just under the skull). see an hio method chiropractor for competent, professional corrective care. about the ortho- medical people are totally uneducated in regard to this. you might as well be talking to a blind man.