Hey everybody! So I am 10 years out and I still have a tenderness, pain and stiffness in my neck where I had the neck dissection.

I've been doing some massage with cranial sacral therapy and also have been making a big effort to stretch daily. It's made a big difference in my range of motion and relief of pain. The don't know why I haven't done it earlier! I have fallen off my weekly yoga because I am just really busy right now w work and my little boys but even dedicating 10 - 15 mins a day really targeting these specific areas is making a big difference for me 😌

Here are is a link to one I did tonight that felt amazing. All the ones with the yoga blocks feel sooo relaxing and good and really get deep into the muscles that are our trouble areas so I thought I would share them.

http://pin.it/MTkVW70
http://pin.it/jrPIU5T

I will be posting more on my Pinterest page as I come across them.

yoga for neck and shoulders-- http://pin.it/3atyMCh

misskate -

Try stretching your neck while taking a hot shower. That seemed to work the best for me. (Also a great way to start the day!)

Always great to see your posts, Kate Im so happy to hear you are doing so well with moving on since your battle 10 years ago. You are an inspiration to all of us who have gone thru treatments and learned to live with the after effects and late effects of OC and its brutal treatments. I hope you can make time to stop by more frequently.

Thank you for sharing your yoga poses with us

Thanks for this! I just joined to see if anyone else was having pain in their dissection area. I'm 7 months post treatment and about 1 year since last surgery. My neck has gotten progressively more sore around the dissection scar. I was starting to worry about recurrence. Should I be?

MtownCyclone -

20 years out from neck dissection. The stiffness doesn't go away, you mostly just learn how to deal with it. I stretch everyday to loosen up the muscles. PT and acupuncture help somewhat also.

After completing my treatments in 97, my ENT said then that when cancer occurs in younger patients, (I was 31), oncologists were seeing a recurrence cycle between 15 and 20 years. He stressed to me the importance of monitoring my head and neck areas for any changes. [My recurrence was diagnosed17 years later.]

Just my history.......

You are your best advocate. You know what is right and when something is wrong. When its wrong, don't delay in getting yourself in front of the right ENT.

Good Luck and I hope that your current worries are just nerves and not something more troubling

Hi Motown Cyclone,

Welcome to the forum. If you could briefly introduce yourself under the thread "Introduce Yourself" you may get more response from the members. This is an older post and your question may be overlooked by others who have information to share.

Hi my name is Michele and it has been since 2009 since Radiation and this month noticed and increased stiffness in my neck where the scar is, sometimes I feel like choking. I have called my oncologist and he cannot see me until July 12th and trying to get in touch with the radiation oncologist that did the radiation. Very happy I am alive but very sad about the new problems I am having with my neck. Thanks to this site I have found out many things that a doctor fails to mention.

You're doing the right thing seeing your doctors for any problems lasting longer than two weeks, but I often waited even less than that. Hopefully, it's something minor, that can be helped with physical therapy or specific stretching exercises. You mention stiffness where the scar is, so I assume you may have had surgery? If so, you may want to add a visit with your ENT too.

I'll be starting PT soon myself for a few ailments.

Good luck