Borzak. I feel your pain. 3 years ago I cracked my neck trying to inchworm my way under my parents place in Florida to install a commode drain.
At first I thought it was just muscle spasms/pull. My right shoulder was going numb 24/7. Not needle pain numb just like it was not even there. 6 months pass that numb turned into pain and muscle bricking like it seen a naked 9 20 yr old on a strip pole. Neck to shoulder blade hard as a rock. For 2 years. In this time was going to a pain clinic, no med changes( was already being treated for foot/leg due to heart and lower spinal damage ) despite this new now 2.5 year pain being worse than all other pain combined.
October I told them to fuck off. I quit that place, went to my doctor and explained everything as he shook his head. He refers me to another place.
I go in they actually lowered my narcotics from 5 to 4 a day but schedule the injections. Since I am on thinners this was an ordeal of stopping thinners, getting blood thinning injections 2x a day for 5 days and so on. So I figure knock out several things. So I had a scope and colonoscopy on Wed( FUCK THEM NURSE BITCHES! ) with 2 fucking enemas to clear the colon more after a 1 day prep of literally gatorade/laxative and today the spinal injections. I choose not to be sedated today after the fuckery of Wednesday endo guy.
They were very cool and the machine they had was sweet as fuck too! It took mini Xrays with very high definition photos. They would slide them down under my face while laying on my stomach to show me each vertebra. This was important due to the xray 2 weeks ago that added this gem to my health.
So ya. So they inject a numbing med, which pinched less than even a monthly INR/PT blood draw but slightly over a glucose poke and honestly I never felt anything after that until they got to the neck area of injections. I didn't feel that injection either but what I did feel was a intense wave of heat leave my neck down my shoulder that hurt for 3 years day and night, couldn't turn head to the right and suddenly gone. No numbness but no pain. I feel like I did 10 years ago. It's only been 10 hours and it may wear off at some point but relief for the first time in fucking years.
I saw you had to wear a brace. I joked about that to multiple doctors and they ALL warned me against it. It can weaken your already stressed muscles/nerves even more, making it even WORSE than the nearly unbearable life you have now. So be careful with that and don't wear it all the time. I get it man, I got one too with vibration and IR heat. I find those $20 percussion massagers on Amazon you can recharge with like 10-20 head attachments work best for me when I need to go out. I like the foam ball one on max pulverize to the bend of neck to shoulder. Gives me like a 30 minute window to fuck up some shit.
Hope you get proper relief soon.
-Fuck neck/back pain.