Question: For the past few weeks I have been dealing with
neck pain. The other day, after a visit to the hospital, I was diagnosed with a back muscle spasm and cervical strain. The neck pain has originated from the right side of my neck and as a person with extreme
anxiety I became afraid that I had an
artery dissection from my injury (I turned my head and felt a strange sensation after karate class which culminated in me not being able to move my head too well. A couple days later, I was okay, then spent hours vacuuming my pool and the next day I couldn't move my neck at all) which I learned from a friend can result in a
stroke. From there on, I was feeling stroke-like symptoms, IE:
tingling in my hands and feet as well as weakness in my mouth and arms and legs. The neck pain also was followed by a
severe headache, towards the bottom to the right of my head, sending shooting pains. Finally, I went to the hospital, where they told me I was not having a stroke and did a CAT and CTA scan. It was there they told me I had a cervical strain and muscle spasm of the back. Now, however, I am worried. Last night I could not fall asleep due to
numbness on one side of my body. Today I have felt very, very weak in my legs and arms. My feet and hands are tingly, as does my mouth feel weird (it's hard to explain, honestly. It's slightly tingly but not entirely). I get a headache on and off towards the right to the back of my head and my eyes have felt a sort of burning sensation, though mostly feel tired, which is weird because I slept from about 4am-2pm. I also found spots of blood from my right inner-ear when using a q-tip. I can walk, but it feels like I could just fall down. I don't know what is going on with me. My anxiety is very, very strong. Could that be to blame? Should I try to relax? Should I go back to the hospital? I really need answers. Would a CTA and CAT scan rule out anything life threatening?