Twisted

My poor son is twisted like a pretzel. He awoke Sunday morning just fine, but while getting dressed he got a spasm in his neck. Through the day Sunday he whined, cried, and lay on the floor or on the pew at church. At home he went to bed early.

I had great hopes that, being still only six years old, one good night of sleep would ease the tension in his neck and he would be greatly improved today.
Not so.

He also had a fever.

Rats.

A whiny child with fever, refusing to eat and crying when asked to touch his chin to his chest is not what we were hoping for for Christmas. I took him to the Dr. to rule out anything dangerous. All the while, Rick and I strongly suspected he was using this discomfort to manipulate his way with things. He was so vastly improved during the time Sunday afternoon football was on the TV. How could that be?

At first glance in his mouth, the Dr. suspected strep, but a culture ruled that out. After some chiropractic manipulations, the Engineer was about 10% better. He can move his head to the left without pain, but still not to the right. He's also holding his right shoulder about three inches higher than the left. (It hurts me to look at him like that.) He is so afraid of pain that he braces himself and tenses up when he needs to move. When he is completely distracted (football on TV) he forgets to tense up and he gives his muscles a chance to loosen and work out their kinks.

He was prescribed massages and hot packs from mom, and lying on the floor to relax and watch TV. I can also give him Tylenol for pain. But I'll stay away from the Icy Hot. I tried that remedy yesterday because it is a favorite of mine. I love the stuff, but it put him in such a foul mood he never really got over it until the TV came on.