My mom has a muscle problem in her neck, as well as some kind of problem with the vertebrae there. I don't fully understand it, honestly, but it has been causing terrible headaches for her and she's been taking all sorts of medical measures to deal with it.

Some of the things she's done have been physical therapy, special exercises for the muscles in her neck, some kind of electrostimulation thing where she puts these sticky electrode pads on her neck muscles and sits and lets it run for about an hour, and she's had to go under general anaesthesia twice to have some kind of "neck epidural" done. (That's what she called it, I don't know what the actual procedure is.

She asked me the other day about healthy foods and vitamins that might help with the pain and tension in her neck. She's a typical SAD eater and very anti-vegan. (She won't even taste vegan foods that I prepare.)

I'm guessing she asked me because when she expressed concerns about my health as a vegan, I explained that I'd been doing some research to make sure I'm getting all the nutrients I need. Certainly I know more about vitamins and stuff than I did as an omnivore, but I'm hoping some of you really health-savvy folks can help me make some healthy plant-based suggestions to her.

Any ideas? Thanks so much for reading. ^_^

Let me search around for some of my old posts that address this and I'll link them later tonight.

I had some of those treatments for an injured, misplaced vertabra -- none helped. While the chiropractor helped me to feel great after a treatment, it went away within an hour afterwards.
My problem was possibly more severe and that may be why some of these things did not permanently aid in healing.
Another thing that really made me feel great, but, again, didn't heal me, was acupuncture.

If she has an injury only relieved by surgery, she may opt to live with it. In some cases, surgery is too risky.
Even now, I sleep with a pillow -- the name escapes me at the moment -- filled with seed husks. It's Japanese in origination, I believe. It's great even if you don't have an injury. Takes a couple weeks to get used to. There are lots of pillows designed for comfort for this type of injury. (Ask her doctor or chiropractors have lots of them)
She may also benefit from elevating her legs (pillows under the knees, feet on the bed) to straighten and alleviate pressure on her spine. It helps with peripheral pain and headaches.
Lots of stretching is good. They should be advising her on lots of exercises/stretches specifically for her injury/pain.
Also, she should stay limber and exercise regularly. Some people make the mistake of nursing themselves into worse condition by sitting around "healing" themselves. My doctor encouraged me to get back into running as soon as possible, working my way back into it carefully, of course.
Good luck to her! Argh, I know that pain, it is really horrible to suffer :(

Thanks Krista.

Strix,

Yes, she has a set of exercises she's supposed to do every day, and I think they have her doing some kind of exercises when she goes to physical therapy, too. I'll check into the pillow thing, that's an easy thing to try. The pain is really bad, the headaches are very debilitating. She can barely move when she has them. I hate seeing her hurting so much. :(

I'm sorry you had to experience it, also. I hope you're not having it too much anymore. :(

Was she prescribed any pain medication? I was given so many to try. None worked!
Acupuncture is worth a try. Some insurance covers it.

They've given her several medications to try, and there are some that are effective, but they knock her out when she takes them. I'll suggest acupuncture, also, but she generally is mistrustful of so-called "weird" stuff. She's kind of traditional and conservative.

1000mg of calcium sans dairy and soy (includes a menu):

http://www.veggieboards.com/boards/showthread.php?t=4159&highlight=kristadb

General healthy food suggestions:

http://www.veggieboards.com/boards/showthread.php?t=4154&highlight=kristadb

Lots of random info:

http://www.veggieboards.com/boards/showthread.php?t=5619&highlight=calcium

Getting your veggies:

http://www.veggieboards.com/boards/showthread.php?t=4157&highlight=calcium