Let's see if he registers, Roo, and then I'll get him to ask about a steriod injection. He's got enoug staff in today so has taken the day off. I don't think he can move very much at all.

I might have some opiates kicking round after my brother's slipped disc. I'm pretty sure I launched them though quite recently.

Thanks Rae; I will inform him about not combing volterol and ibuprofen, too. He won't read the instruction sheet .

He really should register with a GP. My Mum had this a couple of years back and ended up needing an operation to release the nerve. Unless he goes to A&E this will be impossible to sort out without a GP.

The rule we have is heat for chronic pain, ice for acute. Heat can be recommended in the morning, like a hot shower, to relax muscles before movement by encouraging blood flow. However, if you apply heat at night and go to bed the muscles just get inflamed and stiff. We always tell patients to ice before bed, and hot bath in the morning. When using ice, apply for twenty minutes and only wrap it in something as thin as a t-shirt - some people worry about frostbite and wrap the ice in a towel, which doesn't allow the tissues to get cold enough. A therapeutic massage can help with pinched/trapped nerves, as can seeing a chiropractor.