That claim about ice making things worse? Incorrect. Ice is precisely what my neurorsurgeon, his partners, and all my physical therapists are having me put on my neck and back to reduce nerve swelling, inflammation and back spasms after my diskectomy and fusion surgery, and it's a very tried-and-true approach. Heat might aggravate any nerve inflammation you're feeling (although heat would likely help relax the muscles that tense up in response). But ice is quite beneficial in relieveing and soothing irritated, inflamed, swollen nerve pathways.

Be very wary of going to a chiropractor. If you have a pinched nerve, a herniated disk, a disintegrating verterbral body, or some other as-yet-unidentified problem in there in your neck or upper back, the last thing you need is someone twisting your spinal column to extremes in either direction, attempting to "adjust" some imagined mis-alignment. That could result in your being paralyzed or receiving permanent spinal damage. Chiropractic care can benefit some people, but folks with serious neurological and spinal problems, particularly undiagnosed ones, need to be very cautious about putting themselves at further risk.