Question
hi thanks for looking at this, i woke up  morning with severe pain in my neck which lasted for about a week now its just a little sore a few weeks after that my wrists and fingers started hurting, then around a week later my back started my gp said i had sciatica and a trapped nerve in my neck, now in the last 3 days my finger on my left had have swollen and the oints in my little finger and ring finger and my thum are so sore when i move them and when im not moving them they feel like they numb as if ive been lying on them, a friend os mine has said it sound like ive got spondylosis but my gpwont refere me for x rays or to see someone else about this i just have to take pain killers and anti inflamotories, the pain is so severe that i have had to finnish work as i was driving around and couldnt turn my neck to see and now and then the steering wheel would slip from my hands please help thank you very much for your time

Answer
Toni;

I'm sorry about the pain, but let's see if we can figure out a course of action to get you back on track.

First off, it does sound like you have two problems.  Low back pain is pretty common, but sciatica is like a red hot poker in your butt cheek, with pain that goes down the leg usually to the foot.  I'd imagine that's not what you are feeling.  So it may be muscular or joint related.

The bigger problem, obviously, is your neck and hand/wrist.  Many things can cause neck pain, only a few can cause problems in the hand and wrist.  Swelling is something not often seen with neck problems, though, and the steering wheel slipping from your hand is really dangerous, especially when you drive on the "wrong" side of the road!

Your condition could be caused by the neck joints, for sure, but I'm leaning towards a condition called CRPS, or RSDS (the old term for it) it causes the swelling and pain you were speaking of. I personally haven't seen many cases of it in my office, but the cases I have seen have had pretty good responses.   Pinched nerves would cause atrophy (weakness), not swelling.   For a brief primer on disc injury, you can check my web page under articles, cervical disc.... www.dynamicclinic.com

You really need to get this looked at, sooner than later.  Go see your GP and demand a a better answer, at least some testing, minimally xrays, maybe MRI, and get some kind of diagnosis.  If you were in Seattle, I would check you out myself.