All of these suggestions are great, and may be what you need. As for me, I had a bad fall about a year ago, and ended up with whiplash and a concussion. The concussion cleared up, but it seemed the whiplash just kept getting worse, leading to painful knots in my neck, upper back, shoulders and upper arms. Everything was painful. I tried chiropractic, massage, pain relieving gels, sprays and creams, exercises, physical therapy, you name it. I was still in pain, and nothing seemed to relieve the muscle spasms and trigger points, making things like cutting fabric, ironing, sewing --- anything that involved using my arms and back -- just so painful. Finally I went on Amazon, and found a great deal on an ultrasound machine, and I've been using it ever since, along with my PT exercises. I can be in acute pain due to a muscle spasm, use the ultrasound on it, and the pain goes away. I've been using the ultrasound regularly, and slowly the knots are softening up, the spasms are releasing, all that "hard tissue" is softening up, and I can do more. I do my best not to aggravate it, and I know when I do. But the point it, it's the first thing that's actually making me better. I got the idea because when I got out of Graduate School, I had a lot of knots in my neck area, and a chiropractor I was going to used ultrasound on them, and eventually the knots just melted away. I never had another problem until this fall, which would be 18 years after I was initially treated, so 18 years without knots or pain. Too bad I've moved to another state, or I'd be going back to the same chiropractor!
Anyway, just a thought, and my solution to this problem. If you use it, make sure you follow the directions, don't use it over your voice box, or over any major blood vessels (carotid, jugular), don't use it in the lower legs if you have a history of blood clots, don't use it period if you are on blood thinners, and keep it moving. Start on low, and work your way up to high. Do low for most of your session, and short bursts of medium. As you improve, use it on medium with short burst of high. If it starts to cause discomfort, move it somewhere else! Don't use it directly over the spine, or over the brain = we don't want any scrambled brains here! Just take a few precautions like this, and you'll be safe. You want to work on muscles and ligaments, and nothing else. You can work right up to the spine, right along it -- just stay off the top of it. Any questions, PM me.