Q. My son has a sharp pain in the temple area if he moves his neck. Please advise.

Hello doctor,

This question is regarding my 10-year-old son. He takes professional coaching for badminton and plays for almost four hours daily for the last four months. Ever since he started playing badminton, he complains of occasional neck pain, shoulder pain, and back pain. His coach said that it might be due to his posture. He has a habit of slouching forward when he walks. Four days back, he complained of ankle pain, and I made him put his ankle in ice water for 30 minutes daily for the last four days. Though he said it did not improve things, he just enjoyed playing in the water. Today morning, when he got up and moved his neck slightly, he experienced sharp pain in the head (temple area) even if he moved his neck slightly. And suddenly the pain area started changing to the shoulder, knee, thigh, thumb, back to neck, eyes, head, etc. The pain at each place stayed for one or two seconds. The next location of this shifting pain is totally unexpected. Can you please advise me on these two points? The first is regarding neck, shoulder, and back pain since four months of playing badminton. And, the second is regarding the shifting nature of pains that started just today. Is it due to the ice bath or other reasons, and what to do about it?

Hi doctor,

Another thing I forgot to add about my 10-year-old son is that he has a habit of making cracking sounds in his neck. Even though the sound is not audible, I can still feel it cracking when I put my hand on his neck. Is it due to some pressure built up in the neck, or is it a habit, according to you? Can it have something to do with today morning's extreme pain in the head when he turned his neck? He started crying even if he just turned his neck.