 [ Symptoms ] i am having severe stabbing pain at the base of my neck on the left side also with pain in my shoulder due to the severity of the pain scale of 1 10 i would call it an 8 or 9 i am seriously thinking of going to the er this started last night so i slept on my back took an ibuprofen 800 and took a super hot shower with my wifes super massage head to no avail the pain has only gotten worse please help [ Disease ] so sorry to hear you are going through this it is difficult to cope with severe pain unless you are experiencing crushing pain in your chest and shortness of breath along with this pain in your neck please do not clog up the emergency room the emergency department should be reserved for true life or death emergencies or serious traumas like broken bones unfortunately severe neck pain does not rise to that level what you are describing sounds like the classic symptom of a pinched nerve there are many possible causes for neck pain ranging from a herniated spinal disc to a muscle spasm it sounds like you have done everything right in terms of home treatment however one round of ibuprofen one hot shower and one good massage may not be enough to alleviate the pain especially if it is caused by something like a herniated disk also note no one should take more than 2400 milligrams of ibuprofen within a 24 hour period and no more than 800mg every 8 hours  again assuming you are not exhibiting any symptoms of a heart attack which generally do not include stabbing pain at the base of the neck your best bet is to continue to try home remedies if the situation does not clear up within a few days make an appointment with your primary health care provider for an evaluation if the situation gets worse such as your arm starts to go numb then you might consider heading for an urgent care facility wishing you well