I had something similar. I too went and got a really good deep tissue massage that focused on my neck and shoulder. It hurt SO MUCH, but in the end helped a lot. I followed up with frequent heat on my neck and shoulder for a few days and it mostly went away.

After shoveling a couple of weeks ago I had a lot of neck and shoulder pain. I had a good massage earlier this week and the pain decreased by 70-80%. I still have a really large (golf ball size) knot at the base of my neck. Sometimes when I massage it I get numbness on the left side of my face or in my left hand. I'm guessing that the muscle just still needs working out. Anyone have a similar experience? How did you treat? Did you go to a doctor? Thanks!