Heck, even my MD who does the lidocaine needle makes me do exercises every day following the injections (mostly stretching). She just doesn’t bother with the PT (because after fifteen years, I sort of know the exercises - I think I do some of them in my sleep).
(Bottom Line: Acupuncture worked for us.)
Here’s my observation. Draw whatever conclusions you wish, I’m not coming back to this thread to argue.
-
Mrs. Cretin is a very cynical, doubtful person, the antithesis of gullible. Always has been, always will be.
-
She comes from hardy stock, and has one of the highest pain thresholds I’ve ever seen.
-
Thirty years ago, at age forty, she developed a lower backache that wouldn’t quit, and eventually became sciatica. MRI revealed a badly herniated disc. The pain became horrific. Two days before her eventual surgery, she was nearly delerious from the pain, and found relief only from Rx painkillers that effectively knocked her out.
-
It turned out the MRI hadn’t revealed the extent of the bulge, which in fact was huge, and partly jammed between ligaments. Post-op, the surgeon told me “the pain must have been unimaginable.” As he predicted, after six months of recovery she was trouble-free. Still is.
-
She was initially reluctant to undergo surgery, and tried physical therapy, etc. She was also needing increasingly stronger painkillers. No relief whatever. We had finally accepted that she had no choice but surgery, nothing to lose at that point. But as a last resort, she asked our GP if he could recommend an acupuncturist, and to our surprise he did have a name.
-
The acupuncturist’s office was in San Diego’s “Pill Hill” district. She was a middle-aged Chinese woman, who also happened to be an M.D. (OB/Gyn)
-
As always, Mrs. Cretin was highly skeptical, but also desperate. Immediately after the first treatment (took a half-hour or so IIRC), her pain was almost completely gone, for the first time in months. Not at all what we’d expected. The relief lasted several days, without painkillers.
-
A week later, another session. Pain vanished again. But the relief lasted only a couple of days.
-
One last session, relief wasn’t as complete, and lasted about one day. However, before she began, the doctor told Mrs. C that although she was willing to continue the treatments, the acupuncture was addressing only the symptom (pain), and what Mrs. C needed was surgery.
We called the surgeon’s office that afternoon, got the operation set up.
Sorry for the long story.
May I suggest that you purchase a TENS unit. You can find them from $40 up to $300. They do work for lower back pain. It isn’t a cure and the relief is limited to the time the unit is used, meaning I feel better when the unit is in use and perhaps a hour after.
When my pain needs aren’t working well, the TENS unit provides needed relief.
I bought a top-of-the-line TENS unit. Like everything else, it had absolutely no effect on my back pain. So… no surgery, no painkillers, no PT, no acupuncture, no massage. Just 21 months of non-stop pain, and it’ll continue getting worse until merciful death. Calling Dr. Kevorkian.
I hear you panache45. (And for the record, mostly when I sit I too am ok, except for teh shitty sciatica in one buttock and the opposite thigh, but getting into an upright position AFTER sitting is nothing short of agonizing). The longer I am upright, the better it feels, thus I believe the extended sitting I do for work is exacerbating the problem…and yes, for those following, currently investigating getting a ‘stand up desk’.
But I hear you more on the escape options. Yesterday was a particularly nasty day for me, and musing on whether I could imagine another 20 or 30 years of that, becoming increasingly crippled along the way, the answer then was No Fucken Way. Like, there’s chronic achey pain, and there’s chronic acute pain, and if my dog or cat was wincing with every move, I’d give them a blessed release.
I will extend the same consideration to my own life when that time comes.
A TENS unit can be helpful with muscular issues - but if you have disc issues about the best you are going to get (and it isn’t likely) is temporary pain reduction.
Disc issues need steroids or surgery. And fairly often THAT doesn’t work. Temporary relief MIGHT be gotten from everything from pain medication to PT to red jellybeans.
After visiting my GP again today (for a revision of meds) he recommended surgery so has referred me to a neurosurgeon in a nearby major city. I’ll keep you posted (but the new meds have reduced my pain level from a 7+ to a 2 now…bloody brilliant!)
Can you,tell us what these miracle meds are? Earlier,this week,I was in so much pain that dilaudid barely,took the edge off and didn’t even make me goofy or sleepy.
Tramadol (tramadol hydrochloride). The initial dose was 50mg twice a day…that didn’t even TOUCH the pain, but the Doc upped it to 150mg x 2, and after one dose I am feeling MUCH more cheerful. And because it is dealing with pain, no goof or sleepiness either!
Tramadol was the miracle painkiller following my heart surgery. But, like other meds, it has absolutely no effect on my back pain. And surgery is out of the question, due to heart and kidney problems.
Last year I was hospitalized for an unrelated problem, and they gave me morphine. Although it helped my back pain, I don’t think I want to risk morphine addiction for the rest of my life.
Y’know, I wouldn’t care. Given the choice between being unable to function due to constant pain, or being able to function (albeit differently) with a morphine addiction, I’d choose the latter. Why should I care if I’m an addict provided I can get the drugs legally and I don’t have to otherwise change my lifestyle to accommodate being a junkie?
There are times when I feel the same way. My growing inability to function is gradually lessening my problem with addiction.
I had severe lower back pain after pregnancy, that went on for a long time (I kept thinking it’d eventually go away). My doctor sent me to a physical therapist. I went to two, who had two different approaches, and neither did any good.
I asked her (my doctor) about seeing a surgeon, and she said try PT one more time, and if it still didn’t work, she’d send me to be evaluated for surgery. The whole time, I’m taking tramadol and ibuprofen as well.
The third was a magician. Three months, and I’m able to go to my cousin’s wedding in Greece. Greece is ALL WALKING, over lots of hills. I never had pain, or got behind the group. Half way through the PT I started walking on a treadmill and around the neighborhood, because I was out of shape for walking since I’d had the back problems. I walked five blocks to the gym, walked very briskly on the treadmill for two miles, lay on the massage bed for 10 minutes, and then walked five blocks back home. I had to work up to two miles, but the thing was, I could barely walk two blocks without intense pain that made me want to puke before the PT.
Sometimes you just have to keep trying until you get the right person.
I think I’ve had eight PTs over fifteen years. Sometimes things would be “better” but never “good.” So while I agree that there are different approaches, sometimes the issue isn’t going to be resolved with any PT.
(I’ve had similar luck with therapists for anxiety and depression - some approaches/therapists don’t work at all, some are ok, one or two have seemed to make things worse (hint, arguing over which emotion I’m feeling is not a good approach for me) - none “fix” the problem. The question is if its worth the time to shop for someone who only makes it a little bit better - and then spend the time in PT or therapy once that person is found.)
I had a lot of neck pain last year, and I went to this place for treatment. The woman treating me was a licensed physical therapist. And during most sessions she did “dry needling” on my neck and upper back.
I’m a skeptic, and I should have refused. But she was just so enthusiastic about it that I didn’t want to hurt her feelings. In retrospect I should have refused. (It hurt like hell.)
At any rate my point is that, just because someone is a licensed physical therapist does not mean they won’t try to pull some woo on you.