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OK, got the email.
As I "said", pain is a sensation which can knock you down or just bug the living excremento out of you. Everyone has advice. Biggest thing is never give up, but don't let it run your
entire life.
posted by
majroj
on June 5, 2005 at 12:25 PM
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the injury---Majroj
This happened in '96. We have the same injury. It took a solid year for all the stuff to surface. By the end I was putting together my papers wearing two hand braces, a neckbrace and sometimes an arm sling. Sleeping was insane being propped up every which way. I spent a solid year with an orthopod who cleaned out the car insurance claim. I've seen PTs, two orthopods, three neuros, pain 2 management clinics (Hopkins people), a massage therapist (twice a week for a year, all paid for by me), etc., etc. The BEST I've gotten is my regular doctor. He has a pain management specialty but is a GP and he knows me.
The neuro originally found my problem on the first try. He operated and I felt better in the recovery room than I had walking into the hospital. I literally got hysterical and hugged the guy sobbing.
Several years went by and pain started creeping in. I've done all the "seizure" on the theory that since the bone stuff looked clear, and the pain is eminating from the same place, maybe my brain is still sending messages to the spot. Neurotin and stuff of that ilk break that cycle. Sometimes if you do that, and break the cycle for a bit, you'll break it for good. Well, I've tried just about all of them.
I think I've taken absolutely every combination of things you can imagine. I stopped taking regular painkillers and valium (being used as a muscle relaxer) because I've found I don't react to medications the way most. I didn't do drugs growing up as I found out from an injury that I'm one of those people who will see bugs and have nightmares. Bummer, huh? Kept me straight. I never understood why someone would want to buy medication I'm kicking and screaming not to take. It wasn't working, and it has side effects, so why bother.
The jacuzzi, one of those big massage chairs, etc., all do better than anything. The massage therapist was the real thing for me but it only lasts a day or so. It makes sense the way she explained it. There is nerve damage and the muscles go into spasms to protect the injured area. I do take muscle relaxers, but I have to be really careful because many don't work (the strongest kind), and I become almost immune, and I'll fun out of choices, so I have to switch back and forth and go off for a bit here and there. Oddly enough, a half a glass of wine replaces the average dosage every so often. I'm a total lightweight with this stuff. I'm the cheapest date in town, I'm told.
Physical therapy actually hurt me something awful. Since it was nerve damage, traction and the like made everything. The chiropracter not only made it much worse, he blamed me for it getting worse. That's what you find. People are gun-ho "I can fix it" and after one try you hear "Um...no." That's the most disheartening thing.
My GP is a sweetheart. I mentioned going to the Hopkins pain clinic, and he just looked at me and said, "Here's the thing. There only going to do what we're already doing here, so why put yourself through it. Until it gets worse, you're not going to get answers." I've been through several already, and I know he's right. The last people pulled the wrong chart, insisted on regular drug testing, which was fine, but then something odd showed up in my blood, and I felt like a criminal. I sobbed for three days and did all sorts of research on false positives for about three days. My GP told me to make an official rebuttal, he'd put it was a false positive (same discussion with my pharmacist). Still, I'm a Catholic School kid at heart, and I can't tell you the need I had (have) to convince this one doctor I never liked to start with that something was really really wrong with this one test. (Mind you nothing odd came up over 7-8 years.) This is the kind of thing that will WIPE me out physically, so it's almost better for me to go it alone until I can't anymore.
I guess I'm more or less ignoring it. I think out of 365 days, I have 2-4 days that are breaks. That's when I really cry. I see the difference.
Yet I write all this, and I feel guilty because so many people are going through stuff that is a hundred times worse than what I go through. I'm a whiner. :)
posted by
terpgirl30
on June 5, 2005 at 10:02 AM
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You do what you can. Include resting and thinking.
I am recovering from a C6-C7 compression injury myself, and I know what you mean albeit in a very minor way. If it helps, I found a few things (besides a good physical therapist) that seemed to help:
1. I use a chair which I can tip the seat forward but still have adequate lumbar support. This gets weight off the back of my knees, and tends to get me to straighten my thoracic spine. Height adjustment then allows me to position my neck.
2. I've given up the unessential activities that hurt me. Sounds silly, but it takes some real habit reprogramming, and that can engender a feeling of loss. WORST OFFENDER: looking under counters for stuff because that bends my torso forward, then pulls my neck up/dorsally. Also talking to midgets...
3. Constant use of NSAIDS with my doctor's permission. Actually can help healing progress IF (IF!!) used with other regimens.
4. Understand, notice and believe that, despite what the insurance company tells you, healing can continue, albeit at a very slow rate, for years. This makes a big difference to the "owner-operator" of the neck, although it machs nix for the insurance boys. Also, as they DO tell you, the majority of the late healing is going to be up to you and your lifestyle. Might consider wearing a cervical collar when you are a passenger in a car to prevent further micro and major insults, rearrange your storage, watch your weight, etc etc.
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You are approaching this blog as a book. So...
posted by
majroj
on June 1, 2005 at 8:15 AM
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