Today is the pits! I woke up to a lot of back and hip pain which was expected after the SI injection yesterday. What was a surprise were the episodes of what I think are hypoglycemia I am experiencing today. I am going to just put my feet up and lie low for awhile and hope things settle down. I hate the darn steroids that they pump into you with these injections. I know that the MD's claim that you do not have a systemic reaction to them when they are injected into a particular area but I am beginning to have my doubts about that. I am going to do some more research when I feel better to see how much correlation there is between these episodes and steroid medications.
I would really like to hear from anyone who has experienced this in the past or has insight in these issues!
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Be Proactive Speak Up!
So today I go to my appointment for my SI injection after waiting for two weeks to get in. I go back to the holding area and a sweet nurse who is definitely having issues understanding English asked me to sign my consent forms. She left and I looked them over. I immediately saw they were for the wrong procedure. I almost had a panic attack then and there. The procedure was one that I had experienced a violent reaction to several years ago. I told the nurse this when she returned and she tried to tell me they were the "same procedure". I told her that she was mistaken. UGGGH. I then had her to get my chart to see what type of injection I had previously as this was supposed to be a second in a series. She did agree that I had a different type of injection but told me I was getting another "level" added to my SI. Needless to say that did not sound right to me. I told her I was not having an epidural. I would go home first. She told me to talk to the doctor. I waited and when they took me back to the procedure room I told the attendant the problems I had and the doctor talked to me about my issues. I had to explain the whole problem once again UGGGH and he agreed to do what I was supposed to have in the first place.
My moral of the story is check everything yourself!!!! Be proactive. Do NOT expect medical people to be on the ball and have everything correct. Do your homework and have the names of the procedures you are supposed to have done. Know what you are supposed to have done and the side effects of the procedures as well! This will serve you well!
I am doing well tonight. I was shaking like a leaf as I remember the week of being unable to get out of bed I was in so much pain from the last epidural I had. I definitely would not want to repeat that and would have been very upset if that had taken place!
My moral of the story is check everything yourself!!!! Be proactive. Do NOT expect medical people to be on the ball and have everything correct. Do your homework and have the names of the procedures you are supposed to have done. Know what you are supposed to have done and the side effects of the procedures as well! This will serve you well!
I am doing well tonight. I was shaking like a leaf as I remember the week of being unable to get out of bed I was in so much pain from the last epidural I had. I definitely would not want to repeat that and would have been very upset if that had taken place!
Friday, August 29, 2008
The Mental Toll of Chronic Pain
Sometimes the mental toll of chronic pain can be as bad if not worse than the physical ramifications. While western medicine mainly focuses on treating the body only, there should be more focus on the treatment of the body as a whole. The Chinese and other Eastern cultures have known for thousands of years that you cannot treat the body without treating the mind and the spirit. I feel that modern medicine needs to learn this! Some pain management clinics do have psychologists or other mental health professionals available to their patients but the vast majority in this country do not.
Most Family Practitioners and Internal Medicine Physicians are not equipped to handle any type of acute pain situation very well much less a chronic pain problem. They try and bless them they are the patients first line of defense in this poor maze of jumbled facade of errors that our medical care has become in the U.S. today. However, the statistics show that hardly any of the physicians that are in practice today are even aware of what pain protocols are! If they are ill equipped to treat the physical symptoms, how on Earth do they attempt to start to conquer the emotional and mental problems that chronic pain can cause?
As a chronic pain patient myself, I ask this hoping to get insight for myself and others as I do not have a good answer for this! I really wonder if there is a good answer in our standard of medical care today. If there is I for one do not know about it. I have found some others who are advocates for people who are in chronic pain.
There is a great site called The American Pain Foundation. If you have not visited them in the past, I highly recommend you give them a try. They have chats, a message board that you can get information and advice from Nurse Practitioners and Physicians Assistants who work in Pain Management as well as support from other people who experience chronic pain. They also hold frequent chats with some well known people in the Pain Management world. You can sign up for email alerts for upcoming events or chats there.
Most Family Practitioners and Internal Medicine Physicians are not equipped to handle any type of acute pain situation very well much less a chronic pain problem. They try and bless them they are the patients first line of defense in this poor maze of jumbled facade of errors that our medical care has become in the U.S. today. However, the statistics show that hardly any of the physicians that are in practice today are even aware of what pain protocols are! If they are ill equipped to treat the physical symptoms, how on Earth do they attempt to start to conquer the emotional and mental problems that chronic pain can cause?
As a chronic pain patient myself, I ask this hoping to get insight for myself and others as I do not have a good answer for this! I really wonder if there is a good answer in our standard of medical care today. If there is I for one do not know about it. I have found some others who are advocates for people who are in chronic pain.
There is a great site called The American Pain Foundation. If you have not visited them in the past, I highly recommend you give them a try. They have chats, a message board that you can get information and advice from Nurse Practitioners and Physicians Assistants who work in Pain Management as well as support from other people who experience chronic pain. They also hold frequent chats with some well known people in the Pain Management world. You can sign up for email alerts for upcoming events or chats there.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Other Alternative Therapies That Help Chronic Pain
Acupuncture
Acupuncture is an ancient Chinese-developed therapy that is known for it’s abilities in relaxation, relieving pain, and improving health. Although the therapy was originally dismissed as a myth by many scientists in the western world, many recent studies have shown that if done correctly, acupuncture is effective against certain maladies, as long as sterile needles are used for the procedure. The World Health Organization recognizes acupuncture as a valid treatment for over twenty conditions. Acupuncture is commonly practiced alongside herbal medicine, as various herbs and roots are believed to encourage the healing effects also being promoted by the acupuncture treatment.
Acupuncture has been used as a part of Traditional Chinese Medicine which encompasses both herbal treatments, acupuncture, and diet to treat the person as a whole. The Chinese believe that the person cannot just be treated physically but has to be treated as the mind/body connection play a very big part in healing. Food plays a big part in this type of therapy and Qi or the life force of health and well being is blocked or dysfunctional when disease or pain is present. This type of therapy has been used for thousands of years both in conjunction with western medicine and in lieu of. Many people have been helped by adding this type of therapy to their pain management regime.
Reflexology
Reflexology, a branch of massage therapy developed in 1913 by William Fitzgerald, is usually described as a massage on either the hands or feet (as well as other body parts such as the ears) that is meant to cause positive reactions in other parts of the body. There are various charts that reflexology therapists use in order to map out which parts of the hand and feet correspond to the various organ and muscle groups of the body. The therapy itself is sometimes referred to by patients as “zone therapy”, because of the belief that the hands and feet map out the various zones which they will effect.
Studies have been done that have shown there are relating reflex type reactions in parts of the body on both MRI and pet scans while reflexology has been done on patients. There is a general sense of well being and relaxation after being though a session of reflexology and the premise behind the treatment is to open the energy channels in the body so that it allows the body to heal itself. This can be helpful in relaxation and to relieve stress and tension in long term painful situations and syndromes.
Rolfing
Rolfing is a therapy technique developed by Ida Pauline Rolf in the mid 1950’s. Rolfing is primarily used to release bound up connective tissues to enable muscles to work with less restriction. Over time, muscle fibers tighten up in some people and inhibit movement – this technique loosens the fibers through deep tissue manipulation. In addition to the massage, patients undergoing Rolfing are asked to make specific movements while the massage is being completed. Although there is not enough data to prove that Rolfing is an overall effective manner of treatment, many patients claim to experience increased mobility after undergoing the treatment.
Myofascial Release
Myofasical Release is a technique that aims to eliminate pain while increasing flexibility. This is done by manipulating the fascia – a paper-thin layer of connective tissues located below the skin and above the bones – through a heavy massage. The massage loosens up the layer of connective tissues to release the tension in the fascia and improve overall mobility, and can be done directly or indirectly. The direct method involves moving the tissues back and forth that need to be loosened. The indirect method is slower and relies on holding slight pressure for a few minutes and then releasing. The technique became widely used in 1983 when Janet G Travell published a book about the therapy.
Both Rolfing and Myofascial Release work in conjunction with massage therapy or in lieu of on the premise of breaking up scar tissue or releasing connective tissues that are either scarred down or not pliable as they should be. This should allow muscles to move more freely and allow them to heal themselves with more movement. Both of these treatments have been shown to be beneficial in situations where there is injury or trauma to tissues, muscles, tendons, or joints.
As with any type of alternative therapy, you should talk with your physician and get their permission before trying any of the alternative therapies that are mentioned here or elsewhere. However, if your physician does agree for you to try some of these methods, I think you will find that thre is a lot of benefit here for you as so many others have found before!
Acupuncture is an ancient Chinese-developed therapy that is known for it’s abilities in relaxation, relieving pain, and improving health. Although the therapy was originally dismissed as a myth by many scientists in the western world, many recent studies have shown that if done correctly, acupuncture is effective against certain maladies, as long as sterile needles are used for the procedure. The World Health Organization recognizes acupuncture as a valid treatment for over twenty conditions. Acupuncture is commonly practiced alongside herbal medicine, as various herbs and roots are believed to encourage the healing effects also being promoted by the acupuncture treatment.
Acupuncture has been used as a part of Traditional Chinese Medicine which encompasses both herbal treatments, acupuncture, and diet to treat the person as a whole. The Chinese believe that the person cannot just be treated physically but has to be treated as the mind/body connection play a very big part in healing. Food plays a big part in this type of therapy and Qi or the life force of health and well being is blocked or dysfunctional when disease or pain is present. This type of therapy has been used for thousands of years both in conjunction with western medicine and in lieu of. Many people have been helped by adding this type of therapy to their pain management regime.
Reflexology
Reflexology, a branch of massage therapy developed in 1913 by William Fitzgerald, is usually described as a massage on either the hands or feet (as well as other body parts such as the ears) that is meant to cause positive reactions in other parts of the body. There are various charts that reflexology therapists use in order to map out which parts of the hand and feet correspond to the various organ and muscle groups of the body. The therapy itself is sometimes referred to by patients as “zone therapy”, because of the belief that the hands and feet map out the various zones which they will effect.
Studies have been done that have shown there are relating reflex type reactions in parts of the body on both MRI and pet scans while reflexology has been done on patients. There is a general sense of well being and relaxation after being though a session of reflexology and the premise behind the treatment is to open the energy channels in the body so that it allows the body to heal itself. This can be helpful in relaxation and to relieve stress and tension in long term painful situations and syndromes.
Rolfing
Rolfing is a therapy technique developed by Ida Pauline Rolf in the mid 1950’s. Rolfing is primarily used to release bound up connective tissues to enable muscles to work with less restriction. Over time, muscle fibers tighten up in some people and inhibit movement – this technique loosens the fibers through deep tissue manipulation. In addition to the massage, patients undergoing Rolfing are asked to make specific movements while the massage is being completed. Although there is not enough data to prove that Rolfing is an overall effective manner of treatment, many patients claim to experience increased mobility after undergoing the treatment.
Myofascial Release
Myofasical Release is a technique that aims to eliminate pain while increasing flexibility. This is done by manipulating the fascia – a paper-thin layer of connective tissues located below the skin and above the bones – through a heavy massage. The massage loosens up the layer of connective tissues to release the tension in the fascia and improve overall mobility, and can be done directly or indirectly. The direct method involves moving the tissues back and forth that need to be loosened. The indirect method is slower and relies on holding slight pressure for a few minutes and then releasing. The technique became widely used in 1983 when Janet G Travell published a book about the therapy.
Both Rolfing and Myofascial Release work in conjunction with massage therapy or in lieu of on the premise of breaking up scar tissue or releasing connective tissues that are either scarred down or not pliable as they should be. This should allow muscles to move more freely and allow them to heal themselves with more movement. Both of these treatments have been shown to be beneficial in situations where there is injury or trauma to tissues, muscles, tendons, or joints.
As with any type of alternative therapy, you should talk with your physician and get their permission before trying any of the alternative therapies that are mentioned here or elsewhere. However, if your physician does agree for you to try some of these methods, I think you will find that thre is a lot of benefit here for you as so many others have found before!
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Decisions, Decisions!
I decided to take some time off to try to enjoy the holidays.I felt I had spent my whole year spinning my wheels, being miserable with my health problems and the aggravation from the insurance company, and very little to show for it. I wanted to have at least some time without worrying all day every day what was to come next. I resumed my search for treatment including new options in late January, 2006. I was happy to find a couple of things that were available to me that I had not really considered before.
One was surgery in Germany I found out that many other people that were in the same boat as me were mortgaging their houses, emptying out 401K's, their savings, taking out loans, etc to finance their way to Germany to have one of the worlds most renowned spine surgeons do the procedure on them. Dr Rudolph Bertagnoli was one of the first surgeons in the world to do this procedure and has done thousands of them over the past 25 years. He takes patients from all over the world on a cash payment basis. Surgery in Germany is considerably less money than it is here. At the time after the money exchange it came out to be around $35,000 for the surgery, trip and stay there. Unfortunately our finances could not stand the additional burden at the time. Now I think back and wish that maybe we had taken the plunge. Of course hindsight is 20/20. I was considering this but it was last on my list due to the financial burden.
I also found out in the meantime that there was a surgeon here in the US that was performing a hybrid surgery one level fusion and one level ADR that was being approved by insurance companies for the most part. The patient might have to pay for the disc itself which cost $4,000 but this was much better in my eyes than paying $35,000 and being out of the country for 3 weeks.
So I found a patient advocate in Mark with Global Patient Network. He helped me get all my records to Dr Fabian Bitan in New York and I consulted with him later. Dr Bitan told me that at the time he felt I was a candidate for the surgery and that he was willing to do it once I was ready to go ahead with the procedure. I was not able to travel to New York until June as no one could care for my children here for two weeks so I had to wait until they were out of school.
In the meantime, I continued going through pain management. One of the things I found that really helped my chronic pain and sciatica was a radio frequency ablation. This is a procedure that is done under sedation where using guided imagery, the physician goes in and burns certain nerves coming out of the disc spaces. This can stop the pain response from going to the brain. It can take anywhere from 6 months to one year to start to grow back so a person can get long term relief from sciatic pain with this. This helped me for a period of about 10 months before I noticed that type of pain coming back again
However, since there were several components to my pain generators, the pain management physician had to use a combination of treatments in order for me to be able to even function during this time.
Image courtesy of kwest19 at stockxpert.com
Blog Catalog Women's Health
One was surgery in Germany I found out that many other people that were in the same boat as me were mortgaging their houses, emptying out 401K's, their savings, taking out loans, etc to finance their way to Germany to have one of the worlds most renowned spine surgeons do the procedure on them. Dr Rudolph Bertagnoli was one of the first surgeons in the world to do this procedure and has done thousands of them over the past 25 years. He takes patients from all over the world on a cash payment basis. Surgery in Germany is considerably less money than it is here. At the time after the money exchange it came out to be around $35,000 for the surgery, trip and stay there. Unfortunately our finances could not stand the additional burden at the time. Now I think back and wish that maybe we had taken the plunge. Of course hindsight is 20/20. I was considering this but it was last on my list due to the financial burden.
I also found out in the meantime that there was a surgeon here in the US that was performing a hybrid surgery one level fusion and one level ADR that was being approved by insurance companies for the most part. The patient might have to pay for the disc itself which cost $4,000 but this was much better in my eyes than paying $35,000 and being out of the country for 3 weeks.
So I found a patient advocate in Mark with Global Patient Network. He helped me get all my records to Dr Fabian Bitan in New York and I consulted with him later. Dr Bitan told me that at the time he felt I was a candidate for the surgery and that he was willing to do it once I was ready to go ahead with the procedure. I was not able to travel to New York until June as no one could care for my children here for two weeks so I had to wait until they were out of school.
In the meantime, I continued going through pain management. One of the things I found that really helped my chronic pain and sciatica was a radio frequency ablation. This is a procedure that is done under sedation where using guided imagery, the physician goes in and burns certain nerves coming out of the disc spaces. This can stop the pain response from going to the brain. It can take anywhere from 6 months to one year to start to grow back so a person can get long term relief from sciatic pain with this. This helped me for a period of about 10 months before I noticed that type of pain coming back again
However, since there were several components to my pain generators, the pain management physician had to use a combination of treatments in order for me to be able to even function during this time.
Image courtesy of kwest19 at stockxpert.com
Blog Catalog Women's Health
Monday, August 25, 2008
Massage Techniques for Chronic Pain
Therapeutic Massage:
This has been used for hundreds if not thousands of years and started in the Chinese, East Indian and Thai cultures as far as we can find in research. There are Hawaiian, Swedish, and other types of massage as well that are valuable for different issues. Today I want to talk about the types of massage I feel are more valuable for acute and chronic pain. These are my opinions only from my experience both as a practicing massage therapist for four years and as a chronic pain patient for the last eight years.
NMT- Neuromuscular Therapy is at type of massage that incorporates the use of finding trigger points for muscles that are either knotted or tight. The practitioner puts pressure on these points causing them to release. When this takes place the tense, tight muscles relax as well. This can take pressure and compression away from a nerve, releasing it. I have seen real results with this technique for sciatic pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, thoracic outlet syndrome and other issues.
Acupressure Massage-This type of massage works with the Chinese acupuncture points and instead of putting needles into the points, places pressure on the points for a number of seconds until you feel a release of the points and pressure. This in the Chinese tradition releases Qi or the life giving energy and allows the body to heal itself. This type of massage is very beneficial to relieving pain and it also gives the person a feeling of well being and energizes them as well.
Deep Tissue Massage- This type of massage concentrates on working on deep tissues and releasing any strictures that exists in the muscles. They also work on scar tissue and fibrous tissues that can cause friction or restricted motion between the muscles, tendons and joints.
Image courtesy of stockxpert.com
All three of these types of therapy can be very beneficial for anyone who is experiencing acute or chronic back pain, neck, shoulder, or leg pain. It can be used for other problems as well.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
And The Beat Goes On............
By this time, it was late October 2005. I was physically,mentally and emotionally exhausted. I did not know what to do or where to turn. The only options that I had at the time were to give in to the surgeons here and have a 2 level lumbar fusion or pay out of pocket $53,000 to have a 2 level ADR done since insurance would not cover it.
My pain was constant I was seeing a pain management doctor trying one protocol after another. All the injections, pain medications, steroids and aggravation just seemed to be like trying to put a band aid on an arterial bleed. I would get a bit of relief usually temporary but nothing seemed to work for long. In the meantime the chronic back pain and sciatica plus the leg and foot pain was really taxing on me!
I think I got almost as much relief from some alternative therapies such as using moist heat and ice alternating them, neuromuscular and deep tissue massage, acupressure and acupuncture, herbal therapy and MSM. These things were all a big part of my life at that time and again today!
For people who are not familiar with some of the terms above, I am going to explain several of the alternative methods in detail in my blog tomorrow. So stay tuned!
My pain was constant I was seeing a pain management doctor trying one protocol after another. All the injections, pain medications, steroids and aggravation just seemed to be like trying to put a band aid on an arterial bleed. I would get a bit of relief usually temporary but nothing seemed to work for long. In the meantime the chronic back pain and sciatica plus the leg and foot pain was really taxing on me!
I think I got almost as much relief from some alternative therapies such as using moist heat and ice alternating them, neuromuscular and deep tissue massage, acupressure and acupuncture, herbal therapy and MSM. These things were all a big part of my life at that time and again today!
For people who are not familiar with some of the terms above, I am going to explain several of the alternative methods in detail in my blog tomorrow. So stay tuned!
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