Hey great theres a Chiro in the house [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

Have to admit I have had good success with chiropractic, but some of you guys are as bad as the damn ortho gods [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

Have question for you. Why is it that its so rare for us to find a Ortho surgeon/neuro, chiro, and phy rehab working together? I ask because when combining these (my doing not theirs and they were not happy either lol) was where I found the most positive change, and it just doesnt make sense why for the sake of the patient these professionals dont work together in creating a "real" plan for recovery.

 

480ex I agree with you about not considering or checking out a treatment just because it didn't work for someone else. The IDET treatment has like a 85% sucess rate on average but I was one of the few it didn't help, doesn't mean it won't help someone on here though. My only sujestion would be for everyone to go on the web and do all the research you can on the type pain you have. Some doctors will hate this although I don't know why.

The doctor I've been seeing for the last three years is a pain management doctor and he's pretty cool, he's even building a 426hemi cuda with my money! Anyway. He sugested I try a cyropractor last year. So far I have seen Neurologist, Orthopedic specialist, Family doctor, Chyropractor, Physical Therapist, Massage Therapist, and Accupuctor person (have no idea what you call them), and the Pain Management Specialist. The Pain management specialist seems to really be cncerned at helping me get this problem fixxed but has been running into deadends like the others did.

 

I have been cut on 4 times. The last time 4 years ago they installed( 2 )9 inch long rods and 8 screws and fused 4 or 5 together. I wish i could take that one back as i went from worse to worser. Previous to that a had a fusion that broke after having 2 back sergeries. With all the medical changes in the last 10 years i would be SLOW to sign up to be cut on. I would get a second and third opinion. If you decide to go under the knife i would do EVERYTHING possible to insure a good rehab. Watch what you do, lift etc.

My back problems started 20 years ago and i was hard headed and decided that i would not let my back problems keep me from doing what i wanted to do. ( Bad idea) I have been to 20 different doctors over the years. Oxycodine will only take you so far. The high light of my month is going to get 12 trigger point injections so i can feel decent for 3 or 4 days

I am looking into having a dorsal stem stimulator installed. After 20 years i am tired of being maried to a bottle of pills. Hopefully i will be a canidate for the dorsal stem stimulator and then book a vacation to the Betty Ford clinic.

Good Luck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I got lucky with my back. My L3-L4, L4-L5 were 7mm. One bulged to the left the other to the right pinching the nerves. My L5-S1 was 5mm. I could not even get out of bed for the first two years. If I did get out of bed I used a walker. I got so fed up with the Workman's comp system I started to see a guy on my own. I started seeing a "Mexican Muscle Doctor". He was a little old man that worked on my muscles and tendons. He said that most of the problems were from the muscles around the disc's were in knots from the injury. He said that the knots are normal because its the body's way of protecting itself. It took him almost 4 months of every Saturday and now I do not need surgery like every doctor wanted to do. I have been released to go back to work. And yes I went through withdraws getting off all the meds that they put you on.


Tony

 

I hear you about the pills! I've been on codine for so long that I'm affraid I'm addicted. Whn the medication starts to wear off the pain comes back but I also lose all my energy and I get cold, painful cold like when you have the flu. I'm sick of taking the medication and what it does to me. About 30min after taking the codine I start to itch really bad and I start getting hot flashes. I've always been a cold natured person and would wear a light jacket when evr it was below 70deg but when I'm on the codine I can start sweating when it's 40deg and I'm wearing a tee shirt. The codine also acts like speed on me making me hyper and nervous. No telling what it's doing to my liver and other organs.

 

Damn meds, be carefull with them. Actually it felt weird saying that [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img] but unless your into this stuff before your pain be real carefull not to get turned into a junkie because of it.

Remember the meds only treat the sympton, and not the cause!! Use the meds to get by until your able to find something that works for you, and really try not to rely on them (unless of course you are like some I know who were taking worse stuff before). Seriously I know its not any fun when you have to "be high to get by" and even the most hard core junkie would agree with that, so be consious of whats happening etc.

Most all of the meds that work are some form of morphine, and or a synthetic version of it. With that comes all the itching (deff worse for some than others) and dependency etc of the real thing. From what I have been told some of the syn or man made ones are even worse than the real thing so be carefull.

Hopefully you (anyone not just who I am quoting) will be able to be alert enough to find your way to a treatment that works and you can kick the meds, and thats what your really after anyhow.

 

Tony glad to see you found something that helps, but you had to go and get me started on the damn workmans comp issue [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

This (in NJ at least) is the most screwed up and dishonest thing going, and with the newer laws around here your just as screwed if your on disability and maybe even worse off if covered under the medical of an auto insurance policy.

There is a really messed up campaign around the country in many states that targets insurance fraud (more on the particulars of the real purpose) and though its been found even in this overpopulated and corrupt state that fraud is very limited we still have adds on tv and billboards all over.

Reason I point this out is that typically the entire workmans comp system is a damn fraud. The injured person has the least amount of rights, and all the doctors and insurance companies are in business with each other, and pretty much have a license to steal and lie. You could walk into a Dr. hunched over like a neandethal and have them release you (just what the ins co wants) and your bene's stop immediately.

To cover their ***** they claim you have reached your max improvement and further treatment will not help. So basically they misrepresent the truth in a manner that doesnt allow any method of proving them to be crooked, and the insurance companies continue to send them more business for the favor. I bet some of us have seen this first hand, but its something to be cautious of for anyone who hasnt had to deal with it before.

They are actually using a similar method to deny coverage on auto policies now too, and its just another example of how throwing $$$ at our legislators by big business and lobbys etc takes a front seat to the needs of us the people.

Now for the fraud issue. I had the luck of talking with one of the lawyers who worked on the commission of gathering info and statistics on this in NJ, and really learned a lot about what is really going on.

Its obvious that there is a major advertizing campaign on Ins fraud, but unlike the typical things we think of as being fraud like faking an injury or having staged accidents etc (which were found to be very minimal) what this campaign is really after is embracing the fraud committed by the ins comapanies.

We have to remember that an ins policy is a contract, and any attempt to mislead or trick a contracted party out of what they are entitled to under the contract is arguably contract fraud. When an insurance companie uses its powers to convice you to accept considerbly less than your entitled to, or uses a certain group of Dr.'s who make misleading or inaccurate reports to help them deny you benefits when your actually deserving them by the wording in the contract they are committing fraud etc (there are many more examples but too many to list)

If you are mis rated by your insurance company (what is called rate fraud if we had supplied wrong info, but a mistake when they do it) they say oops and sometimes refund your $$$, but if you or your agent goofs up they consider it rate fraud and a cause to break your contract (read as not pay your claim, and maybe even seek $$$ from you). Yes its all very one sided isnt it.

So if I didnt lose you already here is where the fraud campaign works into all of this. The very insurance companies that we entrust to protect us from loss and most times become our enemies after a serious claim, are a seriously large lobby group that completely effects our legal system from coast to coast. Most all of the laws that protect the ins company and leave us out in the cold were created as a result of these lobbys and the power and $$$ they controll.

I think this is pretty easy to understand how they could effect the wording in new laws etc, but I think its beyond belief that this lobby is strong enough to cause the states to create an entire state funded campaign thats only purpose is in saving money for the ins companies.

Whats even worse is that the real intent isnt to save these companies money on fraudulent claims either, and this is where it reall gets interesting. The underlying purpose is to reduce the amounts awarded, and the actual total amount of decisions for the plaintiff by subconciously tampering with the jury pool before they are even called to duty.

I was really taken back when it was first explained to me that all these adds of every type of media were just to cause potential jurers to believe or consider that every civil case they may potentially be part of was some kind of fraud. I originally had not thought of how this would effect someones ability to be impartial, and could cause them to enter a coutroom with a preconceived notion that the plaintiff was a potential fraud.

Knowing this I guess we should be happy if they honor any part of our ins contract.

Sorry for the length but hope it helps someone out there [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

I finally found this thread again, i didnt think it was under bombardier.
Before telling you what the stretches are i did I will explain my symptoms. I had a pain in the right side of my right calf. It was pin pointed to about the size of a nickel. then it moved to the middle outside of my right butt cheek. Still about the size of a nickle. There was no pain at all in my back but any and all movement(that werent slow) would freeze me in my tracks and bring tears to my eyes. For the first few month the doctors were thinking stress fracture in my lower leg. Then another dr said I wqas riding my bicycle to much and had created a muscle imbalance in my leg, something about my quadracep over powering my hamstring. Finally some one nailed it down to disc problems, L4 & L5.
I now do 3 stretches to stay mobile and riding. The main stretch I do is to force a lumbar type support into my lower back. The physical therapist told me that for what I do, A machinist bending over a bunch. It was necessary to force the fluid in the discs to the other side. When I drive I place a towel, rolled very tightly and taped up, behind my back to force a curve back into my lower back. This is also done by laying on the floor near something that is about 12" off the floor that you can put your feet on. I place my but about 6 inches from this platform. In my house the raised fire place is a great spot. The other thing you need is either a very tightly rolled up towel, one of those 4" dia pool noodles, cut about 15" long or what I use most is a piece of hard foam Sort of like styrofoam about 7" in dia and about 15" long. The piece is cut in half lengthwise so you have 2 half circles. With my feet on the raised platform I lift up my back and place the foam under my back as low as possible and then lower my back on to it. I move it up and down my back in about 1" incriments while stretching my back in each position about 1 minute or so. I have actually fallen a sleep for a hour while over it and woke up feeling great.
Next stretch that I do daily is basically a hamstring stretch. I mostly do it at work by standing legs almost straight and bending over to touch my toes except that I use a chair or step to support my back and to lift myself back up after stretching. This can also be done while sitting and bending over. The key is to keep your back straight and to never bounce and to slowly ease into and out of the stretch. You are going to have to way over stretch the hamstring to get to the point where you are stretching the sciatica nerve over the damaged discs. This is beyond painful and is not for everyone.
the final stretch is one that I do about once a month. It involves a sitting hamstring stretch and needs the help of atleast one person. When it was done in the phys. therapy office involved 2 peoples help. This is by the way the most pain I have ever felt in my entire life. You are sitting in a chair with your legs out in front of you on another chair. There is a person in that 2nd chair supporting your legs. the second person is behind you. You crunch down in the worst possible posture, back is not kept straight in this strerch in fact you are as crunched up as possible. the person behind you is pushing down on your shoulders and is also pushing down on your head. pushing your chin to your chest. The other person is straigtening your feet, pushing towards you while holding your toes. Once again all movements into and out of the stretch are done very slowly. I have also done this by my self by placing my feet against the back of a chair and pulling down on my head.(howi do it now) This is like I said the most pain ful stretch I have ever done.And when done right according to my phys therapists you feel like you are going to be sick. When done with this stretch I would put ice on my lower back for about 45 mins.
I have been basically pain free for about 13 years doing this and none of my activities are limited by back pain. Now at 45, fear seems to be my limiting factor these days. Sorry for taking so long to finish my post.

 

440ex you don't have to tell me about the "system" I live in Kali land of the FKed. I hit the books and Internet hard to find out what my rights are. I also have a very good lawyer that my union recommended. If I can give some helpful ideas? Find yourself a good hand held massage unit. The kind with the two half ***** on it. Have your other half use it on your lower back as you lay on the floor. Give that a few weeks of good hard massage. Then roll onto your back and lift one leg up into the air. Have that other person push that leg toward your melon. Push it as far as you can stand it and then some. Remember no pain no gain. Then use the massage from the back of the knee to the butt and hip. Do this on both legs. Then stand up. Massage the lower back as you bend over "trying" to touch your toes. Do this as ofter as you can. This is what this guy did for me and it helped 1000%. He did a lot of other things but this was the main stuff.


Tony.

 

No problem mywifesquad, I appreciate the info. 14mins, damn man! But while reading all this, it comes to me that I am probably in the position most of you were in when you started having the problems. I have good days when its just a irratation, then days like today your looking for some more pills. You ever walked on a 3 1/2 wall 20' off the ground when your druged up on lortab? Ya it wasnt pretty, had to get down and have somebody else finish. I'm at the point I think, damn I dont want to feel like this forever, maybe the discectomy will cure all pain. Then I read these posts and am scared sh!tless! Should I try my chiro again for a while? It never seemed to help, but I want some relief. I really feel for you guys, my problems definetly seem minor in comparison. Jed