pain

Feel free to discuss any topic of general interest, so long as nothing you post here is likely to be interpreted as insulting, and/or inflammatory, nor clearly designed to provoke any individual or group. Please be considerate of others feelings, and they will be considerate of yours.

Moderators: Rosie, Stanz, Jean, CAMary, moremuscle, JFR, Dee, xet, Peggy, Matthew, Gabes-Apg, grannyh, Gloria, Mars, starfire, Polly, Joefnh

User avatar
sarkin
Rockhopper Penguin
Rockhopper Penguin
Posts: 2313
Joined: Thu Mar 10, 2011 8:44 pm
Location: Brooklyn, NY

Post by sarkin »

Yikes, Z - glad you have an appointment. I love acupuncture, and it sounds very timely.

Jenny, glad you have some leads.

Both of you, feel better!

S
User avatar
Sharaine
Adélie Penguin
Adélie Penguin
Posts: 235
Joined: Tue Jun 28, 2011 2:38 pm
Location: Colorado

Post by Sharaine »

Jenny and Zizzle,

I've had sciatica since I was 14, courtesy of bacterial meningitis that left me paralyzed for a while. I think going to a chiropractor and a massage therapist is a great idea. Good luck to both of you.

Sharaine
User avatar
Lesley
King Penguin
King Penguin
Posts: 2920
Joined: Sat Sep 03, 2011 11:13 pm
Contact:

Post by Lesley »

Zizzle - you sound like you've been through the wars. Not fun. Both as a therapist and a veteran of sciatica, piriformis, sacro iliac, hip pain and a lot of radiating pain and neurological stuff, I know whereof I speak.

I also do trigger points all the time. I use the corners of desks or tables, tennis balls, edges of doors, and whatever is handy.

I wish chiropractics and acupuncture had helped me.

I truly hope both of you get some relief.
User avatar
Zizzle
King Penguin
King Penguin
Posts: 3492
Joined: Thu Jul 22, 2010 9:47 am

Post by Zizzle »

Lesley,
LOL. :grin: I know it sounds bad, but I really feel OK nowadays. The hip is much better tonight, although I have a suspicious "dead-leg" feeling now on that side. Ugh. This 2 year medical experiment on myself (since getting LC and starting the crazy diet, then finding out about EDS) is interesting. Just when I'm starting to feel well, possibly in remission, and all clear on the musculoskeletal front, I see a new doctor who thinks I'm a mess. An exam quickly demonstrates my muscles and bones are all out of alignment, but they have simply become my "painless" norm to compensate for my weak joints and ligaments. And I rarely exercise, but I need to, so I imagine the pains will all return when my body tries to get in gear again.

I struggle between wanting to "leave well enough alone" and attacking all the hidden triggers waiting to strike. One of my personal life goals is to avoid all prescription medications. To do so I imagine that means halting my autoimmune activity and any potential for developing fibromyalgia (common in EDS). So I soldier on, looking for answers and the best way forward.

Regarding the trigger points, I've dug my shoulder blades into many a doorway... :wink: One chiropractor gave me a Theracane, basically a large hook with a hard ball on the end. It is great for digging into those back spasms.
User avatar
Lesley
King Penguin
King Penguin
Posts: 2920
Joined: Sat Sep 03, 2011 11:13 pm
Contact:

Post by Lesley »

One of my personal life goals is to avoid all prescription medications
If I could go back and do it again....I wouldn't have taken them, no matter what!
Just when I'm starting to feel well, possibly in remission, and all clear on the musculoskeletal front, I see a new doctor who thinks I'm a mess
From my experience if you feel OK then you are! Even if things aren't in alignment. I haven't been in alignment since I was 3. I have never felt OK. Everything has always hurt, sometimes more, sometimes less.

I do exercise. Not weight bearing. In the pool, because if I don't my back is horrible. I can't walk far anymore. I used to, but not any more. I can't really swim because I have a rotator cuff injury.
If you have access to the pool that would be the best for you too.

You seem to soldier very successfully, but if you would exercise in water you could strengthen the muscles and ligaments around your joints without putting pressure on them. OK, lecture over.
User avatar
sarkin
Rockhopper Penguin
Rockhopper Penguin
Posts: 2313
Joined: Thu Mar 10, 2011 8:44 pm
Location: Brooklyn, NY

Post by sarkin »

Ooh, I love the Theracane!

Also a big fan of water exercise, though I don't have access currently. I belonged to a gym once with an underwater treadmill, and it was the most amazing feeling, to run "really fast" in slow motion...

Feel better, all of you,

S
User avatar
Zizzle
King Penguin
King Penguin
Posts: 3492
Joined: Thu Jul 22, 2010 9:47 am

Post by Zizzle »

I had my appt with my DO today. Sweet relief. He did a bunch of manipulations of my hips, legs and spine and successfully got the hip back into place. Phew! Of course we are both concerned that it happened while simply walking down the hall...I need to be more careful. :wink: I can't cross or spread my legs for a while, or do high impact exercise. It may have happened because of the taping they did of my feet for plantar faciitis. It altered my gait (to a more normal one), but it threw my knees and hips off their "normal" (abnormal compensatory) alignment.
He was surprised that I didn't report more pain, just dull achiness, etc. He said the woozy, almost vomiting feeling in the moment is a sign of extreme pain. So maybe my brain doesn't get the message? I suppose that could be a good thing.

Then we did acupuncture. He explained what my tongue was showing -- blood stagnation, liver, kidney and spleen involvement, etc. He put needles all over my abdomen, one in each arm near the elbows, one near each knee, and several on my ankles and feet. The foot ones were particularly painful going in. They attached wires and sent pulses from my feet to my abdomen, and from my arms to my abdomen. Then someone came in to heat the needles with moxibustion. When it was done I felt groggy, weird, and very relaxed. My 90/50 BP might have had something to do with it.

BTW, I can't stand clueless medical assistants - when he took my BP at the start of the appointment, he said "you have great blood pressume, nice and low." I answered, "not really, that's partly why I'm here," and he didn't get it. Then he wondered how anyone could pop out a hip joint. It certainly had never happened to him. Duh! Read my chart! :roll:

Anyway, I go back for more needles next week. I hope I notice a difference of some kind!
Deb
Rockhopper Penguin
Rockhopper Penguin
Posts: 1657
Joined: Sat Nov 20, 2010 7:01 pm
Location: Previously MN now GA

Post by Deb »

I am also a member of the Theracane club. :grin: You should have seen DH's eyes roll when he saw that.
What we all are, and have been, going through to feel well is amazing to me.
Zizzle I've experienced that calm feeling after acupuncture so I don't think it's just the blood pressure. I hope you're on
the road to feeling better soon.
User avatar
Lesley
King Penguin
King Penguin
Posts: 2920
Joined: Sat Sep 03, 2011 11:13 pm
Contact:

Post by Lesley »

Hmm. I think I will get a theracane. I have been using a tennis ball, but you need a wall for that. It's the same, but you can't use it just anywhere.
I belonged to a gym once with an underwater treadmill,
I wish I could find something like that, but I count myself VERY lucky to have a heated pool just below my apartment. I do get a lot of exercise in it.

I need to go down there soon since I haven't done it for a couple of days because of a storm that went through here with LOTS of lightening. Not normal for here, ad scary to be in a pool.
User avatar
Lesley
King Penguin
King Penguin
Posts: 2920
Joined: Sat Sep 03, 2011 11:13 pm
Contact:

Post by Lesley »

You might want to watch bending forward over 90 degrees. That can also put your hip out. It's difficult to do. You need equipment (or a helper) for trousers over feet, socks and shoes, and all lower extremity dressing. Look for a hip kit on the internet. It's cool, and the coolest is the sock aid. It's really fun.

I hope the acupuncture helps. Sounds like one hell of a session!
Are you paying for this alone? Or does your insurance contribute?
User avatar
Zizzle
King Penguin
King Penguin
Posts: 3492
Joined: Thu Jul 22, 2010 9:47 am

Post by Zizzle »

Bending over 90 degrees usually makes me want to faint. But I guess you mean pulling your legs towards you to put on a sock can be an issue too? I'm having the hardest time just remembering not to cross my legs today! And I feel all the instability in that hip. I hope this doesn't become a chronic thing.

My husband's family insurance PPO plan pays for 70% of my visits with this doctor, as well as most of the tests. Not sure of they will cover acupuncture, but my work does! That's because they put the money they would have spent on my health plan in a flex spending account for me, $2,500 this year! I suspect when the money dries up, so will the acupuncture...
But I'm so thankful I found a doc who can deal with the joint, BP/dysautonomia and GI issues together.
User avatar
Lesley
King Penguin
King Penguin
Posts: 2920
Joined: Sat Sep 03, 2011 11:13 pm
Contact:

Post by Lesley »

I guess you mean pulling your legs towards you to put on a sock can be an issue too?
YES! You got it! A friend of mine, who broke her hip and had surgery, cannot get that concept. I have been trying to get it into her head for a year, but her (conscious) awareness of herself in space (proprioception is unconscious) is totally lacking. I have tried to illustrate it by making her a 90 degree angle card and asking her NOT to pull her leg towards her more than that, or using a book. It doesn't compute. It's amazing.

Not just socks, m'dear. Underwear, pants, socks, shoes, and all grooming and dressing of the lower extremities. The hip kit includes a dressing stick, a long handled shoe horn, a sock aid (the fun one) a back sponge, which can be used for feet also, and a reacher. Well worth it.
User avatar
Zizzle
King Penguin
King Penguin
Posts: 3492
Joined: Thu Jul 22, 2010 9:47 am

Post by Zizzle »

:shock: I'll need a couple more hip subluxations before I invest in that thing. Imagine my family's reaction? They all STILL believe I'm just a hypochondriac. :???: Honestly, I think part of my problem is that I don't exercise, so my muscles have gotten weak. I'm reading Dr. Brad Tinkle's Joint Hypermobility Handbook in hopes of figuring out what weight bearing exercises I need to concentrate on. If I screw up, then I suppose I need to start PT to get on the right track. I'll try and make it to a pool soon too...
Gabby
Adélie Penguin
Adélie Penguin
Posts: 113
Joined: Wed May 25, 2011 8:08 pm

Post by Gabby »

Z
In addition to my Larabar addiction, I am also a addict and true fan of the Pilates method of exercise. It sounds like you are one who could benefit greatly from a slow controlled method of exercise. Pilates is wonderful for strength development and stretching and it's not as boring as Yoga (uh oh, I hope I didn't just insult a Yogi). It is important to find a reputable studio that specializes in Pilates for rehabilitation. Just my 2 cents.
G
User avatar
Lesley
King Penguin
King Penguin
Posts: 2920
Joined: Sat Sep 03, 2011 11:13 pm
Contact:

Post by Lesley »

I don't think you should wait because each sublux damages the ligaments more. Did your family see you sublux? Was your hubby there when you gave birth? Have they been around when you have fire hose diarrhea? How can they think you are a hypochondriac?
Tell them strict instructions from your therapist friend - either they need to dress your bottom half or you will get a hip kit.

Gabby - Pilates is wonderful. It is good for everything you say it is.
However, like all good exercise techniques, and more so than some, it is based on yoga.
However, if you think yoga is boring you had a bad teacher. For me yoga was literally transformative, and I don's say that in the "Ommmmm" sense. The teachers I learned with (Iyangar style) made you concentrate on places in your body you didn't know you had. In that sense it was meditation, but while you were getting the best work out you could. It combines cerebral concentration and quieting with physical activity beautifully, so it's never boring. I wish I could still do it.
Post Reply

Return to “Main Message Board”