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Alternative therapies to avoid surgery

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Court89
Court89

Welcome to hell.....MRI results show a herniated disc in my L5S1 with nerve root imgingment and disc degeneration sciatica right side right leg last November. 

Since then and even before I had the MRI results I had been going to see the my GP, Chriopractor, acupuncturist and massage just to cope, it certainly wasn't helping with the pain. For that I rely on Percocet! And Tizanidine to relax the muscles basically to take the edge off because the pain is so bad the pain meds barely work. Ive been out of work, I can't drive or sit for long, I can't walk very far but I am walking better now! After talking to a neurosurgeon who said I was a  candidate for surgery (I'm only 40 something) I decided to take the conservative approach, the expensive approach and try anything, everything to avoid surgery. 

Due to my pain it caused me to look into who's therapies would I most benefit from. Part of my pain is from a muscle or it feels like a muscle (I call it a cord) that runs down the back of my butt hamstring and calf. It feels like it's in a state of contraction all the time! The nerve root  impingement yes it's creating pain as well, but this is a whole separate issue  and doctors don't technically work on soft tissue. That's how I stumbled upon trigger point massage!  I have been having two trigger point (specific muscle) massages a week, working on different areas of that leg and slowly I've been able to extend my leg from a 22 degree angle to 45 degree angle per the physical therapist measurements using some sort of tool (?). So where was I....pain killers are fun no. Also the pins and needles pain in my foot is gone, it's still asleep but at least now it's a dull ache. Life stopped for me and now I'm waiting on the rebound. I hooked up with a PT who specializes in the  McKenzie institute style of physical therapy. I read that some where on s blog. I'm curious to hear if anyone had success with medications like neurontin for the nerve pain? My chrio thinks my hip is to blame and I think he might be right. It keeps me up at night, it keeps me immobilized in the day. The X-ray showed nothing but why the aching hips/hip too! The massages help I cannot say stress that enough. The work is painful and I always take my pain killer on time so when I get my massage I can handle them digging in to those muscles that have cramped up. My leg is slowly starting to feel better and I have a hunch about my pain flare ups, I suspect when I eat or drink inflammatory things all of a sudden I feel like I've been hit my a Mack truck and a train. So I stopped drinking coffee sad I drink celery juice now and more fruits and vegetables which also help with the OIC. Win win! 

0 likes, 4 replies

4 Replies

  • harriet67221
    harriet67221 Court89

    Posted

    Hi Sounds just like me.

    Will try the trigger point massage. Thanks.

  • harriet67221
    harriet67221 Court89

    Posted

    Sorry forgot to mention have you tried tens? If so what did you think of it? 

    Take care 

    • Court89
      Court89 harriet67221

      Posted

      Yes and I think it's too early to tell but I've had it a few times with either the acupuncture or the ultrasound at PT. The last time I had it it made a muscle go into this weird twitching thing that last for days. I had to have the massage therapist work on it to make it stop. I'll try it again. Also I should mention I've done ozone therapy and I'm over due for me. I suspect a lot of my inflammation is down and that's contributing to my movement. I still have that restless leg syndrome and for that and all the detoxifying I'm trying I follow The Medical Medium. If you can appreciate the message there's a lot of useful information that addresses restless leg, chronic fatigue, Epstein Barr. That's how I learned about the dang celery juicing. Good luck to you ??

  • harriet67221
    harriet67221 Court89

    Posted

    I have looked up the therapy for this condition. I found some interesting information. I have come across a website of a fully qualified trigger point therapist also called fascio therapist ..

    ​There is lots of advice and trigger point therapy for every musculo skeletal condition under the sun.

    All in all it sounds hopeful.

    The bonus  is that no drugs are involved.

    Have you  heard of a condition called Opiod Induced Hyperalgesia?

      

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