This is another of those posts that’s All About Me and as this is my blog that’s probably the best place for it.
Have I said recently how great I think healthcare works for me in my part of the world? I know our system has a lot of holes but as a full-time employee with generous benefits I have my pick of doctors and via trial and error I’ve done well at establishing a great set of practioners around me.
Take my back. Two injuries as a young person left me with some disc damage. Add double the body weight I would have optimally and substantially less than optimal core strength and you’ve got a recipe for back pain.
Every once in a while it will rear its ugly head, I’ll go back to physical therapy, improve my muscle strength, and the pain will ease. Then I’ll forget about it and the exercises will seem boring and we get back on the merry go round.
A week ago Monday I tweaked my back by putting on a sock in a way my back didn’t care for. I went to my Osteopathic Manipulation Medicine DO and he adjusted me. I went home and faithfully got out my PT exercise sheets and started up a program.
And my back got worse. Then it got worser. Then I lost my shit when my pain level hit a 10 and I started screaming and crying, “Help me, help me, help me” and hubby thought he was going to have to call an ambulance. That was Saturday. It’s been a long time since my pain level hit a 10. I felt helpless and like nothing and no one could help.
I missed three days of work plus two weekend days. Then i got set up for a cortisone shot and received a mild lecture about optimal body weight and the importance of core strength. I’m already on it! I thought. I’m doing my PT every day. The doctor took X-Rays to confirm everything and diagnosed degenerative disc disease with arthritis. Surgery not recommended. Then he wrote me scripts for a couple of days and I walked out very happy with pain relief in hand and a promise of further pain relief just two days away. That was yesterday.
Today I went back to my OMM DO to cover all my bases. He rocked the palms of his hands on my hips and pronounced me “badly locked up.” He asked what had caused it and I said nothing, this time, it just happened. He said that was great and all as he had kids to put through college but something had probably caused it. He began asking questions and when I explained how I was stretching my periformis by laying on my back and bringing each knee up to its opposite shoulder he had his culprit. He said I couldn’t do that stretch that way given my situation and showed me two alternative means of getting the job done.
I’m feeling a bit better now three hours after the adjustment and I’ll be headed back to work as long as I can drive safely but I’m still getting a cortisone shot tomorrow. And keeping up with the PT my DO ok’d. I can really see a difference between the last time I was in PT and now and I feel very determined to get this situation under control via the means available to me.
I’m just feeling so much more hopeful!
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