Massage Therapy

[Moni]

Well I have started with this treatment and I have to say IT HURTS!
My therapist is wonderful.She explained what she was going to do and about what I could expect. My first visit was totally unmedicated except for the residual contin in my system as she needed to know where what hurt!
She began by only working on four trigger points and I found out real quickly that I had painful places I knew nothing about! The theory is that as the trigger points are worked on and released the muscles will eventually relax and get into a healthy state. It takes time and apparently pain! Who knew?!

[Katie]

My daughter was a massage therapist and worked on international level athletes. She talked a lot about trigger points and did a bit on her grammy, my mom to help with shoulder problems. I am going to a chiropractor who is doing similar work and dang, yes it does HURT! So you have my sympathy I'm off for more torture tomorrow, and looking forward to it, because the results are worth it!

How is everything else going? Any more progress with the southern surgeon?

[Moni]

So what they say, no pain no gain is for real in this case.
I go once a week. I am hopeful...thanks for the encouragement.
This is all under "southern surgeons" watchful eye.
He said which surgerys could be done but left the choice to have them or not up to me.As I said, I declined at this time and he was willing to go with me on that. The adr for this level would be from the front and I do not feel like I am up to that just right now.
I feel I need to get 'me' physically healthier and stronger before I go into any surgerys....
Also I asked if I could cut back on the large doses of meds and he said under my primary doctors careful supervision yes. That has been a trip all of its own.....this spinal stuff is NOT a walk in the park any way you cut it.

[Katie]

Interesting stuff Moni. I went for my app't today and it didn't hurt nearly as much. I've been much more active this week as well, having to do all the farm chores myself, and I'm not feeling hard done by ;-) The doc said it is because I am gradually getting stronger and my body isn't having to accommodate the weak areas as much. So he has given me a bit more difficult exercise for this week to help build my core muscles.

There is no way I could have done any of this before surgery...I tried and failed miserably. The pain was just too bad, even with a great deal of medication. So if you are able to do it, I am so very impressed! Even with my poor physical condition, I didn't find the surgery too bad. If it continues to hurt too much, I'd take a second look at your plan though. It's important to know what is hurting and why, and to be sure you aren't doing more damage. But you are a smart cookie and already know this

[ajj1001]

thanks for this thread, it reminded me that I was going to investigate whether massage would help.

[Cindylou]

I definitely think massage can help. I just have to find the funds to do it consistently. I appreciate this thread too.

[Carolina Girl]

Thinking about massage therapy myself. Had one last week, and she also talked about those trigger points and boy do we have them. She said our muscle's have to retrain theirself's as well. I am in so much pain for the past two days now, called the neo dr. and he is out of town until Monday, so I may go get the massage again, but did want to talk with my doc before I do all that to make sure I am not doing more damage and what else I can do to relieve this pain! Hope things work out for you.

[Moni]

First I need to say thank you to all the people that are willing to put their very personal experiences and their valuable input onto this awesome site.
To name a few of you: "Katie", CindyLou, Justin,Kbear,ajj1001,Jack of all trades...and so many more.
It is your willingness to share that gave me a much needed boost when I was first diagnosed and enabled me to think in a fairly intelligent manner for myself. In the past I have often gone along with dr recommendations without much questioning even when I often felt something was not quite kosher...I really didn't think I was informed enough to maybe disagree.
Being able to read the documented experiences of real live people as to what has or has not worked for them gave me some very real insight and understanding to what seemed like a totally alien world diagnosis..
When you have been in pain for a long time and you are getting worse it is a natural reaction I believe to just go for anything that offers pain relief, sometimes bringing quite bad consequences. I am a walking, talking example of this.
Katie special thanks for the ' southern surgeon' hook up! That has been the best yet!
And yep I have set myself a limit as to the length of time that I will try to deal with my pain without going the surgical route. I am NOT going to be a hero and tough it out no matter what ....that was the "old" dumb blonde me...I sent her packing ....and the meds cut backs are also with NO heroics. I have found out the hard way that once the pain passes a certain point it is extremely hard to get it back under control.
I think the trigger point massage therapy will help undo the muscle mess that I didn't even know I had,which will be beneficial but its not going to fix the second 'dying' disc. That will have to be dealt with surgically.
The poor condition I was speaking of is the extra 50 pounds I have packed on from the 3 plus years of antidepressants( for unexplained leg pain!!!! see the reference to me saying "oh OK I suppose so...you are the dr")the 6 months of taking it easy and being relatively kind to myself after knee surgery, as well as; for me, weight gain was definitely a side effect of the neurontin. All of this exacerbated by Hashimoto's which is loath to let even one precious ounce leave once it is there. I believe to go through a surgical procedure as a leaner, stronger me would be the smart cookie way.

A point I wanted to share was that during my first massage session, as my massage therapist worked the trigger points ( two of them in the autofusing area ) I felt an 'ice cold water coursing through my legs' sensation that I have experienced on a fairly regular basis during my deterioration period, for which the primary drs had no explanation. Apparently their is a link here...could anyone out there speak to this?

Cheers
mg

[KBear]

Moni, I think we all can attest to the dreaded weight gain that goes with spine issues and the medications used to treat them. I hope you get relief soon.

[Justin]

Deep tissue massage has been a life-saver for me. I get at least one a month (I found a great therapist at a nice spa here in Philly, and she now sees me at her house for 1/2 the cost of the spa ).

Personally, I believe massage is an overlooked "treatment" for Spine Patients, as the cost can be quite prohibitive.