Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Back Tracking

To the two people who may still have any interest in the "process" of tracking an ailment, I thought I'd give further explanation of why I opted to return to physical therapy for my back.

Look at the illustration. Every single one of those points hurts. Now, there has to be a reason for it.

First, why did I stop the acupuncture treatments? One is because my hubby did his own research and determined that six sessions should have made a large impact if it was going to. I had ten. Secondly, it was coming out of our pocket and being a financially astute individual, he felt it wasn't cost effective since we have to pay medicare premiums and medicare doesn't cover acupuncture.

So back to my physical therapist. I asked if he thought nutrition might be the problem as had been suggested. Though it might be a contributing factor, he assured me my problem was mechanical. I asked, if in his opinion, acupuncture would eventually fix it. He doubted it. What it did do was relieve some of the discomfort. Obviously nothing was fixed at all. Stopping treatment and the same old symptoms were back in a flash. If it had actually been working I should think they wouldn't have returned so quickly and with such intensity.

The premise, I suppose, is that what works depends on what's wrong.

So the poking and prodding began with a whole lot more owwws and ouches than I had remembered from before. "Hmmmm," says he. "I don't remember these areas being a problem."

Neither did I. Add to what I had already been working on - a car accident. It would seem hanging from your seat belt for a half hour can really mess up your alignment. That's what we determined. My lower left side is twisting one way; my upper right, the other and nothing is even. Tilt! And it all hurts.

We're going to try to fix it. I am cautiously optimistic. My husband is no longer complaining and insurance, which we are already paying dearly for, will cover it.

At this rate I should go back to school. I'm sure learning a lot about doing my homework!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I would like to comment on your back pain.I too was with pain so bad that it forced me to retire at 54. Last Jan I found a very strong pulse in my stomach, went to Dr, ultra sound, CS, and on Feb 28/96 underwent Abdominal Aorta Aneurysm times 3. had three. Not to scare, but when I hear back pain the Red Light comes on.
Just a thought.
Rog

Word Tosser said...

Some times you feel like one step forward and two steps back.
Sure hope the acupressure helps...

Ellie said...

About 2 years ago my back went out and I landed in the ER. It was so intense that I had to actually call an ambulance to come and take me out of my house. I had never had problems in the past but from then on it has been an issue. Finally I did agree to go to PT, this was after my left side started going numb. The issue was that I had sprained some back and hip muscles and had very weak muscles that needed strengthening in order to keep the back pain away. After attending 4 PT sessions, I had learned what excercises I needed to continue and until I fell recently things had been going great. So, I am a big time believer in the PT.

Best of luck with it, I know how difficult it can be.