PrivateRealm
Threadhead
Reged: 03/18/03
Posts: 879
Loc: usa
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I started Physical Therapy, and am scheduled to do it twice a week for 4 weeks to see how it goes. I am supposed to be strengthening my back and stretching my muscles in order to help support the parts of my neck and back that don't work as well. So far my headaches have just been worse.
tell me your experiences with PT. Did it help?
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KeriAnne~~~
"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take - but by the moments that take our breath away."
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Daeshay76
Old Hand
Reged: 03/22/04
Posts: 402
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i just got done with PT and got kicked out because it was making my pain in my back alot worse. I was going 3 times a week and the lady that was doing my PT said that she can no longer do it because i wasnt relaxing when she was pulling on me and she thought it would be better if i went to a pain clinic and would send a letter over to my PCP. If you look at my post about NEEDING HELP WITH MRI RESULTS it will tell you what problems i am having with my back. I hope that the PT helps you ..i was hoping that it would of helped me but it didnt....i wish you the best of luck!! another thing the PT lady wasnt even working on my back because my 1st appointment she stated nothing she could do for my back and she was working on my pelvic bone because it was turned??? i didnt understand that but whatever she was doing was causing more pain in my back
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barett
Newbie
Reged: 07/07/04
Posts: 48
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I tried it several times (20-30), and it did not help in the long run at all.
Barett
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voyager
Old Hand
Reged: 04/17/03
Posts: 415
Loc: United States Virgin Islands
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PT was the only thing that ever REALLY HELPED in my quest for pain relief. The drugs only made me feel sick or stoned although at times, they did help some.
My physical therapist knew more about management of chronic pain disorders than either my neurologist OR neurosurgeon which REALLY surprised me.
My only regret is that my crappy insurance company would rather throw a bunch of pills at me (naturally its CHEAPER, the hell with what it is doing to my insides) then let me participate in regular stretching, and strengthening routines for my neck and back which are the only things that really improve my quality of life.
voyager
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indiacat
Stranger
Reged: 04/27/04
Posts: 8
Loc: Sunny California
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Funny thing about PT was that it taught me some really great stretches and exercises that helped my neck and shoulders but did nothing for the headaches. So I guess it was worth it but... I hope it does wonders for you. Best of luck!
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rockystuart
Enthusiast
Reged: 03/11/04
Posts: 218
Loc: San Fran Bay Area, Calif
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I have to second the streaches and pulls. It/they really help loosen me up (I still do them each morn after 7 years). But PT wont really put disks back in between vertebrea or do much about bone spurs (unless you use it to grind them down and have all the pain at once/stay in bed/ visit ER etc!). I went straight from PT to ER once (which is NOT the objective!) W/O meds I can walk 200=300 yards/day with meds about 2000 yards before physical problems come (OK mabe 1 mile 3x week) PT is GREAT for non-structural problems though.
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Pocahontas
Enthusiast
Reged: 01/28/03
Posts: 214
Loc: North
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February/March I had PT for the chronic pain following my car accident....I have spasms in my neck and back. My PT consists of half hour and hour sessions of the therapist just finding the "trigger point" spasms in my back, pressing on them until the pain let up, then on to the next one. No exercises and nothing else to it....just pressing on my muscle spasms...I went on vacation for two weeks the end of March and never went back to therapy. Some days I feel like I should have continued with the PT and some days I think just a really good deep massage works.
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~Princess Pocahontas
Aim for the moon, for if you miss you will always land amongst the stars ...
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toe
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 10/09/02
Posts: 1422
Loc: MidWest USA
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I get really subpar medical care.
Before I was on medicaid, I did get to work with some great PTs for my back and achilles tendonitis.
I don't want to scare you by telling you what happens when you're stuck with the PT that medicaid pays for. Let's just say I hope I don't have to have that surgery again.
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"It's the end of the World as We Know it. . ."
-REM "and I'm seeking asylum in Canada"-toe
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Eeyore27
Board Addict
Reged: 07/05/04
Posts: 375
Loc: Where Misery loves Company U...
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Uggggh...the dreaded PT. Put it to you this way, when I was on it 3 days a week, I said that "PT" should stand for "Pain & Torture" instead of Physical Therapy. And yes, I do believe that it makes you feel worse.
If I was scheduled say, on Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday and had 4 days off in between, my back would suddenly start to feel better. By the time Tuesday would roll around and they had me doing all those ridiculous exercises, I would be in agony by the time I was finished. I swear I would have been back to work in less than a month instead of the 4 months they milked me for, and I lost my job as a result of it. But that's a whole other story entirely...
Good luck, and wishes for a speedy recovery!!
~Eeyore
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~ R.I.P. Darrell Abbott 12/08/04
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DonBarba
Enthusiast
Reged: 04/02/04
Posts: 284
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Quote:
I would be in agony by the time I was finished
That about sums up my 1 experience with a physical therapist.
I a couple days however I'm going to see a Physiatrist
This is a medical doctor who specializes in acute/cronic pain.
Quote:
The American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation is the national medical society representing more than 7,000 physicians who are specialists in the field of physical medicine and rehabilitation. They are called physiatrists (fizz ee at' trists).
Physiatrists focus on restoring function. They care for patients with acute and chronic pain, and musculoskeletal problems like back and neck pain, tendonitis, pinched nerves and fibromyalgia. They also treat people who have experienced catastrophic events resulting in paraplegia, quadriplegia, or traumatic brain injury; and individuals who have had strokes, orthopedic injuries, or neurologic disorders such as multiple sclerosis, polio, or ALS.
http://www.aapmr.org/
Has anyone had any experience with this?
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johng
Board Addict
Reged: 02/13/03
Posts: 354
Loc: great lakes
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they are the best. i am luck to have found the one I did. he has helped go from constant pain and meds to not needing more than 20 month. My MD specializes in epidurals. if your physitrist also does this you will be in good hands. they surpass PMDs in regards to epidurials. MY MD gets refearls from all over the state for his practice in epidurals. the physitrist will work with you to improve function. as opposed to a PMD to improve pain per say. he put me on a inclusive program which included surgery ( i really needed it) PT personal excersize and life style changes. i like that approch.
if anyone wants specific info feel free to PM
johng
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Ask and it will be given to you Matthew 7:7
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PrivateRealm
Threadhead
Reged: 03/18/03
Posts: 879
Loc: usa
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Well, I have been doing PY for 3 weeks, and I have a 1 and 1/2 weeks left. The Therapist said, like my Dr. , that my condition was chronic, and it would more than likely get worse as I age, so i will need to learn to live with it. She is supposedly shoing me ways to minimize pain, but it is not helping much.
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KeriAnne~~~
"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take - but by the moments that take our breath away."
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trixxie
Member
Reged: 05/23/03
Posts: 122
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Private Realm, depends on the situation whether PT will help or not. I have had situations where it did, and now it does not. Causes much more pain than anything. I just work on the stretches that I have been given in the past, and save my co-pay.
DonBarbara, physiatrists???I will never go back to the one I had. They are a team of specialists, that provide comphrensive care for you. I call them an injection mill. The first doc that referred me to another doc in their group, was high and mighty, "We are going to fix you!" referred me out for two separate epidurals, two sets of facet nerve injections, and none of them worked. When I saw their psychologist, he suggested I fire them, and move on to the doctor that I see now. Best move! After I made the follow up appt with the healing "god", he said, that they had done all they could with me, and nothing else that his practice could do. Not a surgery candidate(until they perfect ADR-Bryan disc)and no referrals..
Thats my experience in nutshell...Hope your experience is better!
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The truth shall set you free!
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DonBarba
Enthusiast
Reged: 04/02/04
Posts: 284
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Quote:
DonBarbara, physiatrists???I will never go back to the one I had.
Neither will I. They guy I saw was mostly interested in selling me pillows and other products - it seemed to me.
He barely listened to me; cutting me off several times: I think I was interferring with his sales pitch.
Then he wanted me to see his associate physical therapist 2x per week.
Without ever asking me directly, or my asking for; upon "checkout" he had included an electronic stimulation device ($25) and a lumbar pillow ($35) for me; and told the receptionist to schedule the PT (which I had not said either way whether I wanted it or not).
I did not take the pillow, but did buy the elec thing, and did not schedule the PT.
He reminded me of a condo time share salesman.
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