Pain rant

[Seshat]

Not looking for advice, just whining.

My wonderful myotherapist is healthy again - she'd had to stop practicing due to them finding a tumour in her brain. Fortunately, it wasn't malignant - they could do some delicate surgery, give her a titanium plate to replace part of her skull, and a few weeks of physiotherapy while her brain moved itself back into place.

She looks a LOT healthier now, actually: in retrospect, it's obvious she had been sick and noone knew it.


ANNNYWAY: how this affects me....

She's back working on me. After months of me not being worked on. And it HURTS! And she's releasing toxins, which means that for days after she works on me, I feel SICK.

And I KNOW it'll make me better in the long run. I know - from personal experience - that it helps, and that after a few months with her my body will be much freer, and I'll be able to walk better and move better and the worst of the toxins will be released and so on and so forth.

But right now, I just want to CRY and SCREAM and hit things and throw one hell of a tantrum!

Cause it fucking hurts.

[mathnerd]

Huge (gentle) hugs. I'm sorry you're dealing with chronic pain. I know you didn't ask for advise, but do warm baths help you at all? Two of my boys have a painful bone disease and relaxing in a warm bath at night really helps them.

[MistressOfTangents]

*Hugs Seshat carefully*

[Seshat]

<gratefully accepts hugs>

Warm baths do help, and I take them fairly frequently. Both the warmth and the suspension-in-water help.

[Akasa]

/hugs

I don't know what kind of therapy that is, but I see a chiropractor regularly for chronic back pain. When I broke my arm I couldn't go see him cause I had to keep my arm at a certain angle. Now that I'm back seeing him he's got to loosen me back up. It's frigging painful! So I get where you're coming from.

[Mishi]

*gentle hugs* I've tried it, and it really disagreed with me. Glad it works for you even though its kicking your butt right now. *more gentle hugs*

[PhiSigGirl1988]

Glad she's better! And I hope you feel better soon! I feel like I need to do something like this. I'm almost constantly in pain, though most times it's bearable and I completely forget about it. I had a few back surgeries for scoliosis when I was 10 (I'm almost 25 now), and I feel like everything is beginning to catch up with me.

[Seshat]

It depends on whether your major problem is muscular or skeletal.

Myotherapy is - at least in Australia - considered 'alternative medicine'; as are chiropractic and osteopathy.

A myotherapist studies the muscles and tendons (as osteopaths and chiropractors study bones). The myotherapist uses massage and manipulations to heal injuries to the muscles. In my case, it's mostly trigger points. But I also managed to displace one of the tendons in my shoulder, and she put it back into place and has been working on ensuring the related muscles relax and heal.

Obviously you should consult with your medical experts, PhiSigGirl.
If the surgeries have resulted in soft tissue damage along your spinal muscles, myotherapy might be helpful. If it's skeletal, osteopathy or chiropracty might. But I reiterate: consult with medicos. The spine is not to be futzed with!

[PhiSigGirl1988]

Oh, right. Myo=pertaining to muscles. I'm going to be a nurse. Should've made that connection.

I have gone to a chiropractor before, but that was before my surgeries. I'm kind of afraid that any manipulations would mess with my spinal fusion, so I'm going to look into therapies that can help pain without those.

[Seshat]

A myotherapist should be only working on the soft tissues - muscles, in particular. If your spine isn't properly aligned, you'll have muscles that are chronically attempting to align it. (Well, training to be a nurse, you'll know that....)

Massaging those muscles should help considerably with pain in them. So should heat pads (or any other form of reasonable heat).