Spinal Cord Stimulator Implant Update

I had my permanent spinal cord stimulator implanted on Monday. The surgery and outpatient stay went very well. I was pretty anxious as I had a previous horrible experience with myy lumbar fusion. I have come to the realization that if I ever have anything else done it will be here at home. Patients are still treated like people here and not like cattle that are being herded to the slaughter.  The nurses and staff were excellent and my surgeon was wonderful!

This week I have spent recovering. The stimulator has been working very well. The incisions on the other hand have been a royal pain. I have had to wear an abdominal binder and back brace to keep me from moving in directions that would cause problems with the leads. It takes about six weeks for them to scar down permanently. Until then, they can migrate to places they are not supposed to. Therefore, patients have to limit their movements to keep that from happening.

The hardest part for me has been to remember not to put my arms above my head. The bending and twisting I can remember but I will try to reach for something before I even think about it. I have had to limit wearing the brace this week due to the fact it keeps rubbing and putting pressure on my incision. I know that will go away and I will wear the brace as much as possible but I am not going to torture myself. I am very careful when the brace is off.

Every day has gotten a bit better. Yesterday I started having some sort of sinus funk which made me cough terribly hard. That set off pain in all my chest muscles and my incision. I was miserable all day yesterday. Today the discomfort is a lot better.

I am very pleased with the SCS so far. It has given me much more stable relief for my pain than anything has in a very long time. I still have to take my medications but now I am very comfortable where as before I had days that I was so miserable I did not want to get out of bed. I never knew from one day til the next how it was going to be.

Now I feel like I can get my life back. I am looking forward to being able to do some things that I was not able to before without severe pain. I know this is not a magic cure all but it will help me have a better life with my family and that means a whole lot to me!

Stress Relief-Get Off That Train! Part 2

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Today I want to talk about some more excellent forms of stress relief. Some of these things help with chronic pain as well. The first thing I would like to talk about are the benefits of massage. Many people think massage is only for stress relief but that is far from the truth. Massage is a wonderful therapy for many painful conditions including back pain. It does relieve stress as well so you kill two birds with one stone using this therapy.

Hot stone massage is one of the modalities that is used to help with painful conditions such as back or neck pain.  The heat of the stones helps to penetrate deep into the tissues. This causes the muscles and fascia to relax as it increases circulation to the area of the body that the heat is applied to. As discussed previously, muscles that are tense can contract and pinch nerves or cause them to be inflamed. By relaxing the muscles, the nerves can then heal.

Deep tissue massage is another modality that works extremely well for therapeutic purposes as well as stress relief. It is widely used for painful conditions. This type of massage gets deep into the tissues and manipulates them causing chemical changes in the body that signal muscles to relax. Some people however, do not tolerate deep tissue massage well such as people with fibromyalgia and may need another modality such as Neuromuscular massage or trigger point therapy.

Neuromuscular massage works on the premise that where muscles that are tense or knotted that there are trigger points. When pressure is applied to these trigger points relaxing them, this sends a signal to the brain which in turn tells the muscles to relax. Pain generators work in the same way. They cause trigger points to occur and they can be treated in the same manner.

Acupressure massage is a variation of acupuncture. It works on the same premise of acupuncture and utilizes the different acupuncture points. The difference is in the acupressure massage, pressure is applied to the different acupuncture points for a certain amount of time. This gives very similar results as the procedure acupuncturists use by applying the fine needles and inserting them into the points. This type of massage works by removing blockages in the energy pathways, once this has been accomplished the body is then able to heal itself. This type of massage works very well for stress relief or painful conditions such as back pain as well.

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I will have more information on other ways to relieve stress and pain in my next post which will be Part 3. So tune in for this!

Stress Relief –Combat The Vicious Cycle Stress and Chronic Back Pain Cause!

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Today I wanted to talk about the relationship stress has on chronic pain. These two things really work hand in hand to aggravate each other and it is almost like a vicious cycle. When I am stressed, I tense and all my muscles follow suit. Then it is no time until I start having muscle spasms due to that. In turn, this aggravates my other back problems due to the fact that when my muscles are so tight, they cause inflammation and can even pinch nerves.

So what are some ways to relieve stress? I have been doing a lot of thinking about this. I have noticed since I have gotten some relief from my sciatica it is much easier to implement some stress relieving activities into my life that help me to keep this from happening so much.

One thing that I really enjoy doing even when I cannot get outside and walk is to just sit on my back deck by myself and enjoy the peace and quiet. I look around at all the things in nature around me. It is amazing at the changes that take place from week to week if you look for them. I like to just watch the birds and the squirrels playing around in the trees and my yard. The leaves are falling now so I am trying to do this as much as I can before the weather shuts me in for the winter.

Walking is another excllent way to practice stress relief. In addition to helping reduce stress it is an excellent way to get some cardiovascular exercise which we all can use. This can help us keep our muscles in good tone as well.

I enjoy playing Pogo late at night when I cannot wind down from a hectic day. It also helps take my mind off my pain if my back pain and sciatica are acting up. I prop myself up on the couch or my reclining chair and I can play for a couple of hours before I have to stop.

I have joined some email lists for people who suffer from chronic pain. It is great to be able to talk to others who have experienced back pain as I have. I find that it helps to relieve stress when I can talk about my problems with others who “get it”.  I love my family dearly but sometimes they just do not understand as they have not gone through this.

Writing is another way that I relieve stress. I find that it can be very cathartic at times. It helps just to get my thoughts on paper and out of my own head. When I see the words written, I can then release them to the Universe and let go of them.

I am going to look for other ways to find stress relief. I will have Part 2 of this so stay tuned!

Natural Herbal Supplements for Energy

Chronic pain can take its toll of the body, mind and spirit. It really eats away at your energy. I know it seems to take much more effort to do anything anymore. I also know that it is due to my body using all the energy that it has to deal with the pain in my back. Pain management does not address this problem so I have been looking at different ways to build up my energy levels.

I have been looking at some herbal supplements for energy. Once I did my research, I was pleasantly surprised with what I found. I had used MSM for quite some time for its anti-inflammatory properties before and after my surgeries. I found that it is considered a good natural herb for energy and to increase metabolism as well. Some women have even lost weight when they took it.

More research revealed that bee pollen and royal jelly were great herbal supplements for energy renewal. I am going to order a bottle tomorrow and try it out. I was torn between trying this and Siberian ginseng. I really feel good about both these products, however the royal jelly was less expensive than the ginseng so I am going to try it first. I will let you know how it works out!

As far as my back pain and sciatica issues go, I had some issues with the leg pain again today. I did a lot of laundry yesterday so I may have overdone. I am hoping since I rested my leg today it will resolve itself. If not then I am talking with the doctor about SCS and the pain pump on the 16th. Hopefully if things stay the same with my back, pain management will be able to map out a plan that will give me some more permanent relief in the near future! We shall see.