It's happening again...

[Phonetek]

Third appointment today a with a different guy. Their techniques definitely vary. I like this guy better. He did several additional things and man I feel like my skeleton got a lube job.

He saw the range of motion my shoulder has out lack thereof. He said I would benefit from additional physical therapy. He also said my head sticks out about an inch forward from where it should be. Basically from years of sitting in front of a computer, looking down and improper posture. Huh, interesting.

Her actually used a bowling metaphor to my surprise. He said, hold a bowling ball against your chest and you can do it all day. Hold it straight out, it won't be long until it starts to fall. He said heads are heavy (excluding blonds) so it makes sense that eventually they lean forward a bit. That's why you get a stuff neck or pain and it eventually leads to other conditions. I'm learning all kinds of stuff these days!

[boatman37]

So what did he tell you to do to combat the forward head?

I have been told to try acupuncture but juts don't like the thoughts of someone trying to make me look like a porcupine...lol. I have 2 bulging disks from back about 2001 and the front of my right thigh has been numb since then. If I stand too long I get excruciating pain in my leg. If I put my foot up on something that sits about 6" high it feels like a rush of cool going through my leg and it feels great...lol. Doesn't really bother me walking, more standing in one spot

[Phonetek]

So what did he tell you to do to combat the forward head?

Basically they get everything loosened up and into place the best they can. Then I do stretching exercises and try to strengthen it in addition to better posture.

I don't know if there's exactly a "fix" per say but there are things to do to not make it worse and end up like Igor in Son of Frankenstein.

[Phonetek]

I will say that being tall and having to constantly look down to talk to people isn't helping me. LOL

[boatman37]

lol. I sit in front of a computer at least 8 hours a day and notice the back of my neck getting sore

[Phonetek]

lol. I sit in front of a computer at least 8 hours a day and notice the back of my neck getting sore

Yep, things like that. Many have said my head ain’t screwed on straight. I guess they were right. Next person that says it I’ll let them know why. I had the MRI this morning, I find out Friday what the prognosis is. I’m keeping my fingers crossed something can get done and fast. I’ve had enough!

[Ryster]

What sent me there is a pinched nerve. I'm not a doctor but it would suffice it to say that if it's pinched it means something had to move out of place to pinch it. Their job is to move things into place. Seemed like a logical next step.

Today was my second adjustment, I feel even better than the first. I'm in half the pain I started with. I plan on going two more times before the MRI and see what shows up. In concert with that I'm on muscle relaxers and icing my neck and shoulders a couple times a day because I have significant inflammation.

I still have a little numbness which is where I'm going to lean on the Ortho to figure out if it persists. In the meantime I'm staying off the lanes even though I'm feeling better and stronger. No need to exasperate the condition.

By the way... repeat business is where ALL doctors make money. Ask any doctor of anything, there isn't much money in treating healthy people. If nobody has nothing wrong they wouldn't do too well paying the car payment on their Beamers. I'm sure it will take a bazillion visits to the chiro to equal the cost of one MRI and 3 office visits before I get my answer.

That said, I don't think that Chiropractors are for everyone. My wife for example who's disabled would in no way benefit. She's got major problems! She's far too fragile! For minor stuff like this... getting everything lined back up where it should be isn't a bad thing. Especially since I currently have zero arthritis. I'm in those prime years for that to start, is probably better to have things out back where they belong.

Hey Rob, any chance that acupuncturist also practices Voodoo? I can send them a doll that looks like me, they can treat me and it would save me a trip.

I must have a one-in-a-million doctor. Basically says that seeing them once a year for a check-up means that you are doing everything right. They have more than enough business to give them a nice, long career. Every year, the doctor just says see you next year and if anything comes up in the meantime to give them a call. When I had my annual check-up during the height of the pandemic, my doctor literally told me that if I were to test positive for Covid NOT to call them as they wouldn't be able to do anything. They are extremely conservative in terms of diagnosing and prescriptions as well for anything other than basic day-to-day infections (nose, throat, eyes, ears, skin).

I have friends that go to the Chiropractor monthly for the same aches and pains. Since those are considered "maintenance" treatments they are not covered by insurance.

[Phonetek]

So… got my results and it’s not at all what I expected to hear. I have a severely herniated disc in my cervical spine and “moderate” cervical spine degeneration. The degeneration and inflammation in the disc is pinching the nerve. My cervical spine is way out of whack causing my neck and head to be forward like the chiropractor said.

That’s the diagnosis, as far as the treatment goes the Orthopedic said there is nothing more he can do and passed me off to a pain management doctor. 🙄 I have to say I'm not very inclined to go to someone who likely just going to prescribe opioids. They are a mask and in the long run and do more harm than good. I'm not interested.

So since everything in my neck is basically compressed, I'm going to seek out someone who deals with spinal decompression. IMO that's more of a fix vs throwing drugs at it. I know of a place that does this and I'm setting up a consult. I have to find out if continuing the chiropractor would help asking will the decompression or not. For now I'm putting everything on hold until I do.

In the meantime I'll just deal with the pain with Advil and ice. And of course I'm staying off the lanes too as much as I hate to say it. This really sucks, I'm so furious and frustrated! 🤬 I guess this is NOT going to be a quick fix.

[Ryster]

Sorry to hear that. Whatever you do, try to avoid a surgical solution. I have a friend who had inflammation in discs that were pinching nerves. Meds didn't alleviate the issue. Went in for surgery to have the issue repaired which was supposed to open up the area around the nerves and stop the pinching. Part of the recovery was opioids, and they ended up addicted and had to ween themselves off of them. Now they are in more pain than when they started and permanently disabled and unable to work for the rest of their life. Not a good situation at all.

[Phonetek]

Sorry to hear that. Whatever you do, try to avoid a surgical solution. I have a friend who had inflammation in discs that were pinching nerves. Meds didn't alleviate the issue. Went in for surgery to have the issue repaired which was supposed to open up the area around the nerves and stop the pinching. Part of the recovery was opioids, and they ended up addicted and had to ween themselves off of them. Now they are in more pain than when they started and permanently disabled and unable to work for the rest of their life. Not a good situation at all.

I wouldn't do surgery unless I absolutely HAD to. My wife has had 3 spinal fusions and she's completely miserable and worse off than she was before third one. She is disabled for good as a result. I have zero faith in back surgery. I also saw how little the opioids helped. All it did is get her addicted for 6 years. I'm proud to say she has not taken them since last December and reports that she's in no more pain without them than she was on them. To add to it she has 3 tears in her hips and a knee that needs to be replaced but they won't do anything because of her back. Go figure.

I'm going to try this decompression therapy. It make sense after seeing my x-rays and MRI. It's obviously crunched together a little tighter than it should be. Doing therapy to open it up certainly sounds logical to me. I mean I'm not a neurologist but I'll go with logic over drugs and surgery any day.

The pain does suck, I'd say a solid 9 this morning. I used ice in 3 different spots for 20 mins each and it calmed down. I'll deal with it. Pop some Advil if I need to but that's it. I'm just really pissed though. I didn't expect all this. I worked so hard to get back to normal this spring. I was bowling so well too. Now that I'm at a place that I could have done something with it I'm all messed up again. I generally never get angry but this has me angry.