Facet Inflamation and Myofascial Release

[stepbystep89]

Hello All,

Although I am a new poster on the back portion of HealtrabroadoarRAB, I am a frequent visitor to the foot problems board. I have had numerous surgeries to my foot/ankle due to a fall approx 10 years ago. I have had limited back problems due to long perioRAB of non-weightbearing and various casts, but recently have experienced horrible back pain due to a spill I took the other day while trying to protect my foot which is recovering from yet another surgery.

I was sitting on the edge of the tub swinging my legs around and protecting my right foot when I lost my balance. I continued to try to keep my right foot from banging into anything and held it high in the air while I twisted and landed on my back in the bath. I immediately felt excruciating pain in my lower back with any type of movement. I sat in the hot tub for a while thinking that would make it better but it didn't work.

The next morning i called my family physician who decided to call in some muscle relaxers instead of making me come in to the office on my crutches and risk falling again - not to mention it is extremely difficult to get around on crutches when your back is killing you. :dizzy:

Fast forward a week and I am still in quite a bit of pain, so I went to see the family doc. I wanted to make sure I didn't have a serious injury. The pain isn't as bad as it was and the muscle relaxers seem to help (not to mention the other pain killers I am on for my foot). It really hurts when I try to lift my crutches while clirabing the stairs, when I try to roll over while lying down and when I sit for any period of time.

The doctor said there is noticable inflamation on the right side of my spine and thinks my facet is inflamed at L-4 and L-5. He has referred me to a chiropractor in the area who specializes in myofascial release.

Can someone tell me what I can expect during this treatment? Is it painful? Do most people find it successful? Also, how do you determine if a chiropractor is good or not? I've only been to see one in the past, so I don't know much about them. If this doesn't work the family doc will send me for an injection at the pain clinic. Can someone tell me more about injections? Thank you in advance for the help!

Step

 

[feelbad]

in all honesty, given the "whole' situation, i personally would NOT consent to having ANY actual chiro adjustments done, or anything else for that matter there UNTIL your doc actually senRAB you for that ONE possibly very revealing MRI done on that heavily 'traumatized" area. you just truely have no real clue,and neither does any doc, as to what IS going on after ANY real injury that involves the neck or spinal back UNTIL they finally get that good in depth 'look' inside down to that very critical spinal cord and nerve rtoot level. all they do until THAT MRI is done is 'guess', thats all they CAN do when they cannot or do not bother to just get that really good look inside BEFORE sending anyone for any level of PT or myo too?

i have been recieving myofascial release therepy for three years now only because it just IS the only therepy out of wayyy too many i have tried since 2003 that actually even works in relieving heavy myofasical/muscle damage from overly tightened fascia that wraps around your muscles? that just IS the part that casues the muscles to contract and wad up from inflammatory signals in the first place, so it does 'hit' it at its very core with the right therepist who simply HAS TO have alot of years of experience doing this too? i can explain the different forms to you, but right now, you just really DO NEED to 'see' into that area with an MRI first before ANYTHING else gets 'done' to it that can very easily just make certain findings much worse for you and NOT better? just even considering the mechanism of your injury just being from trauma, the MRI sould have pretty much been a no brainer for your primary doc to just 'do" for you first. i really would get pushy here about getting that MRI FIRST, before consenting to anything else being 'moved or manipulated" by a chiro in your case?

trauma is trauma whether you hit this on the bathtub or in an MVA. and it should have been treated that way from the very beginning since both types of 'injury' simply have that potential for creating spinal damage at all? impact is impact too, ya know? just try like hell to get that initial MRI FIRST before consenting to anything else right now. you ARE owed the berst and fullest eval possible when any area of your body is simply hit with trauma to esp that back/spinal? just my own personal opinion of course and seeing what even what 'appears' to be more 'minor' trauma depending, can actually even 'do' to any individual depending upon how THAT persons body absorbs energy into that spinal level? and that DOES depend upon individual factors too. just push for MRI before anything else right now step.

this is simply just in YOUR very best interest right now so if there IS a problem there, it does not become worse ONLY becasue no one bothered to actually even 'look' into it and Rxed any chiro or any other types of therepy that just has the ability with certain types of injury to actually create a much bigger and more impactful problem for YOU? this IS one of those better safe than sorry types of situations thats in your best interest right now hon. good luck with this step,and please DO keep me posted. marcia

 

[wilkinak]

I'm a newbie here, but not to facet problems. I have dealt with facet & myofascial issues for almost 15 years, and it doesn't sound like what you describe. I agree with the previous poster, find out more before going to a chiro. You don't have a chronic issue, you have an acute problem from a known event. The one thing I have learned over the last 15 years is that family doctors don't know squat about backs or necks. I'm guessing you're seeing an orthopod about your ankle, at least ask him before going to the chiro.