Hello-new member

[ValleyoftheSun]

Hello, my name is Kevin- I am a 36 year old male from Arizona- Phoenix/Glendale area. I was referred to this board from someone else who told me that there was a helpful, very knowledgeable community.
My story: 3 months ago I was in a car accident. It was the other guys fault- he was just a innocent 18 year old kid who made a mistake. The accident was head on, really a corner to corner accident. My insurance declared my truck totaled- I only mention this to show the significance of the accident. It was a practically brand new(3,000 miles) Chevy Colorado pickup truck.

The airbag was deployed and caused a concussion and I got a 3-4 inch laceration on my forearm. The most significant injury though was to my back and neck. The doctor diagnosis ed me with sprained/strained neck, mid-back, and lower back. He prescribed physical therapy and I went for 8 weeks(16 sessions)- until my benefits were exhausted. He also prescribed flexiril 10mg, naproxen 500mg, and tramadol(not sure of the dosage).After 6 weeks he ordered x-rays which were negative.

My job is physical and I've had a real hard time making it to 40 hours a week. I am now going for an MRI tomorrow morning. He also just refereed me to a pain management center. Everyday, when I get home from work I pass out for an hour or two out of pure exhaustion. The past 3 months have been very hard on me- all I do is go to work and then go home and rest up for the next day. I haven't done anything social and my attitude and demeanor have been greatly affected. Most days I am miserable.

So I joined this forum/community in order to become better educated and learn from others who have already been through this phase of their own injuries. I guess the first few questions I have are.....

-does this sound like the right course of treatment so far
-what questions should I be asking to my doctor
-what kind of experiences have people had w/ pain management doctors
-what else can I do in order to relieve pain
-references to pain-management docs in the Phoenix/Glendale area
-how long can I expect this to go on for

Whatever advice and direction anybody can give will be greatly appreciated because I am very frustrated right now. People aren't very sympathetic- unless they have been through similar trials.

Once again, I look forward to talking with everyone.

-Kevin

 

[marshrose]

Hi sorry to hear you have gone thru so much

It will be easier to understand why the course of treatment if you list what your symptoms are related to your back, regarding the neck issues- if you have radiating pain in your arms/hanRAB, or similar neck area problems, and when you get your mri results, all neck related issues are posted on the 'spinal cord' board as the spinal cord itself goes thru the neck to about T1/T2 verterbra, so any questions or a post you may wish to make regarding the neck in itself can be better answered there.

This board (back problems) is better for mid back (thoracic) and lower back (lurabar).

Post what you are feeling regarding your mid lower back and we can better answer your ?, overall it so far sounRAB like good advice, as pain management can offer you more relief based on your symptoms, as well as if there is a hernation that is causing your symptoms, they can also do epidural steroid injections (esi).
Take care.