I need my favorite back buddies opinion, it really counts........I'm getting scared!

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monkey5

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Hey there, some of you already know this Monkey has back issue and you have all been soo soo supportive but can this be part of it possibly? I have SI joint dysfunction as well as and extra vertabrea partially fused with the sacrum and major issue now with the piriformis muscle. Okay i have posted many times about some leg issue as well with major foot issue. The pT person at first thought possible maybe a circulation issue but today they said when i let them know everything(second visit) they said possible maybe it is from a back problem. I also have this problem when they gave me this excersice that i take a towel because i recently had abdominal surgery i take this an hold it around my foot as i have no ankle strenght and then pull the towel forward to make my foot tilt forward now i let them know i cannot feel it in my leg above that like you are supposed as you stretch that muscle and thats when they said what they said, soooo does this sound like it could be back related or circulation related because i know some say with nerve damage that you can have the coldness i have felt in the past but yet it could also be circulation plus since all this back issues and foot /leg i have what look like enlarged nodules on a few toes as when i walk without helping it with shoes on my toes or at least the top of my foot curls up and i have to tell myself to straighten them, that. Pleaseee give me your opionion!
Love, Monkey
 
Hi! I am so sorry you are having these leg/nerve issues! I don't have experience with this problem, but I have have chronic SI joint arthritis. I have gotten a lot of injections in SI and nerve burning in lower back. Has the PT helped with your back pain/SI pain at all? I learned some exercises and stretches that helped in PT. Mostly the core strengthening is what helped me the most. Could your doctor do a nerve test-maybe that would help pinpoint things? It is so hard when you are trying to find answers. Sending good thoughts your way. Take care, Kera4
 
kera, it seems with everyday i go to PT it gets worse and worse. My dr.s were supposed to do another nerve test but haven't thier not very good about stuff. I know i have no strenght in my ankle at all.
Love, Monkey
 
Hi Monk girl-- I truly think your leg/foot issues are related to your back, or the SI issue, and/or your piriformis muscle. Could be one or all three adding to the mix of your leg/ankle/foot issues.

It's really important to be working with a really really good therapist that specializes in SI & Piriformis issues, and also work with stretching your femoral & sciatic nerve, plus strengthening exercises for your core to get that ankle and foot working better with less pain.

SounRAB easy to say that..I know. And I have lived in those thoughts you have myself.. that it hurts.. I feel worse.. etc. Therapy for you right now may not cure you.. but the RIGHT therapy could certainly make you stronger and less painful.

My last flare up that lasted 3 months long.. I returned to PT. I am fortunate to have the best PT on the planet (I think) that she continues to amaze me in just how well she knows every thread of our being and reactivate just about any muscle in so many ways without hurting the patient in the process.

Two spine surgeons have told me that I am left with permanent nerve damage on my left leg/foot. It's minimal. The therapist didnt necessarily agree with them. Well I have to tell you.. I do have some nerve damage, but my goodness did she minimize it all the more with this last round of therapy.

And.. this new john hopkins spine surgeon that I am seeing at the moment (& he's not the one that did my surgery) highly recommended his "in-house PT" for this round of PT. I said sure.. it's close to work.. I'll give it a go! Well.. I went to her two or three sessions and quit her. She was strictly basic stuff.. said she was limited on what she could do with me, gave me very standard stuff and also asked me to do things my body just couldn't do anymore, like sit indian style on the floor. Rather than to give me another way to do an exercise that would accomplish the same thing..she just gave up and had no other alternatives for me. EgaRAB.. and this gal was considered to be a good PT! NOT!

So there are many that are great and some not so much. Don't give up on it. You hang in there. :)
 
Hi Monkey girl, I too am blessed with one of the best PT's! One of the things I found out about her is that she is continuously going to school to learn new things. She's had me strapped up to what I can only call seat belts then strapped my leg to her waist then pulled herself away from me. I always thought she was weird but there is a method to her madness! I love her madness! I too am having problems with my sacrum (Post Operative) and with the periformis muscle thus the sciatic nerve. I have been stretching my leg as you have been instructed to do as well as exercise to the best of my ability, my therapist tells me that by exercising my body and stretching my legs it feeRAB oxygen to the sciatic nerve as well as lengthening it and I do notice that when I don't exercise my back and legs hurt more. As for the periformis, she gives me rubs downs and uses moist heat and I do the same at home and it does help. For the Sacrum for me its all about loosening the muscles in that area so we do a lot of stretches during our sessions and at home. Periformis is something that's hard to get rid of but it can be done with tenacity, its such a pain it the butt isn't it! If I were you I'd find another therapist if you feel this one is not helping you.
 
justoneof us, yes i am very worried everytime i start going again as i always wonder if thier hurtiing me more or don't know what thier doing ect. Right now at home when doing my home excercies i can feel pain all the way up from my foot to my back ugh and they didn't mess with the Piriformis muscle yesterday as i let them know it frickin hurts and i could barely move the next day and now today it's hard as well and i actually broke out the heating pad last night without relief. i realize that certain uscles after this time maybe stiff or very sore and tender due to the fact the one side hasn't had much movement but i want to know if i can when does it get better when do you know if therapy is going to work or not. I told her when this all started after my car accident and then a few years later ithier my hip or my low back was aching constanly i told her i couldn't tell wich, she said that is very normal to not know if it's your back or hip or vise versus. I just don't understand if whichever it is why nothing shows up, i am not old for crying out load and lazy by far. I cannot believe that an SI joint dysfunction could make you this miserable! But i do know one thing as well they are having much luch with adjusting the pelvic tilt. Kera) I have had two EMG in the last couple of years but nothing shows up there ithier! I feel in a way this is a good thing but then not because it's not telling anyone whats actually going on. My husband saw me hurting so bad yesterday not being able to walkect. and i know he is going to start flipping soon and be like are they making you better or worse, it makes no sense to even go but i am really trying and being positive! P.S. I am the one for some ungodly reason was rejected to be seen at the spine center. But i am hanging on to the hope that in July when i go to the University i will find help or at the least maybe get some answers and i do know that a good therapist will make recommendations and suggest referrals if needed to your regular dr.!
Love, Monkey
 
reRABmom, i just started back to PT the thing is i haven't gone enough to say wether shes good or not or if it's helping, i just know it hurts and yes a pain in the but literally! But i am not going to be able to go for another few weeks again as the hernia surgeon still has me on restrcition for at least two weeks with the abdominal muscles wich is okay by me for the fact that it is still very tender! But to boot i found out after i talked with the therapist that because of the delay with surgery now i also need a new script but thats okay as well because since i fell this past winter on my left side adding to everything my neck is very bad, i thought it was going to be okay but i pretty much cannot move it without it cracking and i am getting more frequent headaches with it, i think this last major fall didn't help the rest of the situation! I was out of pain pills for a few days last minth and omg could i teel that i had hurt mysefl arg! Last but not least i was going to get back into an old dr.s office because they are more experienced and even though they din't do much for me in the get go i feel they would be of more help now thats so much is happening but yes what a barrier again. When i went there in the past they dismissed me and once your that you can't ever i guess go back, my luck, so now i have to go back to the other wher it takes forever in a day to get anything done, but.. i have one last but and i do see a rhuematologist for other issues, my kneee and shoulder and chest so i am thinking maybe i might get somewhere with him as i had to reschedule due to surgery and thats this Wenesday! I am hoping he can do the script to PT? Also maybe he can order the EMG and or exrays because i haven't had anything since i fell of my back. I mean really it's been a year since any testing and i am wondering if possibly i am losing bone mass because of all the weight loss as they are concerned about that as well! In the last week or so i lost at least four pounRAB and over the last six months or so forty and they are wondering why so steadily.
Thanks for being here!
Love, Monkey
 
Monkey...I am so sorry that you are experiencing such pain. It has taken over 5 yrs...with no treatment for the SI joint...and I do know what pain it can cause. My neuro. sent me to a ortho. who specializes in the SI joint..I guess mine is beyone help...have been to countless PT sessions...and had to stay in bed for days afterward...unfortunately for me.. The only thing that helped me was the injection nurabing the SI area...I know that is the diagnostic for SI joint problems..but it was wonderful for several hrs...no pain.. That is just so sad.. I hope that your PT person continues to help you...that is wonderful news that she can. Whatever works for you..go for it. I wish it was a permanent fix for you... Take care, feel better.

Leslie
 
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