my whiplash injury is now a chronic problem

[danielle2291]

Hi all,
I was in a car accident last Deceraber. I was by hit hard by two cars, one on the side and one in the rear. I suffered whiplash in my back and neck. I was treated by a physical therapist for about three months and was discharged b/c there was nothing else that could be done for me. It was determined that my problem was muscular. The pain never completely went away but was at times pretty minimal. This past month, I have had a great increase in pain for no reason whatsoever. I went back to my surgeon who wants to do and MRI and I am to go back to physical therapy again. He thinks that the MRI will just come back with mild degenerative changes and I agree with him that this problem is most likely muscular. He said that I am on the borderline of my pain being a chronic condition and that if that is the case and it is just muscular that there is not much that can be done for it other than stretching, meRAB and going in and out of physical therapy when it flares up. I'm just wondering what those of you with chronic pain do to keep it under control other than meRAB? Do you repeatedly go back to physical therapy? What about a chiropractor? A regular exercise program? Stretching for the rest of your life? Any advice from those of you with chronic back pain would be appreciated. Thanks.
Danielle

 

[Justoneofus]

Good muscle core strengthening is essential to keep up with every day for us all, most especially for us back pain sufferers. Yes, it is for life. If it's not kept up, it leaves us more vulnerable for further back injury. Even with proper exercise, it's not a guarantee, it just improves our odRAB quite a bit.

I personally would not choose to a chiro for muscular issues. What type of PT are you seeing? Is it a sports therapist or a rehab therapist. There is a huge difference and I never knew this until I have been seeing my current rehab therapist. She is unlike any other therapist I have seen over the past 20+ years. And yes.. I have had issues that long. I injured my back first time at age 18. I just turned 45. Not all those years were horrid, had some great pain free years through that time.

Are you anti-inflammers and muscle relaxers? Are you experiencing spasms? Have you tried a TENS Unit to help break up those tight muscles? Have you gotten therapeutic massages to loosen and stretch our muscles out? These are all ideas to try if you have not. Also accupuncture is also a proven method in relaxing the muscles.

How is your nutrition? Muscles need gobs of water to stay pliant and also calcium (i also learned) is a must to loosen the muscles.

Hopefully your muscles will get sorted out and keeping a good strengthening regimen.. you may have no further troubles. But you have to be patient and be a true participant in your therapy and do your homework. It wont' get better without your total support in doing what is needed.

I wish you wellness. Take care and hang in there. Tammy:wave:

 

[danielle2291]

HI Tammy,
Thank you for taking the time to respond to my post. I'm sorry to hear that you have had back problems for so long. I have been prescribed anti-inflammatories and muscle relaxers, but I am hesistant to take them on a long term basis. I have a bum knee for which I took anti-inflammatories for over a year and now my body doesn't respond very well to anti-inflammatories. Right now, I am just dealing with the pain until it gets so bad that I break down and take a perocet. I'm sure that is not a good habit to be in either. I have an appointment to see a PT on Friday. I'm not sure that I know the difference b/w a rehab and sports PT. What is your rehab PT doing differently than a sports PT? I have already tried some of your suggestions. I've tried massages. They provide temporary relief but they are expensive so I can't go frequently. I have not tried a tens unit and I have not tried acupuncture (again that is expensive). Do you have to have a tens unit prescribed to you? I didn't know about calcium but I will start taking some to see if that helps. Thanks for the advice. I hope that you keep getting relief from your current therapist. I also hope that my new PT helps me out as well. I'm only 30 and can't imagine living the rest of my life with this. Thanks again!
Danielle

 

[Justoneofus]

Hi Danielle. You are most welcome. You asked what a rehab therapist does that is different from a regular therapist. That's a darn good question and will do my best to explain some of the differences. Well this is my first true one, but she is rated in the top 500 in the country, so she really knows her stuff.

The big difference I have found is the individual one on one care and her overall attention to an injured part of the body. She not only is working on my fusion recovery, but my entire spine and body at the same time. She is leaving no stone unturned here. She explains her goal is for me to walk out that door and when I do, it's like I never hurt myself and am a normal person again. I mean she's like a personal therapist the whole time I am there. She works directly with me, explaining anything new (as I am a seasoned veteran there already and come in and do my beginning warm up). She then asks me how I am doing and based on that response, she sets up what I am to be doing for that day. I truly feel that I am working with a medical therapist and not a sports trainer (as I have always felt from the many other therapists I've seen over the years). It's like she is 10 doctors rolled into one. She makes sure my nerves are taken care of and protected, my spine is straight and erect, my muscles are stretched and strenghtened, etc. Heck.. I felt like some sciatica was returning several weeks ago and she said it was normal for lurabar fusion patients, but usually not coming from the lower back at all. She gave me a physical, said yep.. sit way back on the table, hug yourself, then she hugged me from behind and cracked my thorasic spine all the way up. They all popped. She said.. stand up and tell me how you feel. It took the sciatic pain away. Stuff like this.. I never got from a regular PT. It is just completely different.

Dont feel that taking medication is a bad thing. Your pain falls into the chronic pain area and you take what you need to get around. I am not a pill popper either and thus lived in a lot more pain than I needed to. Pain will drain you. There is nothing wrong with taking meRAB to ease your suffering. Take what you need when you need it. Even percs are too strong for me. I get along well with Vicodin. The heavy hitters make me very ill.

A TENS unit is by perscription. They are much like the electro stim you get in therapy, only it's a portable unit you can carry with you and zap yourself when ever you need to throughout the day. It's about the size of a cell phone, maybe a smidge larger. It knocks down tight muscles and eases things up pretty well.

Massages can get expensive, I completely understand. But some insurances pay for them but dont think to ask if it's covered. Might wanna check that out. Same as accupuncture.. many insurances now cover it.

Thank you for your good thoughts for me. I am doing very well. I could barely walk before my surgery and now I walk like normal person again. I can even get a pretty good pace going too! hehehe. Surgery was not my preference, but after 3 years of agony, I had enough. I wished I done it sooner! I have no regrets at all.

You hang in there and let me know how the therapy works. Take care. Tammy:wave:

 

[danielle2291]

Hi Tammy,
I'm glad to hear that you are doing well and that your surgey was a success! Thanks for the info about the therpists. I'm just met my new PT yesterday and I'm not sure exactly what category she falls under, but it sounRAB as if she has had a lot of experience in a variety of settings. I was actually quite encouraged b/c she told me that she thought that I was doing very well given the extent of the severity of my car accident and that she thought that I still had a good chance for a full recovery. She said that sometimes after a car accident when you are first treated that the injury is too acute to really do anything with, but now that it is much later that a good strengthening program should really help me. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Thanks for your help.
Danielle