| After weeks of trying painkillers alone, I finally | | | | straining your back, what the best position for |
| went to sports rehab for help with her agonizingly | | | | sleeping with a bad back (on your back with a |
| painful lumbar spine problem. To my surprise, | | | | pillow under your knees), and other useful mobility |
| physical therapy was a relief to my back pain, and | | | | tips. Hearing all the correct ways to treat my |
| I was able to leave the facility an hour later, | | | | body, it was apparent to me that I've really been |
| walking fully upright for the first time in weeks. | | | | abusing my poor spine for most of my life. No |
| Thanks to a wonderful contraption called a | | | | wonder I've had lesser bouts of back pain for the |
| traction bed, that stretched out my spine and | | | | last twenty years, culminating in a more severe |
| relieved the pressure on the lumbar area. | | | | case this time around. I learned my lesson. |
| What is traction? The physical therapist first put | | | | The therapist told me to slowly, gradually, build up |
| me in a harness. They had me wear a vest-like | | | | my stamina by walking and doing light exercizes. |
| apparatus, and attached another one to go the | | | | He told me to listen to my body, if I feel pain |
| opposite way, as I lied down on the traction table, | | | | then it's time to stop. I did a little walking this |
| with pillows under my head. Then, they hooked | | | | evening. Thanks to the traction therapy, I am |
| me to a Tens Machine (I'll explain that in a | | | | much more comfortable. It will be a long and slow |
| moment) and then turned on both systems. It | | | | recovery from sciatica but at least I now know |
| felt wonderful, I could've stayed there all evening. | | | | there is hope. Having to go to a spine doctor and |
| After roughly twenty minutes, they unhooked | | | | for physical therapy for the first time in my life |
| me, and I was amazed to be able to walk around | | | | was initially really scary to me. But, truthfully, it |
| much more comfortably than when I walked in | | | | was an unexpected relief. Nobody gave me shots |
| the place. Whoever invented this wonderful | | | | in my spine, or manhandled me. There wasn't any |
| apparatus did back pain sufferers a really big | | | | torturous pain inflicted on me, just a few tests to |
| favor. | | | | see how strong or weak my muscles are, a CT |
| What is a Tens Unit? It is a machine that emits | | | | scan and a few x-rays. I heard another patient |
| minor electrical pulses to the area that is in pain, | | | | ask the therapist what happens if the physical |
| working the muscles and giving relief to the area. | | | | therapy doesn't work. The next step is getting |
| There are different kinds of pulses, some ping | | | | shots in the back, he said. No way, I told him to |
| and some pulse, but they all feel great. I had the | | | | fix me, so I never need to get to that level of |
| physical therapist crank it up as high as possible, | | | | treatment. The next level of treatment after |
| and it made my pains go away for the time I | | | | those shots is surgery. I want to avoid all of that, |
| was using it. Amazing. I'd been doubled over with | | | | and am glad to know that they don't push these |
| serious pain, even with medicines like Celebrex | | | | things on us. They wait to see how we respond. |
| and Tylenol with Codeine in my system. This | | | | And, I can tell that the therapy is working, so I |
| worked better than both of those together, | | | | am going to build up my stamina by doing as told. |
| hands down. | | | | If you suffer from crippling back pain, make sure |
| On the wall was a poster, explaining the spine, in | | | | to go to a specialist and have him look at your |
| minute detail. Very interesting. It's much more | | | | back. He will probably give you pain killers and |
| complicated than I could ever imagine. I had the | | | | prescribe physical therapy. I reccommend it, and |
| therapist show me where my L5 lumbar area | | | | wish you a speedy recovery. I'm so glad I finally |
| was, because that is where the herniated disk is. | | | | went. No more toughing it out for me. It gives |
| Half the benefit of going to physical therapy is the | | | | me hope of a pain-free future and shows it's |
| instruction on what to do with your problem. | | | | needless to suffer in silence. Been there, done |
| They teach you how to get up correctly without | | | | that. |