Whining about back stuff, feel free to scroll on by.

[cupcake_goth]

I went to the first PT appointment on Tuesday. In addition to general (mild) degenerative issues with my spine thanks to arthritis and my core muscles being weak, I hold my body unevenly, which means I'm unconsciously overworking one side and thus spasms and pain. ("The muscles in your right hip and glutes are insanely tight. Like, crazy tight" quoth the PT lady.)

So! I have stretching exercises to do at home every day, and twice-a-week PT appointments for at least a month, maybe longer. The stretching exercises hurt. A lot. I guess that means they're working?

I find it grimly fascinating that the pain has migrated from my lower back to holy shit levels down my left hip/thigh/calf, with occasional shooting pains and a sense of "Maybe my leg won't work". So I'm back on muscle relaxers with an occasional chaser of rx pain meds, and having the Stroppy One coat me in Painless X and/or Neurosoothe twice a day.

Needless to say, I'm really tired of this. And tired + ongoing pain = lowered emotional resistance to everything, so I get anxious and weepy at ... everything.

I miss people.

Comments

[staxxy]

I miss people too. I have been trying to get back into doing my own pt exercises again. Just so much ugh.

[oldhalloween]

Yeah... the holy shit levels of hip, thigh, calf pain have been pretty rough this go around for me. Tight calves and shins. Gets worse after long walks for me. Nerve flossing helps a little. Had to start using the equipment to stretch the hamstring. That is a new kind of awful. 3000mg of Gabapentin at night helps me sleep. Laser at PT on the back of my knee helps the sciatica. Massage should help with relaxing the muscles you tense up from the pain. Swimming pool to let the spine decompress is also great. No swimming just hanging out in deep enough water while holding to the side of the pool does it. I cried on the couch through most of April it was so bad. :::hugs::

[sistawendy]

Poor vampire. If you want to yell at me over the phone or something, you can do that. We're Xers.