I had severe pain in my fingers, hands, arms, shoulders, neck and head. Back pain came only in a later stage.
For my pain in hands, arms and fingers, the root of the problem was thoracic outlet syndrome. Exercises and physical therapy didn’t help, so the only option left was a rib resection, the removal of the first rib on my left and right side. It’s better now, but unfortunately years of compression of the nerves an blood vains resulted in permanent nerve damage.
Unfortunately the second rib resection caused a severe brachial plexus injury, resulting in extreme pain, weakness and the inability to use my left arm for several months. I couldn’t hold a glass of water, grap a small object or lift a pen above my shoulder. It took about 18 to 24 months of intense physical therapy to partially (80-90%) recover from that.
For my neck pain the remedy was an anterior cervical discectomy and fusion, surgery to remove a degenerative disc in the neck. I still have headaches on a regular basis, occipital neuralgia to be precise, 3 or 4 times a month. Pain killers and laying down in a dim or dark room for 18 to 36 hours (in bad cases) helps.
And for my back pain I’m on a steady schedule of 5 to 6 Radiofrequency Facet Joint Denervations a year, supplemented with 2 or 3 epidural infiltrations to counter radiating pain in my right leg. After 4 or 5 months the positive effects of the denervation gradually decreases. In that case I can use a medical TENS unit to treat the pain.
And, of course, painkillers: the extended-release form of tramadol.
And it all started with some pain or inflammation in my right wrist, easily fixable with an ergonomic mouse, keyboard or better posture, right?
For my pain in hands, arms and fingers, the root of the problem was thoracic outlet syndrome. Exercises and physical therapy didn’t help, so the only option left was a rib resection, the removal of the first rib on my left and right side. It’s better now, but unfortunately years of compression of the nerves an blood vains resulted in permanent nerve damage.
Unfortunately the second rib resection caused a severe brachial plexus injury, resulting in extreme pain, weakness and the inability to use my left arm for several months. I couldn’t hold a glass of water, grap a small object or lift a pen above my shoulder. It took about 18 to 24 months of intense physical therapy to partially (80-90%) recover from that.
For my neck pain the remedy was an anterior cervical discectomy and fusion, surgery to remove a degenerative disc in the neck. I still have headaches on a regular basis, occipital neuralgia to be precise, 3 or 4 times a month. Pain killers and laying down in a dim or dark room for 18 to 36 hours (in bad cases) helps.
And for my back pain I’m on a steady schedule of 5 to 6 Radiofrequency Facet Joint Denervations a year, supplemented with 2 or 3 epidural infiltrations to counter radiating pain in my right leg. After 4 or 5 months the positive effects of the denervation gradually decreases. In that case I can use a medical TENS unit to treat the pain.
And, of course, painkillers: the extended-release form of tramadol.
And it all started with some pain or inflammation in my right wrist, easily fixable with an ergonomic mouse, keyboard or better posture, right?