Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Lidocaine or Botox injections for those who have had surgery

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • #16
    trigger point injections are defined as injections for trigger point pain,
    which is often described in medical literature as similar to muscle knots...
    i know the tighter and tenser a muscle is, the more it will hurt upon
    injection...
    tonibunny...i read that you had surgery years ago, so i am wondering if your pain is
    more surface, if the surgery took care of some of what was causing deeper pain...?
    i never got relief from trigger point..i always felt the pain was deeper,
    and was being caused by something in my joints...
    i was glad when we finally found sacroiliac joints as the key spot...
    it made all the previous ineffective treatments worth the time and trouble...

    Corner... i would only suggest that you try to find a pain management doctor,
    one who wants to work with you to find something that might help relieve
    some of your pain to some degree...
    people tell me it is a temporary band aid...sometimes, when in severe pain,
    any band aid is gratefully appreciated!
    i also hope there is a revision surgeon who wants to help you...
    if you are interested in looking...

    jess
    Last edited by jrnyc; 12-30-2012, 01:28 PM.

    Comment


    • #17
      Originally posted by jrnyc View Post
      hi Lisa
      i get botox in upper spine, every 3-4 months...insurance OK's it...
      i had it once for lower spine...did NOT help...actually made a
      sciatica worse!!
      i NEVER got any help from trigger point injections...they didn't get
      deep enough (just my theory)
      i tried everything...epidural, nerve ablation, facet block, etc...
      only PLACE that worked was sacroiliac joint injections....
      got amazing relief...but then i OD'd on steroid and cortisol
      crashed...so now i do not get any shots...

      i suspect people with surgery might get more relief than those
      without surgery, IF their pain is limited to smaller area...

      jess
      Hi Jess!

      Yes, it's because of you mentioning Botox shots here on the forum that I wondered why my doctor didn't offer them to me and I asked him about them.

      Have you ever tried acupuncture, Jess? Has anyone else tried it? I've been going for months now, and it's been helping quite a bit. I thought it was only taking my pain down by maybe 1 or 2 levels, but I had to miss many weeks (long story) and OMG was there a difference! I think it actually takes the pain down maybe 3 or 4 levels. It helps most with my lower back pain.

      I was very skeptical about acupuncture and thought it probably wouldn't work for me. But much to my surprise, I found out it was covered by my insurance with just a small co-payment at each visit, so I thought, why not try it? I have had several friends and relatives recommend it, and even Dr. Ganocy (spine surgeon) asked if I'd tried it, and I have said I wanted to try everything before resorting to surgery, so... off I went!

      I'm still having to go once a week when the acupuncturist hoped I'd be at once every 2 weeks by now, but it's a lovely, relaxing experience each time, so I don't mind too much. I feel the best the day of the treatment, and on those days I often find that the time for a pain pill comes and goes without me realizing it, when normally I'm watching the clock, hoping it's time for the next dose. The effects then sort of gradually wear off over the next week, for me, anyway. I would recommend it to anyone. It's keeping me going for now. (smile)

      Lisa

      Comment


      • #18
        hi Lisa
        glad acupuncture has helped your pain...
        it has never helped mine...actually, if i moved a tiny bit, my muscles
        around where the needles were went into terrible spasms...made me too nervous to continue...it did help me with quitting smoking,
        when they put the little thumb tack thingies in my ears and left them
        there for a day...
        also, my insurance does not cover acupuncture...it was expensive...

        jess...& Sparky

        Comment


        • #19
          Originally posted by jrnyc View Post
          hi Lisa
          glad acupuncture has helped your pain...
          it has never helped mine...actually, if i moved a tiny bit, my muscles
          around where the needles were went into terrible spasms...made me too nervous to continue...it did help me with quitting smoking,
          when they put the little thumb tack thingies in my ears and left them
          there for a day...
          also, my insurance does not cover acupuncture...it was expensive...

          jess...& Sparky
          Oh, that's too bad about the spasms. Ow! It can hurt if I move any area where the needles are in. I found that out. She told me "Oh no, movement is not encouraged!" LOL. But I haven't had spasms. Sometimes I really feel a needle going in and it smarts a little, but mostly I don't even feel it.

          The first acupuncturist I went to would put the needles mostly in the back of the hands, top of the feet, and outer ears. Sometimes she would also put a couple in the forearms, lower legs, and once on the crown of my head. I'd have to lie on my back, and even with a comfortable padded table, pillow under my neck and roll under my knees (and wearing my little back brace) I would get uncomfortable with pain in my lower back before the time was up, and sometimes later my neck would be stiff. But she was good, and very nice. I felt like she genuinely cared about helping me. Unfortunately, she decided to stop taking my insurance, so now I'm going to a different person, who puts the needles right in my back. So I now I get to lie on my side and it's so much more comfortable. The results seem the same, either way, just different styles.

          Oh, those ear bead things! She did that on me once. She taped 1 teeny, tiny bead on each outer ear and joked that it was "acupuncture to go." She said I could take them out whenever I wanted, but the longer I could leave them in the better. I took them out that evening. They were killing me, and I didn't feel any benefit. How could those tiny things hurt so much?! We're you able to quit smoking because of acupuncture?

          Lisa

          Comment


          • #20
            oh no, i quit cold turkey...at that time, they only had nicotine gum,
            not the patches...it tasted awful and made my mouth sore...
            so i quit the first time with the gum, smoked again for about 10 days,
            quit again cold turkey...and haven't smoked since...that was 1988...
            the acupuncture just helped after i was quit a few months...improved
            my mood...didn't hurt, either...
            left the "thumb tacks" in as long as i could...couple of days...

            jess...& Sparky

            Comment


            • #21
              I'm glad you were able to quit. I quit cold turkey, but I'm not sure I was ever really addicted. I only smoked for about 6 years, and I didn't smoke very much unless I was around other people who were smoking. What made me quit is when I got my first Siberian Husky. She was a puppy and I started taking her for walks, and I would get short of breath. It scared me. I thought, "I'm healthy, only 22 years old, don't even smoke that much, and yet I can't walk a puppy without getting short of breath? I don't think so!" I'm happy for anyone who can quit, but especially for anyone who is going to have fusion surgery. It's so important.

              Comment


              • #22
                Originally posted by Cornerthree View Post
                Thank you to everyone for sharing your experiences about the injections. It has been most helpful. We do have pain clinics in the US, but it's a world apart from Britain as we are a paid medical system here and the previous poster was right; if Botox has not been approved for spinal pain, no insurance would cover it. Pain clinics have offered me meds and tens machines, which are useless for my deep bone pain. Perhaps I can travel out of the country to get some botox or lido injections in the future.

                Thanks again,
                My daughter had botox injections in her back to see if it could relieve the muscle spasms. Our Blue Cross of Michigan Insurance did cover it. It was done by a neurologist. She had it done twice. It did not give her relief but it was covered by insurance so you might want to check with your insurance company or see a neurologist that does it. They took care of the insurance stuff and we had no problems.

                Comment

                Working...
                X