Hey all,
Has anyone gotten deep tissue massages after surgery? What have your experiences been like? Not sure if I'm going to continue with them, even though my surgeon suggested it for pain management.
I'm 4 years post-fusion & 3 years post-thoracoplasty. My ortho suggested I get deep tissue massage for the pain I was feeling around my curve on the right side. X-rays suggested that my pain was all muscular and hardware wasn't broken. I found a local place & got paired up with a therapist who has been trained in alignment/myofascial therapy. We discussed (in depth) my surgeries and my expectations before the first session. Basically I was looking to relieve some tension on the right side of my back, my shoulders, and neck. He was very surprised that I did not have any limitations after my surgery. REALLY surprised since "most fusions don't end well". This is a puzzling statement because my research suggests that this surgery has great results.
And this was my first clue to my therapist's negative opinion on spinal fusion.
After more discussion it was clear that he was pro-holistic healing vs. surgery for scoliosis. Not that he completely undermined the surgical benefits, but the conversation was leaning towards "Are you sure you exhausted all avenues before getting this surgery?" (IF only he knew my horrible experiences with bracing, chiropractic care, etc).
Anyway - the first massage was fine - it helped. I have a very high pain tolerance so he was applying A TON of pressure, but it felt "good" in that strange way. But there was some pain when he was going down my back on the right side. SHARP pain, and I was worried that he was going over my rod rather than muscle. Of course, I told him to stop. I asked him what he was going over & he didn't seem to know. He said he "lost" the direction of my spine since the vertebrae are fused, but found it again when he was going down the lumbar region. He thought it was "probably a rib". My thoughts - could it have been my actual rod/screw? Can you feel those from the outside? Even by looking at my back, he couldn't tell if the spine curved right or left! I'm sorry, but shouldn't that be obvious? My ribs protrude a little on the right side.
I thought I would give him another shot because I wanted work JUST on my neck/shoulders. So the second time, we focused on that area but once again, this sharp pain came about when he went down my mid-back. He still said it was probably a rib, and was surprised it wasn't giving me more pain during daily activities. WELL - today is my 3rd day since the massage and I have to say, I'm experiencing pain like I had BEFORE my fusion 4 years ago. Basically it's a tingly/almost numb-but-not-quite feeling on my right shoulder down my right arm. This annoyed me before I had my surgery because I wouldn't be able to sit straight (to work, study, etc) without feeling it within the first 30 minutes. Well, it's back - and the only thing I can think of that caused it is this massage. I expected to be sore from the deep tissue work, but this is too similar to what I felt before my surgery. I'm thinking this sensation is part of the nerves "waking up" so to speak, but I'm not sure..
I really hope my hardware wasn't damaged by this massage, but how does one find out for sure without another x-ray? I just saw my surgeon, and I know he'll think I'm crazy for going back about this. UGH! Either way, I'm staying away from this massage therapy for a while...
Has anyone gotten deep tissue massages after surgery? What have your experiences been like? Not sure if I'm going to continue with them, even though my surgeon suggested it for pain management.
I'm 4 years post-fusion & 3 years post-thoracoplasty. My ortho suggested I get deep tissue massage for the pain I was feeling around my curve on the right side. X-rays suggested that my pain was all muscular and hardware wasn't broken. I found a local place & got paired up with a therapist who has been trained in alignment/myofascial therapy. We discussed (in depth) my surgeries and my expectations before the first session. Basically I was looking to relieve some tension on the right side of my back, my shoulders, and neck. He was very surprised that I did not have any limitations after my surgery. REALLY surprised since "most fusions don't end well". This is a puzzling statement because my research suggests that this surgery has great results.
And this was my first clue to my therapist's negative opinion on spinal fusion.
After more discussion it was clear that he was pro-holistic healing vs. surgery for scoliosis. Not that he completely undermined the surgical benefits, but the conversation was leaning towards "Are you sure you exhausted all avenues before getting this surgery?" (IF only he knew my horrible experiences with bracing, chiropractic care, etc).
Anyway - the first massage was fine - it helped. I have a very high pain tolerance so he was applying A TON of pressure, but it felt "good" in that strange way. But there was some pain when he was going down my back on the right side. SHARP pain, and I was worried that he was going over my rod rather than muscle. Of course, I told him to stop. I asked him what he was going over & he didn't seem to know. He said he "lost" the direction of my spine since the vertebrae are fused, but found it again when he was going down the lumbar region. He thought it was "probably a rib". My thoughts - could it have been my actual rod/screw? Can you feel those from the outside? Even by looking at my back, he couldn't tell if the spine curved right or left! I'm sorry, but shouldn't that be obvious? My ribs protrude a little on the right side.
I thought I would give him another shot because I wanted work JUST on my neck/shoulders. So the second time, we focused on that area but once again, this sharp pain came about when he went down my mid-back. He still said it was probably a rib, and was surprised it wasn't giving me more pain during daily activities. WELL - today is my 3rd day since the massage and I have to say, I'm experiencing pain like I had BEFORE my fusion 4 years ago. Basically it's a tingly/almost numb-but-not-quite feeling on my right shoulder down my right arm. This annoyed me before I had my surgery because I wouldn't be able to sit straight (to work, study, etc) without feeling it within the first 30 minutes. Well, it's back - and the only thing I can think of that caused it is this massage. I expected to be sore from the deep tissue work, but this is too similar to what I felt before my surgery. I'm thinking this sensation is part of the nerves "waking up" so to speak, but I'm not sure..
I really hope my hardware wasn't damaged by this massage, but how does one find out for sure without another x-ray? I just saw my surgeon, and I know he'll think I'm crazy for going back about this. UGH! Either way, I'm staying away from this massage therapy for a while...
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