Went to A&E

[Ktchard]

Last night as I was doubled up in pain again curled up on my bed with these horrendous shooting pains starting from my mid thoracic spine then shooting around all of my ribs I couldn't take in a full breath of air it leaves me totally debilitated so my partner took me to A&E I saw a lovely Dr Who have had back problems herself so she could understand. To cut a long story short they are writing to my Gp to ask that Ithe facet joint injections are brought forward & ask for a possible mri on my thoracic spine I did have one in 2009 but scince the pain has gotten worse I would like another one. There wasn't anything regarding pain relief that they could give me as id already taken the maximum of all my medication but this letter should help my Gp understand what type of pain iam in to go to A&E I wonder if the product pain clinic appointment could be fastracked somehow ?

[Bananas5]

Thats a huge Ow.

Have you tried phoning your pain clinic?

Pat x

[Danslatete]

Bless you. I don't know if it will make a difference but it's worth trying. Did you tell pain clinic secretary that you would accept a cancellation?

I told them I could come even on the same day!

I was lucky enough to have bupa cover when I injured my thoracic spine, it meant that I was seen quite quickly and treated quickly. It costs about £250 for a consultation if you pay, as these are the same Drs from the hospital clinics it can be possible to go from private to NHS but it cuts down the waiting times as they know what treatment you need.

Not something that everyone can do I understand, I'm not in that position now myself. Thankfully having 2 lots of injections and 12 weeks of physio with each it got better.

[Danslatete in reply to Danslatete]

I just need the rest of my spine fixing!

[Ktchard in reply to Danslatete]

Is private physio good ?it has crossed my mind to have it it's just the finances

[Ktchard]

Iv asked my gp to get in touch with pain clinic I have not been given the number for myself I see my Dr on Wednesday to see how im getting on so il ask for it then and ask for a cancellation or an urgent referal if that's at all possible. I did pay private to see an orthopaedic consultant and then paid for a private Mri and we agreed id have injections in the facet joint but I think with the arm pain I need a medial nerve block. Il mention it to my gp as I now can't afford any more private care as i have no insurance thanks guys xx

[sianr]

Auh you soul I can totally understand , it's horrendous , I hope your GP can help sort out your probs asap so you know what your working with so much easier when theirs an official diagnosis. The pain clinic is always busy the only thing I can suggest is contacting the Dr's secretary your going to see and say your available for cancellations even at the last minute (if you are) , I can sympathise we look forward to these appointments for the hope of some sort of help because we never get a resolution that's what we have to work through with the help of as many health care prof as possible . Good luck x

[sianr]

Sorry just read rest of replys its been covered ... that's great .... be careful about private physios go onto the British association of physios (it's something like that) to make sure folk are registered or if you have a sports place near you for athletes at national level and above their physios are really good and know what their doing . The cost is roughly about 50 pounds for first treatment because appoint is an hour and approx 35 pounds thereafter . If your on FB ask you'll be surprised how many people know a good Physio and tell you who not to go with . Good luck I hope it all works out for you x

[Ktchard]

Thanks guys il have a look

[johnsmith]

See a chiropractor poste haste. You could have muscle spasms which are causing the problem. Muscle spasms do not show up on MRI's or x-rays.

A muscle spasm can give a lot of referred pain. Referred pain is pain caused by a nerve which is a long way from the site of the pain. The doctor looks at the site of pain and finds nothing wrong. They never look at the muscle and nervous system as a whole.

Hope this helps

[Ktchard in reply to johnsmith]

Yes I think I do go into spasm more so when im stressed and have done too much that day. Im scared of chiropractic treatment because I was seeing one years ago for weekly neck manipulation and one one session he hurt my neck and iv had severe pain and tinnitus ever since slso had a swelling on my neck had mri which later revealed 4 slipped and ruptured disks in my neck all of which have now lost their fluid plus two nerve root compressions along with bone spurs im in a right mess.the pain had been an 8-10 for over a week. I know that the chiropractor made it worse but I think that there must of been some damage to begin with. Iused to go to aMc timmony chiroparctor who I trust buy sadly can't afford to go back atm. I might try somr light stretching and yoga il haveto have a look on u tube any suggestions would be appreciated thanks

[johnsmith in reply to Ktchard]

The chiropractor doing weekly manipulation was not following reconsiderations because there must be at least two weeks between treatments.

Have a look at the NICE reconsiderations for chiropractic treatment. I get McTimony chiropractic treatment on the NHS. Once every 6 weeks. The treatment does not cure the problem I have but it does stop it getting worse.

It may be possible to do a cost benefit analysis where you can show your GP that a single McTimony chiropractic treatment every so many weeks is cheaper than pain killers provided by the NHS.

The tinnitus could be reduced by having your ears de-waxed. This may not happen, but it is worth trying.

I would not try light stretching, because of the neck injury. What you need is light movements to get the propioceptors functioning. Once the propioceptors are functioning then it would be safe to do light stretching. This is important because working propioceptors work at the spinal level.

Posture work is important. If the head is nicely balanced on top of the spine then there will be very little tension in the neck muscles. This is the province of Alexander Teachers.

Yoga with an experienced yoga teacher is a good idea. Do not try and do yoga from youtube. There are subtleties in movement which you as a non practiser would not know about. An experienced yoga teacher would ensure that you do not try and do things too fast and would keep you safe (hopefully). The local Hindu temple may know of a yoga class which is free.

There are movements I can suggest you do. I need a bit more information as to what areas of spasm you need to tackle first. These movements would be done as an investigation to see what works and what does not.

[1963]

Hi there, I know how you feel, you're described me when pain flare's, got thoracic spine ,crumbled 4places, really hurts to breath, ask gp to phone pain team for you, hopefully get seen quickly, don't let them fob you off, good luck and hope you you feel better soon

[Ktchard]

The whole right side of my neck and back is always bigger and feels a lot harder than the left then it might be the spasm on the right making the c8 pain worse. Iv just been reading up on bowen therapy but again it's finances but if I budget money a little better I might be able to scrape by to afford treatment once a fortnight then once a month thereafter. I used to have cranalsacral therapy along side Mc timmony but im a little bit wary of my problems getting worse with a spinal manipulation. I didn't know that the nice guidelines suggest only having ajustments once a fortnight. Do you think I could take this further as I was getting my neck cracked sometimes twice a week and I was pregnant! ! What do you think? Thanks