Percussive massage gun

[winfong]

I know this isn't specific to PMR/GCA, but I thought some of you may have had some experience with these things.

I've had considerable pain in my lower back / right hip (posterior) for the past month ir so. Rheumy checked it out and thought it might be sciatica. Seeing an ortho next week to get his opinion as well.

One thing the rheumy suggested that sounded really interesting was a percussive massage gun. Does anyone have any experience with these? Any recommendations - models, use, features ...?

[piglette]

A percussive massage gun might alleviate the pain, but be careful to use it properly. Sciatica travels down the sciatic nerve from the lower back through the hips and buttocks and down each leg. I find it is excruciatingly painful and at points takes my breath away. In my case painkillers don't touch it. I do find that a TENS machine can help, so I suppose any sort of massage should help. The best thing I am told seems to be special exercises although I am not flexible enough to do them!

[PMRpro Ambassador]

Reading this

consumerreports.org/massage....

makes me sceptical they are suitable for us. I have a very old percussion massager, a relatively gentle device, but I can't say it has ever helped my similar back problems.

I also always mistrust a diagnosis of "sciatica" - sciatic pain, yes, WHY? What is causing it?

[winfong in reply to PMRpro]

Me too. I also do not have the tingling and shooting pains down the leg. From looking around the web, "sciaica" appears to be something of a catch-all diagnosis.

By the way, it all started with a fall. And it's not like the hip-girdle I usually have with my LVV - it's much sharper and more localized. It's also not accompanied by shoulder and knee pain, which is typical with my LVV.

Hoping my ortho visit can shed a little more light. Hope this isn't one of those wild goose chases like what I originally had to go through with LVV.

[Sophiestree]

I have one, but use it on my calves, never on my back. I have a lot of back issues due to my right leg being longer than my left and never really looked at. I don't think I would use it on my back to be honest. But great on my calves!

Maybe wait and see what the ortho says next week before spending money on something that wouldn't be right for you. There are so many around with varying prices, but personally, I think they are all pretty much the same, I may be wrong.

Do you do pilates? This helps me enormously. When I first started I could not do a bridge and just had to rock my pelvis up and down gently, now I am pretty good at them. But everything slowly. I also have a great book on stretches that I use. I can give you the name if you are interested. It's all gentle as you don't want to cause more problems on top of what you are going through. Backs are the worst. Finally heat, I had a heated pad that I use regularly and that really helps. But do be careful with how hot, as my pain was so bad once I didn't realise I had burnt my back! Took weeks to heal.

Good luck

[Sophiestree]

One other thing I did notice is when I started to reduce the pred my back started to trouble me. I guess those really high doses were doing something for that as well. There are times when I couldn't even walk down the garden, but I have spent a lot of time and effort getting to where I am, and never ignore a small niggle now.

[Sharitone]

We have one, because my husband cannot resist a gadget. He bought it when my sciatica was bad. It is a Scholl 'Muscle Therapy' 2 in 1 Targeted Percussion Massager. Looks like a hairdryer. As far as I can tell it is perfectly good. How useful it is may depend on what is causing your sciatic pain. If there is an element of the muscle clamping down protectively around the nerve, it may help. But if, like mine, it is caused by a herniated disc, then I can't seeh ow it would help.

One thing you need to consider is who would be using it. It is very difficult to use it on your own back. Even if you reach it, it is hard to get any pressure behind it, so it just bounces around uselessly. You also wouldn't be able to use it close to any bone, because the heads won't go into nooks and crannies. It has an infra-red node, but transfers very little heat to you. And obviously you wouldn't want anything banging on your spine.

On the other hand, if you had something like a knot in a large muscle in an accessible place, or at least a place that somebody else was willing to access, it could help, and save your fingers.

I think I would wait for your ortho's opinion first. But if you're not worried about the expense, then it might be worth a try.