Medical Question.. sort of...
Moms View Message Board: General Discussion: Archive February 2008:
Medical Question.. sort of...
Okay I don't know if y'all remember but in Aug/Sept my right arm started hurting and I went through a lot of pain and tests to have them figure out that I have/had a bulging disk in my c-spine (6/7). This dx took them until the beginning of Nov to come up with. So we tried steriod shots and they seem to work, until the past week....
I am not in a lot of pain, yet, but it is starting out like it did last time. My hand and arm are going numb a lot and I get shooting pains occassionally.
Well here is my delima.... The dr that I went to for the dx is a hand/wrist specialist. The dr I went to for the shots is a pain management spec. How do I figure out who to go back to? Or should I start over with my regular dr that can maybe send me to a neck/back specalist? I am just really confused as to who I should talk to about this whole mess.. but I do know that I want it fixed and not just covered up this time. They thought because it was a minor displacement that the steriod shots might actually make it go back and heal properly. This really affects me since it is my right arm and I am right handed, not to mention that I am on a computer all day long at work and on one at home often because I play computer games with my DH and kids a lot to relax.
Any advice or BTDT is greatly appreciated.
I think you need an orthopedic specialist or a neurologist who deals regularly with back/neck problems - maybe working on conjunction with a pain doc.
Tara, a couple of years ago I had increasing pain in my left arm, starting with my elbow and then down to my wrist, and then up to my shoulder. Because I had had surgery on my left wrist several years earlier, I went to the hand/wrist specialist, who told me - you don't have a hand/wrist problem, you have a neck/spine problem. So - off to my orthopedic doctor, who sent me for physical therapy, because I have arthritis in my cervical spine. I now have simple home exercises that I am supposed to do daily. I don't do them daily, but when my symptoms return I get really faithful about them and they help.
As to disks - I had a herniated disk in my lumbro/sacral spine in 1980. It healed over a about an 18 month period, and again, the physical therapist gave me a series of simple home exercises, which I use when my back starts hurting and which help tremendously.
Which is a long way of saying you need to see either a neurologist, because I think you have a problem with a disk or disks impinging on the nerves, or an orthopedic doctor who deals with spine issues. You say you "want it fixed" - do you mean surgery? I've read several studies in the past year or two that indicate that when measuring results two years later, people who didn't have surgery do as well as people who did have surgery. I personally am not a fan of spinal surgery unless the pain is such that even with medication you cannot do most of your normal activities. However, if I were going to have spinal surgery, my preference would be a neurosurgeon.
Also, disks do take a long time to heal. One has to be cautious with steroid shots. My doctors won't give the MedPack (oral steroids for severe muscle inflammation) more frequently than once every three months following an initial prescription and one refill. I know my orthopedic doc won't give steroid shots more frequently than every three months. But if your shots were in November, you are near the three month interval. It may be that you need to have another round or two of steroid shots before the disk heals entirely. This is where the pain doc and either a neurologist or orthopedic doc should consult with each other on a treatment plan.
In the mean time, can you try to use your left hand at least when you are playing computer games with the kids at home?
Another option is to see a chiropracter. Just make sure you let them know upfront of your dx.
Or maybe even some sort of physical therapy.
I don't mean surgery but I would like something besides or in addition to meds (which right now I don't even have those) to make it get better.. since obviously the shots didn't do the trick since my symptoms are showing back up and the last shot I had was Dec 10.... Therapy or exercises or something that will help is what I am looking for unless the dr says that nothing will help but surgery. I think those shots were great but I am not willing to have them every few months, unless it is really necessary or suggested by someone but a pain specialist.. since I have to take a day off work and so does dh for every one of them.. (and I only get 4 sick days a year which is another issue on it's own)
I am just not sure how to find a orthopedist or neurologist or which one would be the right one.
I am trying to use my left hand as much as possible but it is a hard habbit to get used to.
I think I have decided to go see my regular dr and see if he can give me a referal or something.. and if he can't help maybe i will go see my hand specialist again and tell him I think I need to see someone who deals with neck/back stuff. I know there is one in his office but I can't get in right now without a referral.. (something like 2 months and I don't think I want to wait that long).
I know that chiropractors often do a lot of good and are very helpful. But I would recommend getting an evaluation and dx by a specialist in backs or nerves, rather than the existing dx by a combination of hand/wrist specialist and pain doc, so the chiropractor has full information.
As you can see by my post, I find physical therapy very helpful, but each time I've been to a PT, it was with a referral from my specialist doc with a complete dx and instructions to the PT.
I think you are on the right track, Tara. And I agree, a two month wait is much too long when you are in pain. Start with your primary, and ask him to give you the names of a couple of different ortho or neuro docs, so you can decide which one you want to go to, if you are allowed to do that.
I really, really hate this whole referral requirement system.
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