Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

homestead - Re: [Homestead] Pain management

homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: Homestead mailing list

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: "Lynda" <lurine AT com-pair.net>
  • To: <homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Homestead] Pain management
  • Date: Fri, 24 Apr 2009 12:09:16 -0800

I've used TENS and ultrasound treatment. Plus I do ballet barre exercises and yoga. Biofeedback has done absolutely nothing for me.

For sleep, I have a little snack (very little), a warm drink and read until I fall asleep. Of course, I've been doing this for decades and have a pretty good handle on the whole mind over matter as far as mild to moderate pain. I have ignore down to a fine science!

Lynda
"Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored." Aldous Huxley
----- Original Message ----- From: "EarthNSky" <erthnsky AT bellsouth.net>

I saw my rheumatologist yesterday-regular visit. I've been having more
flares recently, mostly in my feet, with sore, tender, growing nodules
at my metacarpophalangeal joints of my forefingers on both hands. In
the last 6 months, I've also noticed an increase in my OA
symptoms...left knee, right hip, both shoulders, cervical and lumbar
spine, etc. I should own stock in BenGay and Capsaicin creams! It is a
good thing that I like the smell of menthol!
I was diagnosed with OA at the same time as RA, but for the most part, I
only have OA problems if I overdo it, or if the weather stays nasty. A
gazillion others have the same issues so I know I am not alone. Today,
my doc gave me a referral to a foot surgeon and lidocaine patches for
localized pain. I cut one down and placed it on my bunionette (a
bunionette is on the outside edge of the foot by the pinkie toe-it has
nothing to do with size-just bunionettes deform the pinkie toe and
bunions deform the great toe, pushing both towards the center of the
foot.) I have both like the image shown and the bunion looks worse than
the bunionette, but the bunionette causes me the most pain. It is not
an RA type pain, more like tendinitis, you know, a burning, tennis
elbow/carpal tunnel type of pain. So I put a patch on my foot at about
4:30 in the afternoon. I removed it at midnight before taking a shower.
You can leave them on for 12 hours-12 on 12 off. For the almost 8
hours I wore the patch, I did not have even one pain in my foot.
However, the pain re-emerged within 10 minutes of taking off the patch.
I am hopeful that it continues to work to take the edge off as that
will enable me to exercise more. Sometimes I skip the bike ride and the
fence/mailbox walk simply because I can't deal with more pain. Today
was such a day. With relief from the patch, I took a nap instead. If I
can exercise more, especially more regularly,(everyday instead of 2 or 3
days a week) I can drop even more weight and meet my goal of losing 50
pounds, which will of course also take a load off my skeletal system and
joints. According to the doc, I've lost 11 pounds in 3 months just by
drinking more water, exercising a little, drinking far fewer cokes, and
substituting unsaturated fats from plants for the saturated animal fats
when I can. I haven't gone overboard or anything, I'm still a major
carnivore, but I'm trying to make healthier choices and eat more veggies
and such.
I thought I would mention these patches in case others might benefit. I
was told that I could use them on any part of my body(back, shoulder,
knee, arm, ribs, etc.) I wish I had had something like this back when I
suffered from CTS daily. Of course it does nothing to stop the cause of
the pain-other meds do that, but it surely will increase functionality,
and give me a bigger buffer on pain and my mood. When you deal with
chronic pain, you become less tolerant of things and you loose your
emotional buffer. Anyway, ask your doctor about these things. They were
originally approved for the pain of shingles, I think.

I'd like to know how some of you manage chronic pain. Do you live with
a bucket of ice, pay for acupuncture, smoke dope, drink vodka??? How do
you get to sleep when you have mild or moderate pain? Has anyone tried
biofeedback? Hypnosis?


--
"The budget should be balanced, the Treasury should be refilled, public
debt should be reduced, the arrogance of officialdom should be tempered
and controlled, and the assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed
lest Rome become bankrupt. People must again learn to work, instead of
living on public assistance."

--Cicero, 55 BC
http://erthnsky.blogspot.com/
_______________________________________________
Homestead list and subscription:
http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/homestead
Change your homestead list member options:
http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/options/homestead/lurine%40com-pair.net
View the archives at:
https://lists.ibiblio.org/sympa/arc/homestead





Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page