8 replies to this topic

[Bethann]

Just wondering if others have pain at their level of injury. My torso
where my level of injury at times can really hurt. Is there anything to
do or take that can help with this? My doctor told me that is where
my nerve endings are damaged.

[Victoria]

Hi Bethann, sorry to hear that you suffer pain, me too, at level of injury. I'm in hospital and ask for painkillers, I did that earlier but they wear off. Some days I'm ok but today it's sore.I don't really have any advice, I just thought I'd have a moan.Maybe it's because I did physiotherapy earlier, I was practising transferring out of the wheelchair onto a plinth. I'm getting out of here for Christmas in the daytime and need to be able to get from my wheelchair into a friends car.

[wheeliebear75]

Yes pain around the area that is damaged is quite common. I often feel as though (because my injury is L2) I'm wearing a pair of stocking that are several sizes to tight & the waist band is just shy of cutting into my whole lower 1/2 not just the back itself, & the from the spine itself is a whole slew of pain signals.

There have been a endless supply of discussions on pain over in the pain management section where you'll see more ideas of pain control in more detail...but essentially; drugs, massage, change of positions, hot soaks or heating pad (be careful to not burn yourself where there is no sense of temperature), T.E.N.S. unit, distraction, meditation all help....but sadly none of us have found anything that makes it GO AWAY....just things that make the pain more tolerable.

[justbeingme]

snap, me too not 100% sure why, maybe there is pain lower but cant feel it so they only part you can fell is where it meets? how old is your injury? i remember when i was in hospital it was killing me at that point where it was broke but now its just a ache and its been 7 months for me

[Smileyblue]

I have had the opposite experience to justbeingme.. I had just "tightness" around my body at injury level for a long time, but it has only gotten worse.. We have now gone through the whole list of pain meds that are supposed to work, and have found nothing that actually does.. I now basically live on morphine in order to do anything (besides lay very still in bed), n that barely takes the edge off.. And I've been warned that my body will build a tolerance to it, so will need more n more in order for it to work..

My doctor is currently trying to get me into the pain clinic, but thats another long proocess..

Sorry for the "downer"..

Hope you have better luck..

[edlee]

Me too. Been through the pain clinics. None helped. Don't give up till you try them,, cause they work for some people,, just not all. Epidural injections are the most likely to give actual relief,, and if they do,, then there are more options, like implanted stimulators and medication pumps.

I'm getting yet another MRI right after Christmas. My Physio decided to check on the possibility of adhesions of spinal tissue to the spinal column at the injury site. The fact that my pain has been increasing stedily since injury, and is especially severe when driving/bouncing on rough road, led him that way.

So far,, gabapentin takes the edge off,, tho I feel the pain constantly, it gets a LOT worse when I miss a dose,, which I sometimes do when I'm sitting still for a long time. ( the fact I'm getting old and forget things ,, could ,, be part of it).

As for the narcotics,,,, once started,, they are hard to stop,,, and I'm not talking addiction,,, it's more that your perceived threshold of tolerance gets lowered with routine use. Occational use,, for breakthough,, doesn't seem to trigger this response. Some people are able to go cold turkey when they reach that point,,, but you can imagine what they have to go through,, just to get back where they started. That's why I am staying away from them as long as I can,,,,I doubt I have what it takes to stop, once I start.

If something comes of this adhesion idea,,, you guys will be the first to hear about it.
ed

Edited by edlee, 22 December 2011 - 02:46 AM.

[Bethann]

Victoria, on 21 December 2011 - 04:22 PM, said:

Hi Bethann, sorry to hear that you suffer pain, me too, at level of injury. I'm in hospital and ask for painkillers, I did that earlier but they wear off. Some days I'm ok but today it's sore.I don't really have any advice, I just thought I'd have a moan.Maybe it's because I did physiotherapy earlier, I was practising transferring out of the wheelchair onto a plinth. I'm getting out of here for Christmas in the daytime and need to be able to get from my wheelchair into a friends car.

Good luck on the transfer and enjoy your Christmas. The transfers get easier and easier as you do them! I think the pain is just something we'll have to deal with unfortunately.

[Bethann]

wheeliebear75, on 21 December 2011 - 04:45 PM, said:

Yes pain around the area that is damaged is quite common. I often feel as though (because my injury is L2) I'm wearing a pair of stocking that are several sizes to tight & the waist band is just shy of cutting into my whole lower 1/2 not just the back itself, & the from the spine itself is a whole slew of pain signals.

There have been a endless supply of discussions on pain over in the pain management section where you'll see more ideas of pain control in more detail...but essentially; drugs, massage, change of positions, hot soaks or heating pad (be careful to not burn yourself where there is no sense of temperature), T.E.N.S. unit, distraction, meditation all help....but sadly none of us have found anything that makes it GO AWAY....just things that make the pain more tolerable.

I see I should of investigated this website a little more before I made a post and put in under pain management
section........opps....lol.

They had me on a fentenyl patch for a year and I got off that because I found out is was addicting and it was a
bear to get off. I want to stay away from addictive drugs if possible. Have two massagers I use and I do the change
of positions. Never tried the hot soaks or heating pad so I'll give that a try. Think it's just something
I'll/we'll continue to live with and just deal with it, eh. Kind of a bummer but oh well.

Thanks for the input.......(O:

edlee, on 22 December 2011 - 02:45 AM, said:

Me too. Been through the pain clinics. None helped. Don't give up till you try them,, cause they work for some people,, just not all. Epidural injections are the most likely to give actual relief,, and if they do,, then there are more options, like implanted stimulators and medication pumps.

I'm getting yet another MRI right after Christmas. My Physio decided to check on the possibility of adhesions of spinal tissue to the spinal column at the injury site. The fact that my pain has been increasing stedily since injury, and is especially severe when driving/bouncing on rough road, led him that way.

So far,, gabapentin takes the edge off,, tho I feel the pain constantly, it gets a LOT worse when I miss a dose,, which I sometimes do when I'm sitting still for a long time. ( the fact I'm getting old and forget things ,, could ,, be part of it).

As for the narcotics,,,, once started,, they are hard to stop,,, and I'm not talking addiction,,, it's more that your perceived threshold of tolerance gets lowered with routine use. Occational use,, for breakthough,, doesn't seem to trigger this response. Some people are able to go cold turkey when they reach that point,,, but you can imagine what they have to go through,, just to get back where they started. That's why I am staying away from them as long as I can,,,,I doubt I have what it takes to stop, once I start.

If something comes of this adhesion idea,,, you guys will be the first to hear about it.
ed

I'm going to check online about the gabapentin, thanks, and good luck with the MRI.

Smileyblue, on 22 December 2011 - 12:29 AM, said:

I have had the opposite experience to justbeingme.. I had just "tightness" around my body at injury level for a long time, but it has only gotten worse.. We have now gone through the whole list of pain meds that are supposed to work, and have found nothing that actually does.. I now basically live on morphine in order to do anything (besides lay very still in bed), n that barely takes the edge off.. And I've been warned that my body will build a tolerance to it, so will need more n more in order for it to work..

My doctor is currently trying to get me into the pain clinic, but thats another long proocess..

Sorry for the "downer"..

Hope you have better luck..

I was on a fentenyl patch and that had morphine in it the first year after my accident. I hope your pain subsides and you have better luck too! Thanks!

[wheeliebear75]

Please do not mistake my shorter than usual explanation of my pain management methods for anything other than I myself wasn't feeling so great at the time of posting. And speaking of which my suggestion for you to go read previous posts on the subject of pain management was only in hopes you'd stumble upon some of the posts where I & a few others have gone into great detail about meditation & diversion techniques. It was not meant in any way to sound condescending "You should have read before asking." sort of attitude. Myself, StillFingers & edlee have all posted in length about meditation & non drug methods of pain minimization & if you don't find those (I'm still pretty "loopy" {Rx} from my own pain meds) than I'll be more than happy to go into better explanation & answer any questions. But for the time being....I'm going back to bed right after a hot shower (just gotta wait for the water to heat up again from doing laundry).