My new PTs message. PT can't help you. Accept the pain and meditate or read

[Mei Mei]

Dear All,
My new PT, Francis said that PT couldn't help me today.   I didn't say anything but I felt really disappointed.  I've been going to PT for years.   What am I supposed to do if PT can't help me.   What is there left.?    He said I have to live with this pressing at the back of my head   FOREVER.   I can't live with this.   I can't accept this.   The pain and the pressure is always there.    What am I to do?

I go for the Botox shots on Jan 26th and I hope he can inject into the scalp in spite of the fact that I don't have bone in the back of my skull which put me into CODE and stopping breathing and my eyes dilating in Dec. 20`10.   


I really cannot live with this constant pain but he tol me to accept it and meditate on this.
Sincerely,
Mei Mei

[Mei Mei]

I had meant to give you the link to the staff:

http://whiteoaktherapy.com/?page_id=2

Francis told me to stop using the heat and ice to help me feel better and that it is only masking the pain.    If there is nothing more he can do, what is wrong with masking the pain.?   Isn't that the purpose and goal ....   to be pain free?
Mei Mei

[mindyandy]

Mei Mei
My heart goes out to you. Please keep looking for someone to help you. Don't give up. I will pray for you to find relief soon.

Mindy

[Tod]

Mei Mei, My heart goes out to you as well.

However (and you knew this would come from me), I'm not sure it is his decision to make. Let's break things down rationally.

1) You've been going to PT for years for pain management.

2) Has it helped?

3) If it hasn't, why keep going/paying?

If the answer to number 2 is "yes", then you simply need to find another PT that has a philosophy of care that matches your needs. Clearly this was does not.

If using heat/cold helps, why not continue? Pain-"relievers" for the most part just mask the pain, save when they are also reducing inflammation or fever.

Now, if PT has not helped, I do think you have to look at number 3: Why continue? I'm not suggesting you should learn to live with the pain, although, in the end, that *may* be very good advice, I am suggesting that you look for other origins of your pain that might be treatable in another manner.

I do think that continuing PT in the hope of a beneficial result may be the wrong answer after a some years.

Please note all the "mays" and "mights" as I am not a doctor and really have no clue what is the best for you. I do hold you in my thoughts and prayers though.

-tod

[Jim Scott]

Hi, Mei Mei ~

I'm sorry to learn that Dr. Jung made such a suggestion to you but apparently he is out of answers.  So be it.  Tod made some very rational comments that are worth considering, as I'm sure you will.  Masking the pain is a short-term solution because as long as the source of the pain remains, the 'masking' can never stop.  My wife, Tina, is in a similar situation. 

She suffers from various maladies and intense, intermittent nerve pain in her legs as the result of injuries she received in an auto accident (20 years ago) and many subsequent spinal surgeries  She is ambulatory and active but has to deal with pain almost constantly.  Her pain management doctor has run out of ideas and the best he can do is recommend 'pain medication'.  Tina has made it abundantly clear that she has no intention of spending the rest of her life "in a haze", so she has resolved to live with the pain as best she can (non-narcotic and OTC meds help, some) .  She is a strong person, very 'spiritual' and I both love and admire her - and desperately wish I could help her pain situation - but, in reality, I cannot.  So, although I don't have any specific advice, it's clear that you are certainly astute enough to do whatever you feel is best for you.  Perhaps some level of acceptance is advisable but I can't state that without any degree of credibility, only offer it as a possible option.  Meanwhile, on a practical note, it seems advisable to consider seeking a new PT provider.

Jim     

[Mei Mei]

Thank you all of you for your very thoughtful responses to my current problem.   I still have an appointment for the Xeomin ( Botox) shots which are approved for me at every three months.   The PT Dr. Jung was against this because he said it weakens me, but I think that having pain when I turn my head also weakens me.   I will go with Maureen and Dr. Amjad at Gtown University for the shots.   The fact that I have a Titanium Mesh is uncomfortable for them because I coded in the Cleveland Clinic Pain Center and was in the process of dying when my eyes dilated and I stopped breathing.   I too am cautious about putting Xeomin in my skull now that that has happened but that is where the majority  of the pain is.

He (Dr. Jung) said it would be a difficult decision but he was against it yet he has nothing to offer since PT doesn't work.Ho Hum...the world continues or as CBS says:   As the World Turns.   My Xeomin shots are scheduled for Jan 26th and I see the plastic surgeon Dr. Ducic on Jan 19 next week.   Hopefully He can offer something.   His surgeries are simple and helpful.   I wonder what he is going to say.

Sincerely,
Mei Mei