Friday, January 21, 2011
I Had Forgotten What It Was Like
It was time I did something, I did it and I wonder why the hell it took me so long to do it.
As has been mentioned here, far too many times, I was in a car accident in 1999. I have lived in pain since that accident. Some days are better, the pain is always there but I live with it and some days, the pain is too much. I have back and neck pain and that can trigger just by cleaning the house but I also have non stop intense leg pain. And on cold days, like we had last week, it is almost unbearable, the leg pain.
I’ve used compression wraps, I’ve tried massaging them, I’ve gone to chiropractors, but the pain never goes away. I haven’t been to a chiropractor since I left Seattle because after the settlement, I was restricted, by health insurance, to 2 times a month, or 24 times a year, total. That is not enough for my injuries. (Yes, they’ve never been completely fixed.) I was needing to go...oh wait, yes I did go to a chiropractor here in Miami...I forgot, one time. I got the x-rays, the whole spiel, and an adjustment, (God it was fabulous), but again, only 24 times a year and even, after all that time, the Miami chiro said the same thing as all the others did in Seattle: I would need to do drastic treatment which required 3 times a week for about four months then 2 times a week for another couple of months and then eventually down to 1 time a week.
That is WAY more than 24 times a year, total.
And I cannot afford that shit.
So, I have not been able to get the treatment I need and I deal with the pain, every. single. day.
Because I sit in hard plastic chairs all day, (our airboat seats), it gets worse as each month passes. It was getting to the point that just getting out of bed was miserable. It was painful to walk. It was painful to stand up from a sitting position. Everything was painful. I felt like I was about 85 fricken years old. That is fucking ridiculous. But I can’t afford a chiro...what the hell can I do?
Try massage, try acupuncture, try blah, blah, blah. They all cost money and I still need to go a lot.
I was pretty much resigned to dealing and just watching my health deteriorate.
And then a co-worker told me about TENS units.
I had to have that done to me a long time ago when I was in college, working at a hotel. I had managed to really pull a muscle in my back that caused me pain enough that I couldn’t do my job anymore. So I was told to go to a doctor and I ended up seeing someone who would put the TENS unit to my back, one time a week until it was fixed.
During treatment it wasn’t always pleasant...sometimes the currents were painful but AFTER? Sigh. It felt great. So I know they work and when the co-worker mentioned them, I asked where I could get them. He told me that I wasn’t allowed to purchase one unless I stated I was taking it out of the country. Well, even on a stupid order form, I’m no good at lying...I don’t like it, I suck at it and I get all nervous. So I didn’t get one.
The other day we were talking about TENS units again, me stating I wished I had one and another co-worker said that was b.s. that you could get them online everywhere for your personal use. Hell, get one off of eBay, he said.
Well, I don’t like eBay so I decided to look them up on Amazon and there they were. I did some searching around, read reviews, checked other places and finally purchased one. I really don’t like spending my money, I’m trying to save up to get the F outta here but again, it was to the point that everything was painful so I decided to invest in my health for once and go for it.
I ordered this one and it arrived this week.
Last night was my first night using it. I have eight uh...electrodes so I slapped four on each leg, (lower leg), and put it on “Normal” under TENS mode. I followed the guidelines since I do not have a physical therapist telling me what settings to use and started to up the stimulation. You can choose between 1-100 and to put this in to perspective, if you put one on your hand, you could feel something at about 5.
I had to put the things up to 63 before I felt it working and relieving pain.
I got the one with a timer so I can do whatever amount of time I want or even continuous if I want but I chose 35 minutes to start because I feared I would fall asleep, due to pain relief, and I didn’t want the thing going on all night long.
The first 35 minutes ended, I repositioned the electrode pad thingies on my lower legs and did another 35 minutes. I found the perfect spot for them because I wanted to cry, from joy, when I felt the stimulation going through the pads.
When that 35 minutes was over, I put everything away and decided to walk around, see if there was a difference.
Kids. KIDS. I have absolutely no idea how to even express how I felt. Light, airy, new, weird, strange, unfamiliar but familiar in some distant memory....I walked back and forth across my living room and kitchen, back and forth, back and forth and could not wipe the smile of wonder, relief and happiness off of my face.
For the first time in over 10 years, I felt NO. PAIN. in my lower legs. It was so odd that I actually had trouble walking. Not because my muscles had been overstimulated or the blood flow was over stimulated or anything like that. I had trouble walking because I have forgotten how to walk WITHOUT PAIN. That sounds stupid but that is the truth. When you are in pain, you compensate somehow to be able to deal with it and apparently I was walking different to deal with it. Now I had no pain and didn’t need to walk that way and I didn’t know how to walk much at all. But MY GOD did I feel good.
It’s not like normal recovery where the pain gets less and less each week or day or month....it went from, “OMG! I can’t take this anymore. My legs! MY LEGS! Gaah, this is too much!!!” to “What the....eh? Wassit? No pain at all.” Completely obliterated.
I slept very well for the first time in a long time, last night. In fact, I don’t even remember my dreams and I always remember my dreams, or at least part of them. It was like I went to bed, I slept and I woke up....done. That is not how my nights typically go.
This morning, before work, I woke up, REFRESHED! Yes! Me the NON morning person, was REFRESHED at 7am!!!!! Tha hell?! So I decided to do another treatment on my lower legs real quick before work. (It’s not like one treatment and the pain is gone forever.)
All day...no pain. In my legs that is. I still have pain in my back and neck but my lower legs? No. Pain. No pain, no pain, no pain, no pain, la, la, la, la, la!!!! I wanted to do cartwheels to work. In fact, I was so pain free in my lower legs that when I got to work and the usual bullshit met me, I didn’t even care. My German co-worker was up in arms over the bullshit and complained to me all morning long but I did not care! I feel good, I don’t care what the other twits do today they cannot get to me today, I feel good. HA!
In the early afternoon it started raining and it’s been a little slow so I asked to go home early. Granted. I came home, took care of the hoodlums and decided to start some treatments on my back. I had a headache at the time so figured, maybe this will help.
It’s kind of hard to get the pads on your back, in the right place when you’re doing it yourself but I managed. I put four on each side of my spine, a little away from the spine, from my shoulder area all the way to my lower back. Turned on the unit, upped it only to about 20, (I could feel it in my back unlike my legs needing 63), and went for an hour.
When all was done, I still had a headache but that’s because of my neck and I can’t put the TENS on my neck so I’ll have to suffer with that. But my back? No. Pain. My lower legs? No. Pain. With exception of my headache because of my neck? I almost felt human again.
I took Ibuprofen for the headache and that is now gone but my back and legs are still feeling good. I have slight pain still in my neck, not a lot, some, (the Ibu doesn’t take away all the pain and has never been able to touch the pain in my legs, EVER), but I feel about 50 years younger than I have been feeling.
There are no words to describe the level of relief. None. But I have to tell you kids, when you feel bad, everything starts to get worse. Everything in your life. When you feel good? Everything starts to get better. So, I consider this an investment even if it did push me back a little bit towards my money saving goal....I think this might pay off in the end.
I also ordered some extra adhesive pads thingies and the gel, (which I don’t think I actually need that gel stuff after all), because I know I’m going to use this nightly, at least for awhile. Because feeling normal....God, if you don’t have any injuries or long lasting pain...you count your damn blessings. You have no idea how wonderful it is.
If you do have long lasting pain or an injury that a TENS/EMS unit can help with....get your butt to the store and get one! The one I have is fabulous, if you don’t know which to get. I love it. I wish I had not had the circumstances that led me to have to get one but I did, can’t change that so I will say that this TENS/EMS unit is probably one of the best things I have ever purchased in my life. I hope it works for years to come.
