Any experience with medical procedures on your back?

[jfields]

That was just a ruse to keep me from having to do the dishes.

I think I made out all right!

 

[xyz123]

I had an epidural injection Thursday in my back, they injected pain medication and steroid.

They are now talking about doing radio frequency ablation, which if I understand correctly, is to kill the nerves since I am walking around bone on bone.

While I understand that it will relieve my pain, I can't help but Wonder if I will just be doing more damage?

Does anyone have any experience with this procedure?

View attachment 78127

See what your Doc thinks about weekly ALA treatment. It's done via an IV and takes about 30 mins.

3 Powerful Alpha Lipoic Acid Treatment Benefits You Will Love

Naturally, relieve nerve pain and remove toxins from your body with the alpha-lipoic acid treatment, an antioxidant IV therapy that will leave you feeling rejuvenated.

wholehealthjc.com

I've seen it do wonders for the nerve pain you're describing.

 

[xyz123]

@CigarStone Jeff, here's a little more in-depth info on how and why it's so effective:

Possible role of alpha-lipoic acid in the treatment of peripheral nerve injuries - PMC

Recent findings on the antioxidant effects of pretreatment with α-lipoic acid (α-LA) on the crush injury of rat sciatic nerve confirm the possible usefulness of α-LA administration in humans with peripheral nerve injuries. We discussed this issue in ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

ETA: I also wanted to say I put my money where my mouth is... I saw the IV treatment with high-dose ALA take a 64 year old friend who could hardly walk 20ft without pain... to now walking upright with hardly any pain and able to walk a half mile on a treadmill. Took about 6mos, but he can do it now and it's changed his life.

I now take a low dose everyday (1,200mg) for the preventative measures of it.







There's NO money in this treatment with most general practitioners. It's just a simple IV with an average cost supplement available OTC. You'll want to look for natural or homeopathic providers in your area.

Definitely do some research on it... sometimes we just have to be our own best advocates. I'm sorry you're having to live with that much pain.. I hope you find something that works for you.

 

[Thoughts]

Brad @Thoughts

So an ablation is done for localized pain. ‘Oh my back hurts in this area’ is different compared to ‘oh my back hurts and I’ve been dragging my left leg or having numbness and tingling in my left leg through the back of it.’ The latter typically requires surgery and not an ablation.

Ablation is burning the nerves in the local area to help the pain. It’s hard to say anymore without mri results or other advanced imaging. But it’s the next step typically in trying to avoid surgery. It’s not gonna be an ablation then you can’t move your leg. It CAN, but in almost all cases, it’s just a local superficial nerve, not the main nerve leaving the spinal column to supply your legs. So they try to deaden an area of your back so the nerve impingement doesn’t hurt. I hope that makes sense

 

[CigarStone]

So an ablation is done for localized pain. ‘Oh my back hurts in this area’ is different compared to ‘oh my back hurts and I’ve been dragging my left leg or having numbness and tingling in my left leg through the back of it.’ The latter typically requires surgery and not an ablation.

Ablation is burning the nerves in the local area to help the pain. It’s hard to say anymore without mri results or other advanced imaging. But it’s the next step typically in trying to avoid surgery. It’s not gonna be an ablation then you can’t move your leg. It CAN, but in almost all cases, it’s just a local superficial nerve, not the main nerve leaving the spinal column to supply your legs. So they try to deaden an area of your back so the nerve impingement doesn’t hurt. I hope that makes sense

Thanks brad! That's pretty much on point with what I've been told thus far. The problem is the issue you described, pain down the leg, tingling, shocking, numbing, is what I have been dealing with. It has improved significantly since the epidural Thursday.

 

[CigarStone]

@CigarStone Jeff, here's a little more in-depth info on how and why it's so effective:

Possible role of alpha-lipoic acid in the treatment of peripheral nerve injuries - PMC

Recent findings on the antioxidant effects of pretreatment with α-lipoic acid (α-LA) on the crush injury of rat sciatic nerve confirm the possible usefulness of α-LA administration in humans with peripheral nerve injuries. We discussed this issue in ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

ETA: I also wanted to say I put my money where my mouth is... I saw the IV treatment with high-dose ALA take a 64 year old friend who could hardly walk 20ft without pain... to now walking upright with hardly any pain and able to walk a half mile on a treadmill. Took about 6mos, but he can do it now and it's changed his life.

I now take a low dose everyday (1,200mg) for the preventative measures of it.

View attachment 78149

View attachment 78150

View attachment 78155

There's NO money in this treatment with most general practitioners. It's just a simple IV with an average cost supplement available OTC. You'll want to look for natural or homeopathic providers in your area.

Definitely do some research on it... sometimes we just have to be our own best advocates. I'm sorry you're having to live with that much pain.. I hope you find something that works for you.

Dan:

I appreciate your concern for my pain, and I appreciate your suggestion for a supplement to help. Out of respect for your presentation of this option, I did some research as well. It appears that when ALA is used for nerve pain it’s primarily for people with diabetic neuropathy, which I do not have. However, your testimonial hits me just about like the “luxury car dealership” you live next to, it rings hollow because it’s you who presented it.

You said you hope that I find something to help with my pain? One thing that would help my overall pain is if you would go away. I will be so bold as to say that you simply don’t fit in this community, and there are a growing number of members here who cringe when they see that you have posted. Your inability to take any friendly advice, your continued posting of pages and pages of rhetoric, your desire to argue with respected members has run its course.

I think we are all very aware of your incredible desire to be a respected member here. I don’t believe it’s ever going to happen no matter how hard you try to put the square peg in the round hole. Take your burning desire to be “the expert” to another forum, along with the mountain of advice you’ve received here, and go to another cigar forum where you will start with a clean slate. Your slate here is shattered and cannot be repaired.

 

[TexasTraveler]

Sorry you’re going through this brother. I hope you find a solution.

 

[CigarStone]

Sorry you’re going through this brother. I hope you find a solution.

Thanks brother!

One of my biggest problems is me; I have never had to work at being fit and healthy and at 67, I am spoiled. Exercise for the sake of exercise is torture.................... BUT I will overcome this.

 

[CigSid]

I will run this by my good friend who is board certified orthopedic surgeon. This is one of his specialties. The more you know, the better⁢ equipped you‌ are to navigate through this successfully…

 

[whopper]

About 10 years ago I had to get an epidural steroid shot in my lumbar and thankfully been good ever since. I know the pain. Keeping good thoughts for you.

 

[CigSid]

Here is his response:

 

[CigSid]

Let me know if you have additional questions.

 

[CigarStone]

Let me know if you have additional questions.

Thanks Bill!

Everything I am hearing about the RFA seems pretty positive. My only concern was if killing the pain would allow me to do more damage but I am beginning to feel better about that.

 

[BlindedByScience]

I don't have any experience with back surgery, but I had two fusions in my neck. A disk blew out and was pushing directly on my spinal cord. Pain like I can't even describe.....it was scary. After surgery, it was like someone had pushed the switch and I was healed. Fantastic outcome, no issues going forward. Yes, I know backs and necks are far different systems.....but what I can offer is my empathy for the pain, and the best wishes for a great outcome. You're getting solid advice, nothing but best wishes going forward. Find a Dr you trust, do what they say, and hang in there.

 

[CigSid]

Thanks Bill!

Everything I am hearing about the RFA seems pretty positive. My only concern was if killing the pain would allow me to do more damage but I am beginning to feel better about that.

Obviously the pain is there for a reason, and if you kill the pain, you still have the underlying condition… The best advice he can give is to combine the RFA with exercises that increase the size of the muscles in the back, along with proper stretch techniques, thereby supporting the spine more, and increasing the distance between the levels.

 

[cohibasurfer]

So you need to do a medical procedure on your back, to get your head out of your ass?

 

[CigarStone]

So you need to do a medical procedure on your back, to get your head out of your ass?

I was hoping if they gave me a good size hole I might be able to see out through my belly button.

 

[xyz123]

Dan:

I appreciate your concern for my pain, and I appreciate your suggestion for a supplement to help. Out of respect for your presentation of this option, I did some research as well. It appears that when ALA is used for nerve pain it’s primarily for people with diabetic neuropathy, which I do not have.

Don't let all the info that comes to the top of search results dissuade you from looking at IV ALA. Yes, diabetics with neuropathy and pain are the ones who basically put ALA on the map. And when doing searches on it, the lion's share of results will be about diabetics... we have a lot of diabetics in this country, and that's what you'll see.

My friend I mentioned, who is actually now a few years older than you (he was 64 in 2019), is not now, and never been, diabetic. His pain and posturing was exactly as you describe. He used to come into our lounge with a cane and slightly crouched. And he could never stay for longer than 1 cigar. He also drank a lot to quell his chronic pain.

The screenshots I took of the supplement I take is just that, a preventative supplement to protect and keep my nerves sharp as I age. And I wouldn't bother with the hassle of buying and cost over the years if I didn't witness firsthand how the weekly high-dose IV ALA help him... starting in 2019 and continuing to this day.

He never ended up having surgery. He no longer walks with a cane. He now sometimes even closes the lounge down with us youngsters. He gets his treatment made at a compound pharmacy these days and his wife helps him do an IV once a week at home. Other than that, he goes to PT once a week and walks on a treadmill at home.

Not sure if you read the results from this link:

Possible role of alpha-lipoic acid in the treatment of peripheral nerve injuries - PMC

Recent findings on the antioxidant effects of pretreatment with α-lipoic acid (α-LA) on the crush injury of rat sciatic nerve confirm the possible usefulness of α-LA administration in humans with peripheral nerve injuries. We discussed this issue in ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

It's not about diabetics, it specifically cites crushed nerve injury in lab rats:

Intraperitoneal alpha-lipoic acid to prevent neural damage after crush injury to the rat sciatic nerve..

I only bring this up again as I also got lost in all the diabetic results that came up when I first researched this. But seeing the results firsthand with a man who I saw at his worst, to seeing how he is now, made me a believer for sure. And for me personally, I've seen the changes in myself since starting supplementation with it.

But what I take is akin to taking a baby aspirin. The level my friend was at needed really high-dose intravenously-administered levels to help repair the nerve damage in his back.

Lastly, your personal animus toward me means nothing when I see my fellow man suffering. Maybe one day you'll realize a few posts on a cigar forum needn't cause you the stress it apparently does. I would also gladly quit the forum if I knew it would end your true suffering.

But since it wouldn't, I hope you'll still look a little more into therapeutic levels of ALA as part of your overall pain treatment plan. I've seen it change lives.

 

[CigarStone]

GO AWAY!

 

[{tpc}]

I’ve been dealing with some back pain myself Jeff, so in a way I feel your pain. I don’t know why it started though. I probably lifted something wrong. I’ve been trying exercises, heat, ice, being very specific on ways I move or sit. I’ve even gone the route of ibuprofen and flexiril at night for a couple nights, along with the heat to see if that fixes it.

It’s nothing that keeps me from the day to day though. This morning it just feels a little “sore” as opposed to the occasional sharp pain but like I said I’m being very specific with my movements. I feel like there is a chance it will get better, because I really don’t want to deal with X-rays, mri’s, physical therapy etc.

It does however, suck!