Off to the Urgent Care Clinic

[WillParkinson]

When I had my accident last week I went to the ER complaining of back pain. The person who treated me pushed a few areas to see if I had any pain to the touch. I did not. She said she assumed that I strained some muscles. She told me to take Naproxen twice a day and use cold packs and heat alternatively.

Well it's a week later and I've got more pain now than I did last week. My neck, right side of my back and my stupid thumb hurts. I have an appointment on Tuesday with the doctor but yesterday was the worst pain day yet. I told Paul and he said we should just go to the Urgent Care clinic and have it checked out.

I don't like doctors, but I like the pain a whole lot less.

[xchrom]

1. oy -- take care.

it does seem like the pain climbs for days after injuries like that -- i hope it's ok.

[Bertha Venation]

2. you'll be in my thoughts, Will

:hug:

[WillParkinson]

9. Is it one of those thoughts where...

I'm standing in sort of sun-god robes on a pyramid with a thousand naked men screaming and throwing little pickles at me? ... Cuz, that would be cool. :-)

[Bertha Venation]

12. LOL

You're in good spirits. That's excellent. :)

[VioletLake]

3. Your stupid thumb? Must be the one on your right hand.

Take care of yourself, WillParkinson.

[WillParkinson]

4. I'm back...

Took all of 5 minutes for them to tell me there was nothing they could do for me and that I would have to see my regular doctor (who I can't get an appointment with until Tuesday.)

[VioletLake]

5. About your stupid thumb:

did the Dr. tell you to cut back on the video games?

[WillParkinson]

6. To be honest...

He didn't really pay that much attention to me other than to tell me to follow up with my regular doctor. He asked if X-rays were taken, I said no and that was pretty much the extent of it.

[Aristus]

7. Your regular doctor will probably refer you for physical therapy.

Once strains, sprains, fractures, herniated discs, spondylolitheses, and spondyloarthropathies are ruled out, home stretches and physical therapy are the next best steps.

A word of caution, Will: a response such as: "I don't want no physical therapy, man; I want something for the PAIN!" will get you branded as a drug seeker. So, if you reassure your provider that you don't want narcotic analgesia, you'll be okay...

[WillParkinson]

8. Drugs?

No thanks, not my style. I want to be rid of the pain permanently, not take something that will wear off in the middle of my shift.

[Aristus]

10. Smart man. I always tell my skeptical patients that physical therapy

will cure the pain (probably), while narcotics will only mask it.

But some people only want drugs. I've received death threats from patients after I denied them Vicodin or Percocet or Methadone or whatever.

Some drug seekers are not at all subtle about it. They'll march right in and say: "I've got back pain. I want Oxycodone!"

Others are a little more crafty, but not enough to move me to prescribe narcotics. "Well, it says here in your chart that your previous provider prescribed stretches to do at home."

"I tried those once. They didn't work!"

"I see. There's the problem. 10-15 minutes at a time, three times a day for two weeks. That was the recommendation."

"I'm tellin' ya, man: I need Oxycodone!"

Fortunately, the bad seeds are pretty rare. I love most of my patients...

[Dappleganger]

11. Agreed, PT is the best thing.

Don't be afraid of being hurt while going through PT, they know how to work with your condition. I just finished PT yesterday after having been in it since July for 4 herniated discs. That's helped me avoid surgery for this year (knock on wood).

I have been hit from behind 3 times and eventually had 3-level cervical fusion, so if you have any questions feel free to ask. One thing to remember, the longer you have numbness in the extremities the long the nerve takes to come back, and if you wait too long there can be permanent damage.

You'll also want to use meds while going through PT because it is painful to a certain extent but meds help you get through it for that day and the day after. You'll probably need a good muscle relaxer, something for swelling and if there is a lot of breakthrough pain in the night something for that. I also am a very firm believe in using e-stim (interferential treatment) for lowering the amount of pain meds you use (and sometimes you can forego meds completely). E-stim treatment is done at PT and quite often you can a prescription for rental of a portable unit which you can wear and use as needed. These are different than tens units (affects deep tissue injuries).

Wanted to add: ICE is your friend. Get a couple of these: http://www.amazon.com/Chattanooga-Cervical-Neck-ColPac-Vinyl/dp/B000EALFDW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1286676965&sr=8-1
You can alternate with heat but be careful of swelling it may cause (I use a good Thermador heating pad).

Gentle stretching is also your friend.