Brain & Butt
My post on my neuro review disappeared into the ether. Here's the edited highlights: neuro review went off well. No new lesion load, and even a bit of repair of some of the migraine-related smatters. I'll see Mr Neuro in a year if nothing comes up in the meantime.
I have some spinal degeneration too - C5 & C6 are not in good shape, and have bony spurs (aka osteophytes), quite big ones I'm given to understand. Some online research shows these may or may not cause pain, weakness and parasthesia. In some cases they cause problems with the lower limbs even though they really should only affect the upper limbs. Also, some people have quite bad degeneration and no symptoms. LIke most things with my body, its not going to be simple and straightforward.
With that, and the right thigh pain being worse, I thought it might be useful to go see my fabulous physio. Only to discover that *my* physio retired last year. Oops. So I trotted along to the practice owner. This chap has successfully diagnosed and treated members of the family & friends network, so I was confident he'd have something useful to say.
The pain in the thigh was starting to mean I had trouble walking. Not every day, just some days - and increasingly MOST days. I finally twigged that this may not be temporary muscle strain that will just go away when I realised its been a couple of months now.
One of the tests my physio - I'll call him Gentle Man, which is ironic when I think about his deep tissue technique - did was have me stand on each leg in turn. I have had issues with proprioception and balance in the past, but I was surprised to discover my right leg no longer holds me up. If you'd seen me flailing around even while holding a wall, while my leg wobbled and jerked like it was a spring, you'd have laughed like a drain. I can stand like a rock on my left leg.
GM explains that the fasciculations (twitching) in my R thigh muscle are because its exhausted from underlying problems. He got me on the bench and put me through some simple range of movement and stretches. He said that thing that every bodywork practitioner I ever met said, "wow, you're really tight". When it came to comparing my R and L legs, he commented - in a very sad voice - "Oh moocow, oh DEAR!"
Then he got me face down and proceeded to examine my gluteus more closely: always fun for any middle-aged woman. Not only is my butt big, but now it doesn't even work properly. As he found the five or six major active trigger points, and my eyes teared up, he said, "Can you understand that muscles in this much pain can't work properly?" "Ngh unghur" I replied. He then worked on me for about half an hour (after half and hour of testing and diagnosis).
I don't have a definitive reason for the weakness. It may be a result of being immobilised in a brace during the Great Broken Arm of '07/'08. It may be from neural damage - although there are no lesions on my spine because I only had an MRI the other day. It could be *a thing*. It could be trauma from the horse fall and/or a couple of recent falls. it could be a bit siinister or it could be relatively benign.
It will take a while to resolve. I have the most pathetically easy little gentle exercises, that cause me to gasp and sweat when I do them. I have to do them 3 times daily. I go back to GM the physio in a week or so, so he can poke my butt again...
Actually, he asked me to spare us both from saying he pokes me in the butt. But he gave me flowers after, so its not all bad.
Yes, he really did give me flowers. They were the tulips from the reception desk, and he gave them to me because I was the last patient on a Friday evening.
Its funny how you take your little niggles for granted. I've had reason to cogitate in the past on how my ability to tolerate pain is NOT HELPFUL. Once again I have discovered that if I'd just gone for treatment when my leg started hurting - about 2-3 years ago - I would not be in this mess now. Or not as badly. Readers of this blog may be justified in thinking I might be a cyberchondriac, but it seems I'm not quite active enough in seeking relief.
When my butt improves, we'll start looking at my dodgy back. What fun! GM did say that - apart from probably MS, migraine, disc degeneration and major hip weakness - I do seem to be in very good shape for my age.
I have some spinal degeneration too - C5 & C6 are not in good shape, and have bony spurs (aka osteophytes), quite big ones I'm given to understand. Some online research shows these may or may not cause pain, weakness and parasthesia. In some cases they cause problems with the lower limbs even though they really should only affect the upper limbs. Also, some people have quite bad degeneration and no symptoms. LIke most things with my body, its not going to be simple and straightforward.
With that, and the right thigh pain being worse, I thought it might be useful to go see my fabulous physio. Only to discover that *my* physio retired last year. Oops. So I trotted along to the practice owner. This chap has successfully diagnosed and treated members of the family & friends network, so I was confident he'd have something useful to say.
The pain in the thigh was starting to mean I had trouble walking. Not every day, just some days - and increasingly MOST days. I finally twigged that this may not be temporary muscle strain that will just go away when I realised its been a couple of months now.
One of the tests my physio - I'll call him Gentle Man, which is ironic when I think about his deep tissue technique - did was have me stand on each leg in turn. I have had issues with proprioception and balance in the past, but I was surprised to discover my right leg no longer holds me up. If you'd seen me flailing around even while holding a wall, while my leg wobbled and jerked like it was a spring, you'd have laughed like a drain. I can stand like a rock on my left leg.
GM explains that the fasciculations (twitching) in my R thigh muscle are because its exhausted from underlying problems. He got me on the bench and put me through some simple range of movement and stretches. He said that thing that every bodywork practitioner I ever met said, "wow, you're really tight". When it came to comparing my R and L legs, he commented - in a very sad voice - "Oh moocow, oh DEAR!"
Then he got me face down and proceeded to examine my gluteus more closely: always fun for any middle-aged woman. Not only is my butt big, but now it doesn't even work properly. As he found the five or six major active trigger points, and my eyes teared up, he said, "Can you understand that muscles in this much pain can't work properly?" "Ngh unghur" I replied. He then worked on me for about half an hour (after half and hour of testing and diagnosis).
I don't have a definitive reason for the weakness. It may be a result of being immobilised in a brace during the Great Broken Arm of '07/'08. It may be from neural damage - although there are no lesions on my spine because I only had an MRI the other day. It could be *a thing*. It could be trauma from the horse fall and/or a couple of recent falls. it could be a bit siinister or it could be relatively benign.
It will take a while to resolve. I have the most pathetically easy little gentle exercises, that cause me to gasp and sweat when I do them. I have to do them 3 times daily. I go back to GM the physio in a week or so, so he can poke my butt again...
Actually, he asked me to spare us both from saying he pokes me in the butt. But he gave me flowers after, so its not all bad.
Yes, he really did give me flowers. They were the tulips from the reception desk, and he gave them to me because I was the last patient on a Friday evening.
Its funny how you take your little niggles for granted. I've had reason to cogitate in the past on how my ability to tolerate pain is NOT HELPFUL. Once again I have discovered that if I'd just gone for treatment when my leg started hurting - about 2-3 years ago - I would not be in this mess now. Or not as badly. Readers of this blog may be justified in thinking I might be a cyberchondriac, but it seems I'm not quite active enough in seeking relief.
When my butt improves, we'll start looking at my dodgy back. What fun! GM did say that - apart from probably MS, migraine, disc degeneration and major hip weakness - I do seem to be in very good shape for my age.