Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Pain in the neck: update

So its been about 2 weeks now since I started physical therapy for the herniated disc in my neck.  The sessions consist of:
  1. 15 minutes of electronic muscle stimulation
  2. 11 different neck/shoulder exercises
  3. about 5 minutes of traction (essentially pulling my head away from my neck)

In addition to going to physical therapy 3 times a week, I also go once a week for a 1/2 hour therapeutic neck/shoulder/back massage.  

Its too early to say if any of its working or not.  I mean, I wasn't in 'constant' pain to begin with, but the pain was pretty intense whenever I sat at a desk or table or drove a car for more than 15 minutes.  I'm also taking Tramadol, a pain relieving medication twice a day which has been working well.  

So I'm basically not in pain anymore but I can't tell if its because of the treatments or the medication.  

I'm to continue this routine until mid-May when I go for my 1-month follow-up with the orthopedist. 

2 comments:

anne marie in philly said...

I was wondering how your pain management was going. hang in there!

Ur-spo said...

Good luck