Riding down stairs

[burkbuilds]

Healing is slow but I am making steady progress. I'm hoping they will start letting me put weight on the right leg again in a couple of weeks. I still don't have good use of my right arm, but I can now lift it to 90 degrees compared with barely being able to lift it away from my waist two weeks ago. I'm doing lots of Physical therapy to get range of motion back in the knee and shoulder but the muscle tissue is visibly diminished in my right leg and arm. I've weaned myself off of all the narcotic pain killers in the last week and it feels good to be free of them. I still can't use my arm well enough to return to work but hopefully I'll be able to return within the next month at worst. I'm getting a little stir crazy but at least I have been able to wheel myself out to my workshop and straighten and clean up somewhat, (you can only sit and watch so many reruns of Gunsmoke)

[alantf]

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Originally Posted by burkbuilds

I've weaned myself off of all the narcotic pain killers in the last week and it feels good to be free of them.

Have you tried a TENS machine (Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation)? A few years back, a friend of mine fell off a ladder & crushed his foot pretty badly. Rather than use drugs for a long time, the hospital gave him one to use. When he told me how good it was, I bought one myself (they're pretty cheap in England) & I use it for all my general aches & pains. Reckon it'd be good for your problems. :2tup:

[mrlmd1]

I used to use that a lot for controlling post op surgical pain in my patients and it actually works pretty well. Just have to change the batteries once in a while. It sends minute electrical impulses up the spinal cord into the nerve fibers that conduct pain, and blocks them from doing that by basically overloading them. It will work for a localized area, not for general or diffuse pain from many sources.

[burkbuilds]

I have used that in the past for things like lower back pain with results ranging from,"made a huge difference" to "not helping" but as someone pointed out, I'd need several units hooked up all over the right side of my body to work with this many breaks. Thanks for the thoughts though. Right now my biggest problem seems to be from swelling in my right leg anytime the leg is "down" for long. I just have to elevate it and ice it down and the pain seems manageable with some aspirin and beer lol.

[mrlmd1]

You need to wear a good elastic stocking anytime you are not lying down, and not a cheapo piece of garbage you get in CVS or similar places.. If you are interested I can PM you brand names, some of which you need to get in a surgical supply store if your local big chain drug store doesn't have them.

[dentheman]

I still have my TENS machine that I used for a torn rotator cuff several years ago (along with physical therapy). It did wonders for that, and I still use it occassionally for minor muscle/joint pains. The trick is to locate the electrodes so the current will have effect on the area involved.

The rotator cuff was one of my more serious mountain bike injuries; I went over the bar and split my helmet. That incident reinforced my belief to always wear a helmet, and it carried over to motorcycling.

[alantf]

Originally Posted by dentheman

The trick is to locate the electrodes so the current will have effect on the area involved.

:plus1:

[mrlmd1]

It just has to be in an area above where the pain is coming from, and there are various sizes and shapes of those stick-on electrodes to put the current where you want it to be applied.

[dentheman]

Here ya go!

[mrlmd1]

Another thousand ways to die. Who ever thought a motorcycle was safer than a trail bike?