gaz the small back muscle exercises will help a lot, as shelley said you just have to make them part of your everyday activity, curious this doc's visit and what ever you had done mri. cat? this rules out a pinched nerve? I had a test of course no idea what it was called eek ekg egg one of those E test for pinched nerves (emg?) Hoping and praying PT works and helps you out

I hear ya Gazzy, but I think the thought of driving to another town several times a week, just puts me off. You do know that I live in Toad Hollow, right? It's like freakin Hooterville.

I'm seriously thinking of thinking about PT.

How ya feeling today?? Better, I hope!

Good, DM. I'm glad you are considering it. And yes, I know where you live. LOL I've seen the pics your stalkers took.

Just lingering muscle spasms in several areas--not enough to make me go for medication. Which is good.

The physiatrist's office sent me the following pain scale to rate pain. I thought it was worth sharing because I found it easy to understand and to relate to others how I was feeling. When I got it, it made me chuckle because when I related the # of pain to the docs in the ER (before I'd seen this chart) I said 7-8 on a scale of 0-10. And reading it validated that I'd placed my pain level the night I went to the ER right where it needed to be placed. Which was cool and disturbing all at the same time.

Pain Scale

Scale is 0-10 with 0 being none and 10 being maximum pain.

0 = none at all --- pain free

1 = slight---------very minor annoyance; less frequent strong twinges

2 = very, very weak--Minor annoyance; occasional strong twinge

3 = very weak-----Annoying enough to be distracting

4 = Moderate------Can be ignored if you are really involved in your work, but it is still distracting

5 = somewhat strong--can't be ignored for more than 30 minutes

6 = Strong---------Can't be ignored for any length of time, but you can still go to work and participate in social functions

7 = Very strong-----Makes it difficult to concentrate. Interferes with sleep. You can still function with effort.

8 = Intense---------Physical activity severely limited. You can read and converse with effort. Nausea and dizziness sets in as a factor.

9 = Very intense----Unable to speak; crying out or moaning uncontrollably

10 = Maximal--------Unconscious; pain makes you pass out.

Thanks, Frank.

Yep--I have C and T spine MRIs and apparently (although I forgot about it) an older lumbar spine MRI too (from 2003). The C and T spine are from 2007, so they're fairly recent (done in Dec. 07).

Oh boy..... don't MENTION the EMG word with me. I hate those bloody things. If I don't have to go through another one I'll be terribly happy! Don't like them.

Hey hoovered one, I had a great PT session today and we worked mostly on my lower back. Some intersting stuff. Lets chat soon.