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Spinal Disorders & Back Pain For discussion of all spinal cord injuries, spinal issues, back-related pain or problems. |
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10-05-2011, 11:33 AM | #1 | ||
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I have a herniated disc at C6/7. Dr wants to try traction. Has this helped anyone? It feels like its actually aggravating my symptoms.
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10-05-2011, 12:42 PM | #2 | |||
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What are your symptoms at this time?
What is your avg pain level each day?
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10-05-2011, 04:38 PM | #3 | ||
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Right now I have pain in my left arm and into my wrist and slight pain in my left shoulder and left side of my neck.
My MRI shows a herniated disc at C6/7 with severe stenosis on the left lateral recess and moderate canal stenosis. Also DDd in C 5/6. Pain w/o medication is in the 5-7 range.... more severe in my forearm and less severe in the neck and shoulder area. Neuro wants me to do traction 2x a day for 3 weeks. Just started on Mon and it seems like pain has gotten worse. |
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10-05-2011, 05:31 PM | #4 | |||
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Is PT doing the traction therapy for you?
Do they make adjustments if needed as each session goes along -and asking how you feel before ,during & after? I haven't had neck traction, but plenty of other PT & DC sessions for my RSI/TOS (more or less a chronic repetitive work injury).
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10-05-2011, 09:42 PM | #5 | ||
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Most likely, you are doing the traction during PT sessions. At your next visit, they will ask how things are going. This is your time to answer honestly. They can adjust what they are doing, maybe they need to apply less traction, or try something else. Several years ago, my neighbor used traction through PT and a home traction device for a few months and managed to avoid having her neck fused. Traction does help but it doesn't mean that it will help everyone. For me, acupuncture works really well.
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10-06-2011, 07:29 AM | #6 | ||
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Junior Member
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This is a home unit. It uses a head harness, pulleys and a bag of water for the weight. The bag is marked w/ wts at certain levels so you can fill it according to what your Dr says. I started w/ 10# but have cut back to 8#. He has me using it 2-3 times a day for 10-15 minutes.
I've been at it almost a week now but I don't think I'm seeing any improvement at all. In fact, I hurt a little more. I was just wondering if anyone with a herniated disc has found relief w/ traction. |
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10-07-2011, 01:02 PM | #7 | |||
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Senior Member (**Dr Smith is named after a character from Lost in Space, not a medical doctor)
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I've also heard of people using inversion tables, but I have no idea how effective that might be with a cervical issue.
Google: inversion table cervical Doc
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Dr. Zachary Smith Oh, the pain... THE PAIN... Dr. Smith is NOT a medical doctor. He was a character from LOST IN SPACE. All opinions expressed are my own. For medical advice/opinion, consult your doctor. |
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10-07-2011, 08:42 PM | #8 | ||
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From personal experience with inversion tables, I found it didn't help with cervical issues because there isn't enough weight to stretch out the neck. Whereas, for lumbar issues, the table works good because you have your upper body weight helping to stretch out the lumbar spine.
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10-07-2011, 08:50 PM | #9 | ||
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Actually, my husband & I used to use Inversion Boots. You strapped them on your ankles and hung upside down from a bar. We were long distance runners at the time (the 80's) and used them regularly. It really helped. I asked the nuerosurgeon at my appt. about inversion and he said he highly recommended it for lower back pain....not so much for cervical.
That said, they called me today to see how I was doing & when I said I was getting headaches they said DON'T USE IT. So, no traction for the time being and we'll see if I still have the arm issues and neck pain. |
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10-09-2011, 09:45 AM | #10 | ||
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Ventura43, I had and have cervical spine issues that began in 2000. Long story but I used traction maybe a couple of times but the headaches were horrendous to begin with and traction made them so much worse. Good call on your doctor's part! Just know that the cervical spine is a far cry from issues with the lumbar or so says my spinal pain doc. Anyway, since you said you had severe stenosis with a herniation I would try injections next (to try to take down inflammation) and then take it from there. Good luck.
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