It's Sunday morning, beautiful sunny summer weather, hubby had to work all weekend. I't just me and the boy(dog). My hands, wrists,elbows are burning. My neck is about the usual level 4 pain, and my scpula(in my back) Is starting that weird tingeling, burning,crawling pain. I know from reading all of the posts here everyone says pt isn't suppose to hurt. Well after Friday, and some cervical traction and my arm being raised,, I am hurting since and still. Immediately after the procedure I had increased buring in my neck and in the centre of my spine(never had burning in my centre of my spine??? I told this to pt and I was told you can expect an increase of pain. Although I hate this I think I should increase gabapentin dose. I can not endure added pain. I am wearing down. I am suppose to have an emg(monofuller needle exam) soon, but as to what I'm reading it seems it could increase my pain. I had the last one 2 yrs ago, after which I had bi-lateral carpal tunnel release.P.S I know it hurts having those needles stuck in and trying to move your muscles. I am awaiting another mri. Thanks for letting me whine

I know how you feel... I agree it's a beautiful sunny day here in So California too and I feel awful. I had my last SG block on friday and I have had this lingering headache ever since then. I called the Doc and they said it should be ok unless it gets sever again then go to the ER. They think it is coming from the muscle spasms (probley is)... They want me to keep taking meds and take it easy... So, I have been spending most of my weekend in bed.
My hubby is at work too and it's just me and the kids(my mini schnauzers)but they sure try to be great care takers..
Maybe you can try to use some ice and heat on those sore muscles and spots that came from the PT session.. It may help... By the way they don't have you lifting weights do they.. Weights are a "BIG NO" with TOS... I had gone for PT once and the therapist tried to get me to do the weight machines with 40 pds of weight plus and I put a stop to that very quickly..
But I know it sure "Sucks" when it's a beautiful day and it's spent inside, in bed, in pain...
I do hope your pain levels come down soon...
Many Gentle Hugs to you..
Dawn
Whining is allowed anytime.. I sure know I do enough of it...

Thanks Dawn I appreciate your support. There is no weight lifting. Cervical traction, left arm raised and moved around, accu check, heat, ice, and taping of my neck to shoulder area. I am getting worried about the traction, what if it's doing more harm than good? I see my Doctor on Monday, and I will ask these questions to her as well. It seems I have some misfiring of nerves. I wonder if it's safe to use ice?? I always have before. I am scared although not diagnosed that I may have rsd, gabapentine (new drug) is helping with the burning really well at first but I think I may need more, not working as well now. These dogs are worse than children!! Thanks again, Your support is really appreciated.

I can't remember -did you have c spine problems also, is that why the traction? How much pulling is there- does it seem to be too much ?
I'm thinking if you feel you need to resist the pull you may be tensing your muscles unconsciously and getting spasms from that?

If you are wondering about RSD might be best to mention the subject it to the dr.
see what he says.

Thanks for responding Jo, I will mention this to my doctor on Monday.

it sounds like you have very good instincts about what might be going on. i would trust those!

regarding the traction - i read somewhere in my travels that cervical traction is NOT a good thing for a TOS'er in PT. of course, there are mounds and mounds of theories, aren't there, and everyone has his or her own approach to things. the last thing i want to do is step on your PT's toes.

but it's YOU who should be running the show here. if you think it might be flaring you up - even if it doesn't hurt you at the time - then try not having the traction for a few PT sessions, would be my suggestion, i guess, and see if that doesn't help calm things down a bit for you.

part of the nightmare with TOS i think for all of us, is it's so hard to tell, with a delayed reaction time of 12 hours or more, exactly which activity it was that caused our pain to flare up or our nerve sx to sky-rocket so drastically!

but i am suspicious as i think you are, of the traction. i also would want to know more about how your arm is being manipulated in those PT sessions.

hopefully, you are with a good, TOS-savvy PT who communicates well and often with your doctor and of course with you. talk to your doctor about all of these concerns. it always feels better, for me, when adjustments are made in my tx plan in specific response to stuff that's going on with me. then i know my tx team is not only listening to me, but they are talking to each other. so important!

use today like dawn said to rest up, ice ice baby, go easy on yourself. also, it would probably be v e r y helpful for your doc if you were to keep track of your sx over the next several hours. like exactly how the "nerve pain" travels, the pattern, what triggers it, makes it better/worse, etc.

they like that kind of stuff. helps them to help us.

good luck, and i hope you feel better. and do better. soonest.

alison