Hey Muwah!! I'm glad I saw this thread, as I've got so much hip/spine pain and all of the help and suggestions given to you just may help me. My DH has a tens unit, so I'm going to try it and also bought some of the Salonspa patches.

Hope you can find more relief soon. take care and thanks everyone.

Moi...the patches also come in smaller sizes now so there is less cutting. really had to chuckle at the thought of you being plastered with them. LOL

(((Mr. Moi))) I was going to suggest a good chiro too. You know I hated going to chiros, and I most often left feeling worse and very sore to say the least.

Then my massage therapist suggested someone whom she said had healing hands. He isn't the kind that snaps and twists you. I thought well I'll give it a try.

He's amazing. My tailbone pain even let up which I wasn't even hoping for. He also uses low level laser therapy which really helped a lot.

Anyway, there are some really good ones out there that don't snap, crackle and pop. I think acupuncture sounds excellent as well. Since I get massages, though, there is no way I could also afford acupuncture. Darn it.

I love you Mr. Moi.

Keep in mind that I'm saying this as a friend; You really need to come up with a plan where you can make all this a priority and have it fixed. I realize cost/insurance may be an issue but we need to get this figured out and fixed. Keep me up to speed on it please.


I am the MonSter that MS fears.

[I logged in here this morning my time and I started to write my message and my internet went offline and I haven't been able to get back till now (evening). I was still logged in. LOL I would have thought it might have logged me off after a certain time, like 10 minutes.]

Moi, several other things that I would think about right now during this waxing time you're having...

Have you been experiencing more than your usual symptoms of any other conditions that you may have?

If so, then that might be something worth looking into as well. Sometimes treating the co-morbid or whatever else you may have had escallate recently can really help with calming down the tics. Also wondering if your renaissance isn't related to anything in particular, like unusual mood swings, that could be affecting? Sorry to ask such personal questions here.

Some people find that CBT (just an example, there are others) can help with certain symptoms and that in turn might create a less stressful day to day life and then the tics might calm down.

Also, have you had any changes in medication recently?
I have no idea if you take medications for anything, but some medications can affect the severity of tics. Some medication dosage changes can upset the apple cart too.

Do think about other things that might be affecting your level of tics right now because, esp. in people who have TS and comorbid conditions, sometimes working on balancing out other things, be it OC stuff or a number of other things can actually lead to some relief in intensity of the tics.

About the neck brace. Heck, something as you describe might just be a little rigid don't you think? I mean, the soft one can cushion but something really hard like that, esp. attached to your chin as well might cause more problems than it's worth.

Massage, as Doody mentioned is terrific. Actually giving a massage can help you relax as well.

I figure if you're in pain, get pain relief. I'm still not sure of seeing a chiropractor for any type of adjustment at this particular moment until you have xrays etc.. At this stage. I know chiros do other stuff and same with osteopaths. I have two concerns. One being that any type of manipulation or adjustment might only work for a minute or less if your tics are that severe right now.

Moi, you have more than one thing going on... There's the tics and whatever else, and there's the pain and potential for serious injury again and damage. Treat the pain, manage the symptoms, but also remember that if this is a regular waxing period of tics, then it will get better. But in the meantime you have to find out why you have the pain and itching. If this isn't like one of your regular waxing periods then I would be trying to figure out what needs attention to make it all change all of a sudden.

Easier said than done, I know.
You need to see the doctor to figure out if the tics have caused damage to your spine.
No amount of pain relief is going to get rid of the tics, but in the mean time you need to do something or take something for the pain because the more pain you have the more you will tic!

Just adding in here for the 5th edit... I have spinal issues, too numerous to ever mention, but I also have a carpel tunnel nerve entrapment (elbow) that causes me to have numb fingers and burning and itching. There are some really good illustrations in the TOS Forum btw which Jo posted.

Here's just one of them for example: http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/post284498-35.html

I can't find the other ones I was specifically looking for I'm sorry. Will try again tomorrow.

AND

Just before anyone wonders what on earth we were doing "asking" Moi to get botox...

We didn't actually 'ask' Moi to get botox as in... Like "hey moi, how about some botox???" It was a serious endeavour for serious reasons and well and truly researched with a particular TS Specialist and then Moi did more investigations etc....

Botox has been used in specific and rare occasions to treat severe vocal tics. We're not talking about using something here for cosmetic reasons because we all know that Moi is pretty enough already (and younger too).

Moi was experiencing some very severe and long-lasting tics that were both painful and harmful to himself. At the time certain doctors had found that a few of their patients received some relief from severe vocal tics (even if somewhat temporary) with use of botox.

Keep the botox away from those dimples!! *grin

just an FYI re Chiropracter

NUCCA trained chiros are best as they dont whack ya around but do very gentle pressure treatments etc. They specialize in cervical area (www.nucca.org)

My son has learned that sometimes being "out" in the vertebra can actually trigger more tics. Once the doc carefully aligns the spine, both the pain and the tics seem to reduce.

and a good chiro will always take x-rays and not manipulate/adjust anything that requires orthopedic etc. The NUCCA trained ones just seem tohave that extra measure of care, we have found

Moi, have you ever tried soaking in epsom salts baths? (2 cups epsom salts in warm tub water) It really does seem to take the edge off waxing tics etc for many

hope you are seeing your doc and getting xrays/tests etc

praying for waning

Thanks Chemar. That's good to hear. Some of the ones here aren't as careful or thorough as they should be. I think I read in another thread elsewhere on the forum that the one moi used to see is very good. That's a relief.

Thanks for the link!

(p.s. I said carpel tunnel. I meant cubital tunnel. Sleepy head typo here too)

Hope you are feeling better there Moo-ee.

I really like my Dr. Chiro. He is taking my burny shoulder away and is suggesting that I stop walking into door jams. I say, the door jams are up and smacking the carp out of me and winning.

Here is praying that someone finds you relief.


(Smacking your left side. Sorry can't stop!)

I spoke to moi this morning and he's laying around on the floor (*grin) to calm his ticcing...has a dr. apt. tomorrow...Wed.