I'm so disappointed right now.

I was almost healed from one major injury. It took me over 3 months to get back to almost 100% and now I'm injured again. I thought I was going to shake it off but it's just getting worse.

I had some pretty major nerve damage in my arm in August. I could barely move or use my left hand. I've been seeing a specialist and I was almost totally healed. On Tuesday I did something to my left hand. I get hurt all the time at work and usually just "walk it off." It's so swollen right now and there is a hard lump in the middle of the swollen part right between two of the knuckles. Once again, it's hard to use this hand. I hope I didn't tear something in my hand. I'm so tired of injuries.

Just venting, I guess.

 

That's a drag man. How did it happen in the first place?

 

We don't really know if it was something I did at work or what. I just woke up one morning and couldn't use my left hand. The specialist put me through a bunch of tests and pinpointed where the damage was. I have to give him credit...he was spot-on about everything he said and predicted. He said it would heal, I'd be mostly ok in 2 or 3 months but it may take up to a year to be completely back to normal. So that was going fine. Then on Tuesday my hand started getting sore. The only thing I can think of was when I was pushing a large branch down a hill in the timber. I could barely reach up to the butt of it with my finger tips. I thought maybe I hyper-extended something but I didn't feel it at the time. It just started hurting later in the day. No biggie, I thought. I've had that before and it goes away. But this time it hasn't gone away and it's only got worse. I have an appointment a week from Friday with the doctor so I'm just going to wait and see until then.

 

Sorry to hear that. Hopefully you can rest it some before seeing the doctor and that there is not damage done.

Being patient while the body heals is not as easy as it should.

 

you might want to check out acupuncture for that if you can get a good price for it.

 

I tried that for the nerve damage the day before my first appt. with the neurologist. It didn't help. The guy who did it told me it may take 6 or 8 sessions to see any results. It seemed a little sketchy but I tried it. When I went to the neurologist (arm and hand specialist known as the best in my state) he explained that acupuncture may help for some things but it wouldn't help repair this kind of nerve damage. It was just going to take time.

Also, I went back to the acupuncture place after my dr. appt. to pay what I still owed on my bill. The receptionist tried to book me for more time and I politely declined...telling her what the dr. told me. She got really smug and said "Nerves won't just repair themselves but whatever." I didn't say anything but I wanted to say "Wow! I'm glad you know as much as the guy who is the best around. How did you ever end up here after so many years of advanced med school?" I just left though.

 

Rest
Ice
Compression
Elevation

 

:/ I hope you feel better, I don't have much advice but I will send positive thoughts your way!

 

There are almost no "regular" medical doctors that are going to recommend acupuncture and it shocks me a neurologist stated acupuncture may help anything!

On and off through the years I've been treated by acupuncture a number of times. Acupuncture has worked for me when nothing else did!

But, first of all, when a person has a serious injury surely you do realize it will take more than one time for you to feel anything close to help, right? It really surprises me when when I read or talk to people that seem to think that an acupuncturist is going to fix something like a dentist - 2 appointments at most.. Why would you think you would not need more than 1 or even 2 (gasp! ) appointments? If you will do some research, you will find that yessir indeedy, acupuncture Does Help and addresses nerve damage. If time alone would "fix that kind of nerve damage", I'd be willing to bet a good acupuncturist would be able to move that time table on up...but then I'm just speaking from the viewpoint of someone that has definitely gotten help and relief via acupuncture.

The receptionist at the acupuncturist surely does not know more than "the guy who is the best around"...but she has probably seen more people come in and out feeling better/healed than the neurologist's receptionist.

 

A few points......

I went to the acupuncture place to begin with because my GP dr said it may be a good idea but also referred me to the neurologist. (So actually, 2 drs had good things to say about it) I know it does help with a lot of things. The part I thought was sketchy was the actual place that I went to. I was listening to these people tell me things that I knew full well were wildly optimistic at best, outright bullshit to get my money at worst. I actually went to school to be a dr and studied this shit myself so I had some foundation to go on. I wasn't meaning to come across as saying acupuncture is sketchy. But there is a very simple reason why acupuncture will not repair this kind of nerve damage.

I'll tell you what I think would have happened. The nerves would have healed in time and I would have been dropping $120 a session on acupuncture for 3 months and the acupuncture place would have been claiming that they healed me. I don't claim to know that much about acupuncture but I do know a few things about the nervous system and I think the neurologist hit the nail on the head. He didn't throw acupuncture under the bus but sometimes you just have to give things time to heal.

 

BTW....the swelling has gone down, there is less pain and it looks like I'm going to walk this one off. Woohoo! :afro: I was worried yesterday. It looked really bad. I can still feel that bump that shouldn't be there but it's much better today.

 

Glad to hear it :cheers2: I guess you just got to have patience! Yeah easier said than done

 

Yup...patience. And in my line of work...a high pain threshold sometimes. I've been so banged up over the years. I've broke bones, separated muscles, scratched my eyes plenty of times, injured me knees, shoulders, elbows and wrists, had a partially collapsed lung (twice...and yes...I checked myself out of the hospital and went back to work...that sucked), had a major puncture wound right above my knee that "grounded" me for 3 1/2 months....I could go on. I sometimes wonder what the fuck I'm doing out there and ask myself "Remember when you were supposed to be a doctor?" But I know why I'm there. I'm there for the money and I'm there for the rush. :bandana:

 

$120 per session for acupuncture is nuts. I guess there's folks out there charging that much money, but that's way overpriced. If there's an acupuncture school near you, they may have a clinic where they charge $20, which is more like it. Also, in Chinatowns, there's usually an acupuncturist that charges about the same. Their english might not be so good though.

I think there are books on acupressure self-massage. So in principle, you could get a book from the library for free and see if it helps.

 

That is great news! Glad that you are one the mend.

 

Well, I definitely stand corrected!

Around here (in SC of the USA) a person has to either be referred by someone to a good practitioner or you can get lucky. I got lucky many years ago...before acupuncture had become the semi-popular alternative medicine it is today. I was also absolutely lucky (fated?) to find a person trained in Chinese acupuncture.

Several years back I took my mother to an acupuncturist that was not Chinese-trained (that's the only way I know to express it) and what he did was not satisfactory whatsoever! I almost asked him if he had gotten his training off the internet, utube or what?!? However, aside from doing relatively nothing, I knew he was doing no harm; so we both just chalked it up to a lesson learned - never go to that joke/quack again.

The sessions have gone up in the past 14 years from $58 to $110. Knock on wood, I haven't needed to go for about 6 years. About 4 years ago they were $110...I don't want to think about how expensive they may be now.

Anyway, I'm glad you're doing better. Nerve damage is a hell of a thing to have to deal with.

You must have a seriously badass job! :2thumbsup:

 

Thanks. Hopefully I'm over this whole nerve thing. My other hand thing feels fine right now and I'm ready to rock and roll tomorrow.

And I don't know how badass my job is but I love doing it and have been at it for 20 years. There is a cool pic in my album if you want to check it out.

 

What album? Didn't see one on your profile.

Curious. Sounds like you're a lumberjack.

 

Hmm...that's strange. I can see it. Maybe I have the settings wrong? I'll try to figure it out.


Edit...just checked. I had it set to private. Now you should be able to see it. There aren't very many pics though.

 

Interesting, thanks. Still thinking you're a lumberjack as I've not read many of your posts.

I'm in sheet metal /HVAC, myself.

Been cut up too many times to count (almost cut in half one time), smashed, and I fell off a roof one time, lol.

Be safe, brother.