I've been through 4 rounds of physical therapy and am not bad enough for surgery!

I've been through 4 rounds of physical therapy and am not bad enough for surgery?

which is cool because everybody says surgery just makes it worse.

Anyhow, I have 2 slipped disc in neck and disc bulge. I also have a slipped acromion which impinges my tendon in shoulder with tenonytis. I also have sciatica with a partial rupture in lower back.

I am in alot of pain and the doctors say theres nothing to do about it that im just going to hurt for a "long" time but they dont know how long

anyhow, I stopped taking pain pills because after you take them for 7 months you feel like a walking zombie.


physical therapy hasnt helped at all. I get alittle better and then a whole lot worse then I have to start all over again.


Anybody been through something like this?

Ideas to control the pain? I am going nuts with so many sleepless nights.

2 weeks ago
OH also, this is a workers comp case so I would like to know if anybody has any medical knowledge and knows if this is the correct way to address the problems?

is there nothing I can do for my neck/shoulder/back/leg but just wait it out?

Remember that there are different approaches to physical therapy much like there are different approaches to medicine.

Your case is certainly complex. I'm not sure what you mean by "rupture"...but I am assuming you have a disc extrusion or sequestration...in otherwords, that the nuclear material has breeched the annunal wall of the disc. If this is the case, PT can only show you how to manage your symptoms as this is usually a surgical case, or the body will reabsorb the nuclear material with time.

If your discs are still intact, but bulging or even small protrustions/herniations, this may be reducible...especially if your symptoms are not constant. However, you do need to see a physical therapist who knows much about mechanical pain. I suggest seeing a PT with MDT experience (mechanical diagnosis and therapy)...simple stretching, heat, massage, ultrasound and stabilization will not help this type of problem.

Your problem is certainly complex, and sometimes is hard to treat one problem without aggrevating the other...I would suggest focusing on the neck and back first, then move to the shoulder when approapriate. trying do to too many things at once leads to ambigious answers and results.

Some other things you need to ask yourself are? How willing am I to follow my home program? How satisfied am I with my job? Am I willing to give up smoking (if you smoke)? Do I have any history of anxiety or depression?. These are all factors that, besides mechanical response to pain, are highly indicative of how well you will respond to treatment. We may not have the answers as to why these things are predictors of disability/chronic pain, but we know that they are simply that...predictors. The more of the above factors you have (aside from mechanical response), the more appropriate you are for a comprehensive pain management program including cognitive behavioral therapy aside from simply just physical therapy.

If you do not have these above factors and are simply looking for a PT with MDT experience, I recommend you go to: http://www.mckenziemdt.org