Monday, December 21, 2009

A Pain In The Neck (part 2)

A pain in the neck that stays for too long is not something you should take for granted even if you can stand the torture...

Here's the 2nd part of my story.



September 2005
I referred to my skeleton again. That confounded prolapsed disk decided to give me another pain-in-the-neck. I don't know what I really did wrong to deserve this. Did I really over extend my weight bearing capabilities with my existing fragile condition? Is 10 kgs too heavy for my arms?

3rd week since that pesky pain took another stranglehold of my life and put me into daily torture from the moment I get up from bed. Only relief for me is when I lie down in bed or apply an ice-pack on the back of my neck. I read somewhere on internet that ice-pack works better because it relieves the pain and forces the blood flow to go deep inside and helps reduce inflammation faster. And that advice comes with a caution that ice application should be done for only about 20-25 minutes and at intervals of 5 hours. I don't know how much truth is in that. But I'm willing to keep doing it as long as I can stop the pain from driving me nuts.

Remembering the consultant neurosurgeon's prescription of Celebrex, I went to Taman Intan doctor for some. He only agreed to give me 5 doses of 200mg each. I read an on-line prescription that you either take 100mg twice a day or 200mg only once a day. It does help to reduce the intensity. The nagging, throbbing pain still persists. It's supposed to be able to reduce the inflammation as well. But I still need to lie down sometimes for some relief. I have to keep praying that I don't have to go to the final choice of an operation. It is not only costly; it has the risk of paralysis and only a 50-50 chance of improvement. Except that it removes the pain.

Come Sunday, I'm going to take a risk of driving to Penang to attend a nephew's wedding. I'll be prepared with pain-killers and an ice-pack. I'm trying to live as normal a life as possible. The trouble is, the neck column is one of the most mobile and fragile parts of the body. And it supports a heavy head. I thought of wearing a neck-brace, but with our kind of weather, I'd probably be sweating and soaking it in no time. I'm running out of ideas at the moment. I know that if I can keep from further movements and prevent further injuries, I have hopes it will get better.

It was not to be...

3 comments:

  1. Lianchye please practice caution,dont go to the wedding unless somebody drives you.

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  2. This happened in September 2005? I hope the pain is gone after 4 years. My left thigh has been numb for years and I think its a constricted nerve. Many urut sessions later, the numbness is still there. At least it has not spread.

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  3. Bengbeng, this is a case history. It happened in 2005. Fact is, when I was driving it was much better because I sort of 'moved with the car'. When someone else drove with jerky motions, that's the worst.

    Johan, if the numbness is in the thigh but the pain is somewhere along your backbone, maybe you need to have an x-ray or MRI to find out the real cause.

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