Thanks to the support of a wildly ridiculous number of generous souls, I was able to start Spinal Decompression Therapy on Monday. It is no "miracle" cure. I'm still very much in pain and idle, but for the first time in nearly a year, I have seen small bits of progress. And that alone has been earthshatteringly hopeful.
Every day, I go to the clinic and sit for minutes or so in a heated chair while I fill out a pain form. I indicate on an illustration of the human body where my pain is, the severity of it, and what kind -- tingling, numbmness, pain, burning, stiffness.
Then my doctor and I discuss what's happened in the past 24 hours, changes in my pain in terms of severity and location, progress, setbacks, etc. It's very thorough. And very comforting.
Knowledge is power, after all.
I am definitely more in tune with what's going on with me.
Then, i am put on the decompression table. I am harnessed in very tightly (i learned right away that having a coffee pre-treatment makes for a very uncomfortable 30 minutes!) I am harnessed in standing up and then slowly lowered to a lying position. The doctor sets the weight of the pull, about 75% of my body weight (and this increases with every session), and starts the machine. It pulls in 18 segments. None of which are distinct. It all feels the same to me.
Then I move rooms, lie on my stomach on a table, and Dr. Akhavan sets up 4 pads on my back and treats me with interferential currents. It kind of feels like a bee buzzing inside my back for 15 minutes. It's not comfortable, but it's not uncomfortable either. I get used to it in about a minute and often snooze until the machine beeps and the current stops.
After the doctor takes off the pads, it still feels like they are on. And my back buzzes for another 15 minutes or so. "It's the nerves," he says. "They are still working." I went home the first day and looked in the mirror, convinced they were still on my back. But he was right: they were long gone!
The purpose of interferential current therapy to aid the relief of pain and to promote soft-tissue healing. The machine sends tiny electrical impulses to the source of my pain. The electrical waves intersect below my skin and the stimulation is supposed to help my body secrete endorphins (natural pain-killers. Who knew?)
At this point, I can't tell you if it's beneficial or not, but I have stopped taking my nausea-inducing anti-inflammatories and have been trusting this therapy on its own, and my pain level is decreasing noticeably.
So I might just be a believer.
After the current therapy, I receive 5-7 minutes of cold laser therapy. There is no feeling or sensation at all associated with this. It, like interferential current, helps to promote healing.
I leave the office wearing my fancy Disc Detractor Belt which, if caught in public, would have me on the Fashion Police page of every mag. It is comfortable to wear in terms of support, but it squishes all my fat up and down above and below the belt so I look like a walking, talking sausage link. It's not an ideal device for promoting self-esteem in public.
That said, I wear it diligently.
Because I want this to work.
With one week of every-day treatments over with, I can report this:
1. I am exhausted beyond exhaustion. I sleep probably 14-16 hours a day. I have 2 or 3 naps. I am a walking zombie. But I am healing. So this is a good sign.
2. The tingling, burning, and numbness that has plagued my left leg for months and months is slowly diminishing. It still exists and still comes on with a vengeance some days, but where I used to be aggravated and debilitated by it for 24 hours straight. I now have up to 6 or 7 hours of reprieve – with NO symptoms. And it's bliss.
3. I am sleeping. That alone is a gift. Only one night this week did I toss and turn in pain and discomfort. The rest of the time I slept more solidly than I have in a year.
Five more weeks and 15 more treatments to go.
I start stretching and hopefully some light cardio in the next few weeks in hopes of strengthening my back.
The recovery process is slow and I am eager to stop being idle, get back outside, and fit into my pants again.
But I will be patient.
I want this to work. So I'm taking it day by day.
