As many of you who read this blog are or should be aware that … I am a very strong chronic pain & subjective disease advocate. I started out with what was determined to be a episode of bursitis last May… got it resolved with a single injection of Solu Medrol… a few months later… I was diagnosed with a episode of sciatic nerve being “inflamed” … a single dose of Solu-medrol was not much better than one of Saline..
After a period of time of treating the pain with opiates, muscles relaxants, ice/heat & rest… getting the nerve to return to a “normal state” was not going to happen with therapy in that direction.
Next step was getting a MRI… which I did a couple of weeks ago… The report from the Radiologist is – IMO – what causes a great deal of opiophobia in our society.. The report stated that other than some degree of arthritis – expected at my age – there was nothing on the MRI that would suggest that I should be experiencing the amount of pain that I was experiencing…
That report – by itself – could have put a large DS on my medical records
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Luckily, I have been seeing this particular PCP for 15 yr+ and I told him that the pain in my hip and going down my right leg… was REAL… at least as perceived by my brain… and given my history with him… there was not a question…
I was given the option of seeing PT or going directly for a epidural… I have chosen the PT route… if I am doing something that is throwing my “physical balance” out of balance.. in my mind.. it would be better to consider this first before taking a “drug fix” and not solving the underlying problem.
Yesterday was my initial meeting with the PT and I repeated the quote from the Radiologist about his/her opinion of my pain level from “reading” the MRI.. who concurred that you can’t determine a pt level of pain from something like a 2-3 dimensional picture.
Also this past week, my wife returned to her pain clinic to have her implanted pump refilled and in talking with the head of the clinic.. I mentioned my pain issue and the MRI report and the conclusion of the Radiologist … To which he concurred about making that quantum leap from MRI to pain level the pt perceives has little/nothing in common. This Doctor indicated that he would hold open a spot for me to come over and have a epidural.. if/when all else fails…
How many pts have gone down this same path and the whole system seems to grind to a halt when the radiologist’s report comes back and makes the statement ” the MRI does not indicated any reason for the intensity of pain experienced by the pt”
The conclusion of the PT…. that I have a slight L4/L5 bulge that is impinging on the S1 nerve… which would be a valid reason.. for the pain in my ass and down my right leg that my brain is perceiving…
How many pts that we interact with on a daily basis… have been put in this “no reason for their pain” basket and the engrained opiophobic nature of our society causing them -collectively – more problems than they really deserve.
Filed under: General Problems
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