For my knees, reconstructive surgery was the only answer. But when it came to the injuries to my spine resulting from getting hit by a car, there wasn't any torn tissue therefore there was nothing to surgically repair or replace. I had spine injections--which are surgery but not corrective--and they worked for a couple of months of relief from the worst pain, but ultimately I had to either find a solution or live a lifetime of pain.
I was hit from the side with the car striking both my left knee and the front end of the bicycle directly, which then struck my other knee and ankle. So my lower half went right and my upper half went left onto the car and then the roadway. The bike was shot out from under me like a billiard ball, but not before torquing so hard that the Mavic racing wheels both--front and rear--twisted and snapped. Being that my wheels are made of tougher stuff than I am, you can imagine the force on my spine. You could jump on those wheels several times and the most damage you would be able to do is bend them a bit--they wouldn't taco and snap like they did when I was hit--so you can imagine what this did to the bone, muscle, and ligaments of my body.
Crashing doesn't compare in the least with getting hit by a car weighing more than a ton.
Anyway, immediately after the accident and for the next couple months I hurt all over. I was actually afraid to have MRIs done of my hips because I thought I might have to have surgery on at least the left one. But when it came to my spine I didn't hesitate to have it thoroughly checked out.
The MRIs revealed that I have several herniated discs in both my lumbar and thoracic spine as the result of getting hit, and later x-rays revealed that my spine is twisted in two places.
I was sent to a spine surgeon who said the damage wasn't severe enough to require surgery. Basically what this means is, after surgery I might not be as functional as I would be if I didn't have it. So the spine surgeon sent me to a pain specialist who performed a series of epidurals (spine injections) on my lumbar. While this relieved the very worst of the pain for some time, it was temporary and actually didn't do anything about the cause of the pain. I was told that eventually, over several years, the herniated discs should get better, but that they wouldn't be as they were before I was hit by the car. He also told me that he could not perform this same procedure on my thoracic--so no surgery and no pain relief there.
A few months after the injections I felt the pain was almost as bad as it had been before receiving the injections, so I started to get desperate. I turned to a nearby acupuncturist. While the acupuncture helped in the couple of months that I tried it, particularly with all the muscle, tendon, and ligament injuries, I didn't feel it was helping my spine.
I then considered laser surgery, but before I tried something invasive I thought I would give a chiropractor a shot, and many of my friends highly recommended I try this option.
Looking on the internet, I found a chiropractor whose narrative was one of his own injury and pain, and how traditional chiropractic methods did not provide him long term relief, but when he was treated with a new technique where they actually move the bones into the correct position rather than simply relieving pain he experienced much better personal results. In particular, he mentioned cycling, and as I am a cyclist this is what really sold me on trying out his practice.
Until going to the chiropractor ( Dr. Dominick M. Fazzari ) my pain was unending and intense. On a scale of 10, at times the pain in my spine was a 9 (near tears) and most of the time it was a 7. There was no position, sitting, standing, or laying down which was pain free. Most particularly in my thoracic, the change was very impressive.
I have to say there still is no position which is pain free, but the pain has become more generalized, therefore less intense. There have also been very positive changes particular in my posture and the alignment of my hips--so I limp less severely as a result of the chiropractor's treatment. I remember thinking after the first couple of treatments that I limped in, but I walked out.
The main point of this whole story is, it's important to not only get a second opinion when you hit a wall on treatment, but to try various treatments to find a solution that will work for you. The surgeons and pain specialists would never recommend a chiropractor for example, but they would recommend the acupuncturist. And while the acupuncturist was very effective, ultimately much like the pain specialist, it was not the ultimate solution.
Ultimately, it's going to take years and a combination of treatments to get my spine and knees to full function again, but I am confident that so long as I continue the effort I will eventually recover full, pain free functionality.
I was hit from the side with the car striking both my left knee and the front end of the bicycle directly, which then struck my other knee and ankle. So my lower half went right and my upper half went left onto the car and then the roadway. The bike was shot out from under me like a billiard ball, but not before torquing so hard that the Mavic racing wheels both--front and rear--twisted and snapped. Being that my wheels are made of tougher stuff than I am, you can imagine the force on my spine. You could jump on those wheels several times and the most damage you would be able to do is bend them a bit--they wouldn't taco and snap like they did when I was hit--so you can imagine what this did to the bone, muscle, and ligaments of my body.
Crashing doesn't compare in the least with getting hit by a car weighing more than a ton.
Anyway, immediately after the accident and for the next couple months I hurt all over. I was actually afraid to have MRIs done of my hips because I thought I might have to have surgery on at least the left one. But when it came to my spine I didn't hesitate to have it thoroughly checked out.
The MRIs revealed that I have several herniated discs in both my lumbar and thoracic spine as the result of getting hit, and later x-rays revealed that my spine is twisted in two places.
I was sent to a spine surgeon who said the damage wasn't severe enough to require surgery. Basically what this means is, after surgery I might not be as functional as I would be if I didn't have it. So the spine surgeon sent me to a pain specialist who performed a series of epidurals (spine injections) on my lumbar. While this relieved the very worst of the pain for some time, it was temporary and actually didn't do anything about the cause of the pain. I was told that eventually, over several years, the herniated discs should get better, but that they wouldn't be as they were before I was hit by the car. He also told me that he could not perform this same procedure on my thoracic--so no surgery and no pain relief there.
A few months after the injections I felt the pain was almost as bad as it had been before receiving the injections, so I started to get desperate. I turned to a nearby acupuncturist. While the acupuncture helped in the couple of months that I tried it, particularly with all the muscle, tendon, and ligament injuries, I didn't feel it was helping my spine.
I then considered laser surgery, but before I tried something invasive I thought I would give a chiropractor a shot, and many of my friends highly recommended I try this option.
Looking on the internet, I found a chiropractor whose narrative was one of his own injury and pain, and how traditional chiropractic methods did not provide him long term relief, but when he was treated with a new technique where they actually move the bones into the correct position rather than simply relieving pain he experienced much better personal results. In particular, he mentioned cycling, and as I am a cyclist this is what really sold me on trying out his practice.
Until going to the chiropractor ( Dr. Dominick M. Fazzari ) my pain was unending and intense. On a scale of 10, at times the pain in my spine was a 9 (near tears) and most of the time it was a 7. There was no position, sitting, standing, or laying down which was pain free. Most particularly in my thoracic, the change was very impressive.
I have to say there still is no position which is pain free, but the pain has become more generalized, therefore less intense. There have also been very positive changes particular in my posture and the alignment of my hips--so I limp less severely as a result of the chiropractor's treatment. I remember thinking after the first couple of treatments that I limped in, but I walked out.
The main point of this whole story is, it's important to not only get a second opinion when you hit a wall on treatment, but to try various treatments to find a solution that will work for you. The surgeons and pain specialists would never recommend a chiropractor for example, but they would recommend the acupuncturist. And while the acupuncturist was very effective, ultimately much like the pain specialist, it was not the ultimate solution.
Ultimately, it's going to take years and a combination of treatments to get my spine and knees to full function again, but I am confident that so long as I continue the effort I will eventually recover full, pain free functionality.
I'm sorry to hear about your state. Thank you for sharing this post. herniated disc surgery Houston, TX
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