This is a little tale of preparation and result, and I am in no way suggesting it will work for everyone, just a write up on things that have happened to me.
Since 1974, I have been in constant pain in parts of my lower spine and legs, from an accident I suffered whilst serving in the RAF. After a bout in hospital to try to put things right, I ended up with a right foot that feels totally dead all the time, and nagging pains in the areas I have already told you about. The surgeon told me that in later life, things would come back to haunt me. It wasn't too bad for the first 35 years, being mainly controlled by pill popping and taking a rest when needed. I think it only caused me to have about a month off work in the whole of my working life.
Nearly a year ago, the haunting started, and I was basically knocked off my legs because I could stand the pain no longer, as it had gone from bearable and controllable, to feeling like I wanted to scream whenever I moved my legs.
To cut a long story short, after visits and examinations by many eminent specialists, I was told that there are no surgical procedures that can help me with my predicament; I will just have to cope the best I can. My GP came into it at that time, and suggested maybe I should attend a 'Pain Clinic', at which point I told him "I have enough pain at this time, without anyone giving me some more".
He then went on to explain that a 'Pain Clinic' was a group of specialist people, who looked at ways of using alternative treatments to long standing problems that everyone else had given up on. As it was in my case. I had other skeletal and bodily problems, but they would only be looking at the main cause of my grief.
Being very sceptical about the whole thing, I agreed to submit to their torture treatment, but only for six months.
During my time under normal treatment regimes, I was being given enough opiate based products to ensure I will be hooked on them for the rest of my life.
The first thing these 'new age' quacks came out with was that they are going to stop all my pill popping opiates, and just leave me on the high dose patches that Mal has to stick on me twice a week, as I can't reach the places they are recommended they need to be stuck.
So then they started to feed me small doses of drugs used to treat epileptic fits. Not that I am epileptic in any way, they were using a side effect of the drug Pregabalin to condition my spinal nerves to be receptive to a Tens Unit. Unfortunately, because they had taken away some of my pain killers, the pain was worse than it normally was.
I tried all different versions of that drug, as some of the other side effects were worse than having the pain, ranging from being suicidal, to wanting to kill anyone who showed up at the door. Luckily they saw the problems almost straight away and found one that only gave the side effects that were needed. That might explain a few of the bad posts I did during that time.
Anyway, six months passed, and yesterday I attended the clinic to see if things had worked.
You must remember, I was very sceptical, even though mates such as Cedge told me that it had worked for them, and I made the quack promise me that if it didn't work straight away, he would put me back on my old opiate intake. He duly agreed and stuck a couple of pads either side of where the main pain emanates from, and connected me up to his all singing, all dancing medical Tens Unit.
After twiddling a few knobs and nearly giving me a heart attack by a sudden tingling sensation in the upper regions of my a**e, all of a sudden, my chronic pain had disappeared, and I felt as though I could do a couple of circuits around the block.
So instantly I said "Thatll do for me, wrap it up and I will be on my way.
The unit he gave me for playing about with was this one
https://www.tenscare.co.uk/index.php?action=products&product=1
About the cheapest product that they sell, but in my case it was free (good old National Health Service). A more robust unit will be issued once I find that this method of pain relief is going to do me some good over the long term.
So I duly got home, then Mal attacked me, and stuck two sticky patches on my backside and duly plugged me in. A quick bit of programming and I was having roughly the same relief as I was getting with the quack. Absolutely great, moving about like I hadnt done for years, no chronic pain at all, just a slightly annoying tingle in my nether regions. That will do me just fine.
Now for the bad news, there is always a catch.
I can only use this particular unit for six hours a day, with the max of one period of use being 1.5 hours. So it looks like I will have to plan my day well ahead, so I can use it for times when pain needs to be at its minimum, like going into my shop for a machining session. No more 16 hour days in there, just 6 hours max, spread over the whole day. But anything is better than what I can do at the moment, which is absolutely nothing.
So why have I told you all this.
Very recently, my pain had been so bad, and other things were getting to me as well, I was considering giving up my shop completely, selling everything off, and settling down in front of the television to become a cabbage.
But now, with this small revelation, I have decided to get off my backside and regain my life, no matter what it takes.
There is even more light at the end of the tunnel, a new procedure has just been undertaken, and speaking to my quack, it just might be on the cards for me in the future.
Those outside the UK might not be able to see this video.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10516682
Never again will I dismiss something offhand, without first giving it a go.
Bogs
Since 1974, I have been in constant pain in parts of my lower spine and legs, from an accident I suffered whilst serving in the RAF. After a bout in hospital to try to put things right, I ended up with a right foot that feels totally dead all the time, and nagging pains in the areas I have already told you about. The surgeon told me that in later life, things would come back to haunt me. It wasn't too bad for the first 35 years, being mainly controlled by pill popping and taking a rest when needed. I think it only caused me to have about a month off work in the whole of my working life.
Nearly a year ago, the haunting started, and I was basically knocked off my legs because I could stand the pain no longer, as it had gone from bearable and controllable, to feeling like I wanted to scream whenever I moved my legs.
To cut a long story short, after visits and examinations by many eminent specialists, I was told that there are no surgical procedures that can help me with my predicament; I will just have to cope the best I can. My GP came into it at that time, and suggested maybe I should attend a 'Pain Clinic', at which point I told him "I have enough pain at this time, without anyone giving me some more".
He then went on to explain that a 'Pain Clinic' was a group of specialist people, who looked at ways of using alternative treatments to long standing problems that everyone else had given up on. As it was in my case. I had other skeletal and bodily problems, but they would only be looking at the main cause of my grief.
Being very sceptical about the whole thing, I agreed to submit to their torture treatment, but only for six months.
During my time under normal treatment regimes, I was being given enough opiate based products to ensure I will be hooked on them for the rest of my life.
The first thing these 'new age' quacks came out with was that they are going to stop all my pill popping opiates, and just leave me on the high dose patches that Mal has to stick on me twice a week, as I can't reach the places they are recommended they need to be stuck.
So then they started to feed me small doses of drugs used to treat epileptic fits. Not that I am epileptic in any way, they were using a side effect of the drug Pregabalin to condition my spinal nerves to be receptive to a Tens Unit. Unfortunately, because they had taken away some of my pain killers, the pain was worse than it normally was.
I tried all different versions of that drug, as some of the other side effects were worse than having the pain, ranging from being suicidal, to wanting to kill anyone who showed up at the door. Luckily they saw the problems almost straight away and found one that only gave the side effects that were needed. That might explain a few of the bad posts I did during that time.
Anyway, six months passed, and yesterday I attended the clinic to see if things had worked.
You must remember, I was very sceptical, even though mates such as Cedge told me that it had worked for them, and I made the quack promise me that if it didn't work straight away, he would put me back on my old opiate intake. He duly agreed and stuck a couple of pads either side of where the main pain emanates from, and connected me up to his all singing, all dancing medical Tens Unit.
After twiddling a few knobs and nearly giving me a heart attack by a sudden tingling sensation in the upper regions of my a**e, all of a sudden, my chronic pain had disappeared, and I felt as though I could do a couple of circuits around the block.
So instantly I said "Thatll do for me, wrap it up and I will be on my way.
The unit he gave me for playing about with was this one
https://www.tenscare.co.uk/index.php?action=products&product=1
About the cheapest product that they sell, but in my case it was free (good old National Health Service). A more robust unit will be issued once I find that this method of pain relief is going to do me some good over the long term.
So I duly got home, then Mal attacked me, and stuck two sticky patches on my backside and duly plugged me in. A quick bit of programming and I was having roughly the same relief as I was getting with the quack. Absolutely great, moving about like I hadnt done for years, no chronic pain at all, just a slightly annoying tingle in my nether regions. That will do me just fine.
Now for the bad news, there is always a catch.
I can only use this particular unit for six hours a day, with the max of one period of use being 1.5 hours. So it looks like I will have to plan my day well ahead, so I can use it for times when pain needs to be at its minimum, like going into my shop for a machining session. No more 16 hour days in there, just 6 hours max, spread over the whole day. But anything is better than what I can do at the moment, which is absolutely nothing.
So why have I told you all this.
Very recently, my pain had been so bad, and other things were getting to me as well, I was considering giving up my shop completely, selling everything off, and settling down in front of the television to become a cabbage.
But now, with this small revelation, I have decided to get off my backside and regain my life, no matter what it takes.
There is even more light at the end of the tunnel, a new procedure has just been undertaken, and speaking to my quack, it just might be on the cards for me in the future.
Those outside the UK might not be able to see this video.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10516682
Never again will I dismiss something offhand, without first giving it a go.
Bogs
