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Thoracic Spasms
by shanna21, Mar 19, 2008 09:09AM
My husband, Brad, is suffering from Thoracic spasms. He was diagnosed with Degenerative Disk Disease, arthritis of the spine, and he also has slight scoleosis in his thoracis spine. Since the diagnosis of DDD by an Othropeadic Doctor, he's been in Physical Therapy. After 3 weeks (6 visits) they had to stop the weight b/c he was getting worse. His upper back muscles knot up so tightly I can't tell where the shoulder bone ends and the muscle begins. The PT is now doing deep massage and trigger point to get the knots loose, some light therapy (solaris), some ultrasound therapy, and I'm going in to learn how to use the TENS (muscle stim) machine tomorrow.
We have an appointment with a Neurologist for a consultation on injections.
Can anyone give me some advice on questions to make sure and ask, specifics to bring up, or even just give me a heads up on what the underlying cause may be??? PT and pain managment are good things, but we're concerned about what caused all this to begin with. Is it just the DDD?
Thanks!
Shanna
We have an appointment with a Neurologist for a consultation on injections.
Can anyone give me some advice on questions to make sure and ask, specifics to bring up, or even just give me a heads up on what the underlying cause may be??? PT and pain managment are good things, but we're concerned about what caused all this to begin with. Is it just the DDD?
Thanks!
Shanna
Post Comment
The thoracic spasms and the muscle stiffness at the other sites do appear to be due to the disc disease. This is helped by the fact that he felt worse by lifting weights. And I guess he felt better once they stopped the weights.
What you can ask the neurologist about is the extent of the damage.
Hope he recovers soon.
Regards
Brad saw a neurologist and she diagnosed him with Focal Dystonia in his back. He has recieved two rounds of Botox injections. He also has prescriptions for Ultram and Zanafex - to take as needed. These have all helped, but he seems to be doing poorly again - since our insurance denied PT coverage 3 weeks ago. He's begun lifting (very light) weights at the gym and that seems to be going well, but he's much more sore and stiff and even has some spasms again. Besides getting him back into PT, what else can we do?
Thanks,
Shanna