Wondering

[Doug]

No kidding? Maybe I should come out from behind the peace lily a little more often! I can't imagine how I missed it. Anyway, the company where I worked up till retirement added coverage for several alternative forms of medicine two or three years ago, in recognition of things brought out in many of Sangye's postings. Treatments like chiropracty and acupuncture have been known to be beneficial for years, but credible practioners of nuitritional approaches to health have the onus of many snake oil (or pill!) peddlers mixed in with them to overcome.

[andrew]

No kidding? Maybe I should come out from behind the peace lily a little more often!

LOL @ Doug

My health unsurer has a bunch of benefits for natural therapies such as acupuncture, homoeopathy, naturopathy and remedial massage, none of which I've tried since diagnosis. Probably won't either at least for a while until I ge a bit more 'together'.

[Doug]

I am not adventurous enough to try alternative therapies, perhaps because my company's insurer only pays 80% of the cost, whereas I pay nothing after I meet my deductible of US$1550 when I go to conventional caregivers, or however you'd put it. (1056.48 British pounds/1900.68 Canadian dollars/2153.41 Australian dollars- there! That takes care of us all, I think! Though the Canadian dollar conversion looks wrong to me... I'm using a conversion pop-up that may be dated). The closest I've come to alternate therapies is the physiatrist.

[Sangye]

The closest I've come to alternate therapies is the physiatrist.

That ain't so close! A Physiatrist is an MD who specializes in physical medicine and rehab. I only recently learned that, since I'm going to see one in a few weeks. Before that, I'd only heard the name physiatrist on rare occasions, usually in the sentence, "What's a physiatrist?"

[Doug]

That ain't so close! A Physiatrist is an MD who specializes in physical medicine and rehab. I only recently learned that, since I'm going to see one in a few weeks. Before that, I'd only heard the name physiatrist on rare occasions, usually in the sentence, "What's a physiatrist?"

The physiatrist I go to told me that "physiatrist" is more commonly used in your part of the US, and they call themselves something closer to Dr. Blahblah, MD, Physical and Rehabilative Medicine, here. Oddly, she calls herself a physiatrist! I hope your experience with yours Is as positive as mine was. She helped me manage postherpetic neuralgia, as I think I mentioned in another posting. Long term pain is, well, what am I telling this forum that everyone doesn't know to some degree?! Physiatry is a fairly new specialty, I understand, perhaps as new as the 1930's or 1940's. I hadn't heard about until my ENT doctor brought the possibility of seeing the physiatrist to my attention.

[Sangye]

I think the reason there are more physiatrists out here is that they're all at Walter Reed Hospital. Well, the majority are, anyway. I had a hard time finding one who wasn't--hope she's good.

[Doug]

Without intending to be political, it makes sense. For the most part, the electrical shocks aren't that bad and the needles are very small!

[Sangye]

Electric shocks and needles? You talking about the PT equipment called a Tens Unit? They put electrodes on a muscle and send little electric shocks into it to make it contract. That helps it pump out inflammation and relax muscle spasms. It's just temporary relief-- as soon as you're up and about, the whole thing spasms up again!

I won't be needing that-- had it years ago, though.

[Doug]

No, these send an electrical impulse into a specific muscle to establish nerve connectivity. Sort of like a reflex test for one muscle. In my case, with herpes zoster damage to nerves in my face (look at the right side of my face in the videos- it's subtle, but with your training, I think it may be obvious that I still have the effects to a degree), she established the norm by measuring the left side muscles, then tested the right side. She also sent a shock to the whole left side, then the right with what can only be called- forgive me, Sangye, for bringing this up, considering where the rabbit thing on this site has evolved- a small cattle prod, Actually, the cattle prod thing must have come first. That makes more sense. She established a percentage healing (and if nerves were reconnecting to the correct muscles), then used drugs for the pain, I can't say if she also does the other thing.

[Sangye]

Oh, that's a diagnostic study. I thought you were referring to a therapeutic modality before. The test you had is highly unpleasant. It sends electric current through a nerve and measures the output at the end, to see if the whole nerve is connected and functioning optimally. Dreadful, but very useful.