sammyo1
12-03-2007, 09:16 AM
I am sick of being in pain & have tried some topical creams/gels out there I was wondering if anyone has had any success with any particular one. I have the most relief from the tiger balm but it is not lasting or working as well lately. I need all the help I can get, I am down to minumal hours at work & can't afford to loose my job. so I thought what have I got to loose by asking everyone out there who suffers as I do, any recommendations? I have tried several but perhaps there is something I have not given a try yet. I have lots of inflammation & the spasms are unreal. Thanks, Sammy
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letthatsinkin
12-03-2007, 10:12 AM
Ive read on here Biofreeze is excellent but have not been able to get my hands on some yet.... :(
feelbad
12-03-2007, 11:01 AM
biofreeze is by far the absolute best topical i have ever tried,and i have tried many,believe me.my central pain only responds to topicals,mostly lidocaine patches,another good idea.you can also get the lido ointment too.its not quite as strong as the patches(it is the very same 5% strength it just doesn't seem to work as well as having the constant contact of the patch) but it does help alot.but the biofreeze is just really amazing.i have been actually using that and just lido to keep my rotator cuff tear pain under some level of control.i have not had to even increase my narcotic just using the freeze and the lido.i don't know just what is in this but it works ten times better than anything else out there right now.i would very very highly recommend this to anyone who has pain.the only issue i found with the biofreeze is when i applied it to the horrid burning RSD knee i have,for some reason,it made that burning much morse and i had to scrub it off with soap and COLD water.you need to wash this stuff off your hands using only cold water and soap or the heat will make it go into the pores and cause some issues.but this also works really well on my c spine and upper back pain from constantly generating trigger points.the lido patches really work the best tho for TP type pain.these two things are really amazing for some of my pain processes.Marcia
Arthr Itis
12-03-2007, 12:54 PM
I am sorry you are having such trouble. Unfortunately I haven't found any topicals that work. In fact a doctor suggested that the part of the ointment that does any good is the application. The message not the topical is what is causing the relief. Good luck Sammy and God Bless. Fred
tdmac349
12-03-2007, 01:32 PM
I use the Lidocaine patches and they work really well for me. I use them for relief between the time the opiate pills are taken and the time they actually go to work which can be a long time sometimes.
LottyLiz
12-03-2007, 08:29 PM
Biofreeze is an awesome topical. However, the only place I know of to get it is in a chiropractors office. Fortunately, I have one right up the street from me.
sammyo1
12-04-2007, 10:07 AM
Thanks guys, I will try the bio freeze, I believe the chiro used this in past. So I will give it a try. I have the lido patches & they don't do much. I do put them on at times out of desperation hoping for some relief(sounds stupid but I try anything at times).
Feelsbad, not to get off the subject here but I am having big time issues with the shoulder & upper back. I am seeing an shoulder surgeon/specialist at the end of the month, major pain, had lots of tests done shows little bit of problems but not enough to cause all these problems & pain, still looking for the main cause, you would be doing me a major favor if you could go over some of the symptoms you are having with the rotater cuff problem. I can't raise my arm at all, the pain is awful & radiates all around, chest, upper back, ribs ect.. lots of swelling in areas. As of yet they have not found the area that is causing all this & I am really loosing it here. It was explained to me that a shoulder injury can cause problems in all the area's I am having pain in. It is getting out of control & the pain is radiating even more like over to the right side of upper back & so forth. So far they believe it is in an area that is rare & hard to work with. I am getting worried at the lose of use in that arm. Some days can't even touch the shoulder area that meets the chest or the scapula. Does any of this sound familiar to you? really desperate here. Heck can't even dress or undress myself when it is bad. If I lift my arm I am in agony afer, slowly loosing the ablity yo use it at all. Scary. I would so appreciate any input. Thanks Sammy
Feelsbad, not to get off the subject here but I am having big time issues with the shoulder & upper back. I am seeing an shoulder surgeon/specialist at the end of the month, major pain, had lots of tests done shows little bit of problems but not enough to cause all these problems & pain, still looking for the main cause, you would be doing me a major favor if you could go over some of the symptoms you are having with the rotater cuff problem. I can't raise my arm at all, the pain is awful & radiates all around, chest, upper back, ribs ect.. lots of swelling in areas. As of yet they have not found the area that is causing all this & I am really loosing it here. It was explained to me that a shoulder injury can cause problems in all the area's I am having pain in. It is getting out of control & the pain is radiating even more like over to the right side of upper back & so forth. So far they believe it is in an area that is rare & hard to work with. I am getting worried at the lose of use in that arm. Some days can't even touch the shoulder area that meets the chest or the scapula. Does any of this sound familiar to you? really desperate here. Heck can't even dress or undress myself when it is bad. If I lift my arm I am in agony afer, slowly loosing the ablity yo use it at all. Scary. I would so appreciate any input. Thanks Sammy
csx333
12-04-2007, 12:11 PM
The Lidocaine patch works well, when waiting for Percocet to act. I recommend them.
feelbad
12-04-2007, 12:25 PM
this does sound very familiar,really.have they done an actual MRI on that shoulder yet?this is what finally revealed just how extensive me rotator tear was.full thickness to the supraspinatus(this is the tendon that actually runs from the clavicle area to the very top of the humerous?)along with some edema and inflammation and a few other assorted odds and ends that just add to the overall problem.alot showed up on that MRI i had done,much more than i ever suspected anyways.but i also have some pretty nasty c spine issues too.this whole shoulder and c spine and under the actual blade is one big hurtin mess right now.if you have not actually had that MRI done on your shoulder yet,demand one,i think you may be also suffering from a possible tear in there too.ALOT of people actually have some level of rotator cuff tears but just don't actually know it yet.mine actually started way back when i was training for my agility test for the FD back in 88-89?i knew i did something while lifting wieghts as it burned like hell for about a week,but it eventually died down and only appeared every once ina great while during the 90s.i know it just tore more and more from that initial tear,and now its just to that 'point'.now i need surgery but cannot even get in to see my ortho til jan 8?you just need to really "see' what that shoulder looks like with an MRI.good luck hon,and please keep me posted.Marcia
sammyo1
12-05-2007, 09:28 AM
Thank you so much Marcia, i had an MrI & it showed the tendon all inflammed but that is being caused by something else that they can't seem to find, so far the opinion is it is in the corcoid process(hopefully spelled right)which is a rare injury & the rehab doc believes I should have seen some relief by now, but I have had so many people say it sounds like a tear some where, what do you think? Like you I believe I actually injured it along time ago but it was symptamatic of other things until May then boom pain every single day, my gosh does it hurt. The rehab doc is stumped because the pain to getting worse & nothing helps. I wonder if it is a tear hidden somewhere. I am desperate to get better I am loosing the strength in my arm & can barly move it at all, they put me in a sling to take some of the pressure off from the arm hanging down, it does help but the pain is always there. I lifted alot with my job & I remember inurying it when I moved in my house but I thought it would get better, that was over 2 years ago & I continued to lift at work.I know I asked before but could you list your symptoms for me like what areas are effected? Mine can hurt all the way up past the collor bone around the back & I swear the pain in the ribs is unreal of course the actual shoulder hurts, it can go through the breast at times & is painful to breath, feels like someone is stabbing me in the back & between the breast bone. I have an appointment dec,28 with an ortho who deals with a lot of shoulder problems. I am in so much pain & it is radiating into other areas lately. What helps you with the pain? Oddly enough I have issues in the c spine also. This past week I swear this shoulder issue is causing me headaches, I think it gets so inflammed the pressure goes up the neck into the head. you are a godsend at least I have some clues. The mornings are the worst. Thank you so much for responding, I have to admitt I am fearful that they won't find the actual problem I cannot imagine living like this the rest of my life, I can't even wear my seatbelt at times it is so sore nothing can touch the area.or get dressed & undressed by myself & no bra since May to swelled to wear one, the pain makes me throw up & my right side is getting sore from using it all the time. sorry so long but I am desperate. Thanks again. Sammy
feelbad
12-05-2007, 11:55 AM
what you explained REALLY does sound like a possible tear somewhere.one big thing here that you need to keep in mind is that no MRI or any other type of actual scan is a 'real" true actual picture of what is going on in there.it is just what is is,a SCAN of the area.it is entirely possible that you could have a hidden tear somewhere.your symptomology just really does fit with it ya know?i know with my knee,i had a huge bakers cyst behind my knee,but despite the MRI i had of the entire knee,it didn't pick up on where the actual tear was inside of it.the only reason my ortho knew without a doubt that i had one is that in order to have a bakers cyst even create itself inside a knee,there just HAS to be a tear inside somewhere within that synovial sac.it was there when he opened up my knee and he sewed it up.so it did NOT actually show itself upon the MRI,but it WAS most defintley there ya know?
so you have not actually even had this shoulder even evaluated by a good ortho who does actual shoulder surgeries yet?this really would be your best bet in finally possibly getting some real answers here.if nothing else.and this would probably a more of last resort type thing,he can do an arthoscopic look inside with a little camera and really actually SEE inside and look at what is actually going on in there.it is pretty minamally invasive but gives alot of info to the ortho.you also have some level of c spine issues too if i remeber right?believe me,i have one huge interconnected mess going on up from the base of my skull,thru my c spine all the way down thru my freaking shoulder blade.i call it my triangle of hell since this also goes over to my shoulder itself and back up again.appropriate name,believe me.all of the inflammation from different areas just all tends to run into each other when you have more than one issue going on in the same basic area.my entire right upper back and neck are all a huge painful mess right now from c spine and shoulder crap,and lets not forget the wonderful trigger point crap that is the 'glue" that holds this painful mess together.believe me sammy,i CAN relate.
right now,your best bet is getting with that ortho for a full eval of your shoulder.your symptoms just sound sooo much like what i am currently experiencing with my particular tear,i really do think there is more going on in your shoulder than actually was possible to show up on that MRI.just remeber,MRIs wont always show everything.they have limitations too.hopefully this ortho will know based on your symptoms just what may be the culprit in all this.they are pretty good at knowing what causes what when it comes to your type of situation.hang in there hon,hopefully you will have some answers soon.please let me know how things go,K?
so you have not actually even had this shoulder even evaluated by a good ortho who does actual shoulder surgeries yet?this really would be your best bet in finally possibly getting some real answers here.if nothing else.and this would probably a more of last resort type thing,he can do an arthoscopic look inside with a little camera and really actually SEE inside and look at what is actually going on in there.it is pretty minamally invasive but gives alot of info to the ortho.you also have some level of c spine issues too if i remeber right?believe me,i have one huge interconnected mess going on up from the base of my skull,thru my c spine all the way down thru my freaking shoulder blade.i call it my triangle of hell since this also goes over to my shoulder itself and back up again.appropriate name,believe me.all of the inflammation from different areas just all tends to run into each other when you have more than one issue going on in the same basic area.my entire right upper back and neck are all a huge painful mess right now from c spine and shoulder crap,and lets not forget the wonderful trigger point crap that is the 'glue" that holds this painful mess together.believe me sammy,i CAN relate.
right now,your best bet is getting with that ortho for a full eval of your shoulder.your symptoms just sound sooo much like what i am currently experiencing with my particular tear,i really do think there is more going on in your shoulder than actually was possible to show up on that MRI.just remeber,MRIs wont always show everything.they have limitations too.hopefully this ortho will know based on your symptoms just what may be the culprit in all this.they are pretty good at knowing what causes what when it comes to your type of situation.hang in there hon,hopefully you will have some answers soon.please let me know how things go,K?
sammyo1
12-07-2007, 09:15 AM
feelsbad this is the week to run into people who have or know someone who had shoulder injuries. went to the vacuum store to get bags the guy in there was telling me he knew someone who had a problem simular to mine nothing showed up on any test had to have exploratory surgery & bingo, tear, Then in walks this lady asked me what happened to my arm(I am in a sling) & says same thing happened to her friend hurt her shoulder took a while for them to find a tear in the rotator cuff.But after surgery she was as good as new. How strange! I honestly believe that is the case. I have seen an ortho for the spine & he sent me to a rehab doc, now I will be going dec 28 to another ortho for the shoulder. He has got to find something I can't take this pain anymore. I keep aggravating it in my sleep, there are days the pain meds just don't work. Thanks so much you really helped me to understand what may be going on, funny the docs put so much stock into these tests like MRI's, they wanted one done on the pec region in my chest & the insurance compamy would not approve it, so maybe there is something in there, man does that area & the rib area hurt. I know you get it good luck, let me know how everything goes with you. Sammy