Physiatrist? - Spinal Cord Disorders Message Board

Nanner · 12-29-2002, 08:35 PM

The doctor I am seeing on Jan. 8 is a physiatrist. Has anyone else seen one of these? I gather he is an MD with a specialization in dealing with rehab and disability.

The thing I don't like about this is that perhaps my regular doc is afraid I have some permanent damage and need to start looking at that possibility. I am also a bit wary that they may just treat my pain and not want to spend time looking for a cause. Being doped up for one year was about enough, I don't care to keep increasing the dosage or strength of my meds just to keep functioning.

I don't know anyone who has dealt with a physiatrist, so really don't know what to expect. Just wondered if anyone else has experience with one.

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Nancy D-ACDF C6-7 on 6/7/02. Donor bone with no hardware

Bitsy · 12-29-2002, 11:36 PM

HI, I have never been to one, but have heard they do help& also take in affect all yor pain& meds. They help to strengthen the muscles & trigger points that cause the pain. Some do acupuncture & i have had that& it does help bring blood flow back to where it belongs & nourishes the nerves& muscles/ Let me know how it goes,ok? Good Luck to you
Bev

charlotte1 · 12-30-2002, 07:12 AM

Hello,
The neurosurgeon that I saw set me up with the same type doc. I am scheduled to see phy on the 6th. I guess we will find out about this around the same time.I am also scheduled with neursurgeon for second opinion so if neurosurgeon wants to do surgery i
am all for it.
Hope the phy helps
Charlotte

melanie dawn · 12-30-2002, 10:42 AM

Hello there Nancy,
You are right in what the physiatrists do. They are physical medicine and rehab. I saw one for about one year, she was very good in ordering tests and scripting meds. and diagnostics.
I did find that she was anti surgery, and relied on meds. I felt that was appropriate at first, but eventualy I wanted to investigate surgical options when i was getting no relief with those treatments.
However as i said they are generally very good with treating inflammation and pain , and can be a good source of info regarding rehabilitation.
Good luck!I'll be thinking of you.
Mel

mothmin · 12-30-2002, 11:59 AM

Nanner, I'm so sorry to hear of your continued pain, and I hope you get releif soon. One thing that really helped me in the begining of my pains was a book from the library called "the pain cure" the author's name is dharma, or dharma sighn, something. the book deals with people in chronic pain and goes into every kind of remedy available... it's not trying to sell anything and doesn'r push one medical profession over another. it gave me great comfort. Hope and prayers to you. get well soon.