Until last month, I was still having continuous discomfort related to my pinched nerve of the previous year. Mostly neck and shoulder pain that was aggravated while lying down. Not as bad as it had been, just uncomfortable rather than unbearable. At night I’d constantly wake to shift to a more comfortable position. I couldn’t sleep on my right side at all. Swimming was keeping the stabbing pain at bay, but if I didn’t swim every few days the pain would start to return. During the day I sometimes had pain if I moved into the wrong position, like reached behind me to grab something without fully turning. Much of the discomfort is now gone, and it only required one hour of assistance.
Back when I was suffering from a nasty pinched nerve, I realized there were two issues that needed handling. The hospital only dealt with one, the vertebrae where the pinch originated, yet I discovered that I received more relief from muscle and fascia release than I did from spine stretching. The hospital used a machine to try and open the vertebrae, which included no muscle pressure. The hospital’s only muscle treatment was to assign the patient some light exercise to do at home. The exercises were not effective. The only thing that worked for me was hands on muscle work.
I assume muscle work is not part of standard therapy because it sounds like massage, and insurance doesn’t pay for massage. When properly done, proper muscle treatment is not what most people think of as a massage. Properly done muscle work either hurts or feels like pressure. No oils. No incense. No gentle sleep inducing touch. The greatest progress I made from the beginning to the end of my pinched nerve always came after a muscle work session. Once it was after a hospital worker broke treatment protocol, and later after I hired someone when the hospital refused to let me see that same therapist again. I’m fully convinced I could have saved months of physical therapy, and been more productive much sooner, if insurance and the medical system had included some skilled muscle work sessions.
I described my experience with my pinched nerve treatment in a prior post. Once the stabbing pain was gone I had assumed I’d steadily recover. After a year I was still having some discomfort, as I mentioned. So I finally decided to dished out more cash for another rolphing session. The person I’d hired the previous year was on maternity leave, so I searched around and found someone that had been properly trained and had experience. Rolphing is normally done as a 10 session progressive series, but because this injury and a flood last year had impacted my income, I requested a single session that only targeted the area where I was having issues.
The session lasted one hour. At one point the therapist said the muscles over my scapula were not laying over each other correctly and he would try to correct them. He worked all through my left side: shoulder, neck, back, chest, ribs, arm. After the muscle work, some of it quite painful, he gave me some stretches to do at home and some posture tips.
I immediately found I was able to stand up straighter without discomfort I’d been having. The next time I swam my arm moved more freely, with none of the “crunching” sensation I would sometimes feel. I could now go over a week without swimming without the pain returning, though I have been keeping the swimming habit up to keep healthy. I could now also sleep on either side without waking to shift due to pain.
So, if you’re in pain, perhaps try some muscle work. The type of therapist I looked for was not a massage therapist, but a structural integration therapist, or Rolpher.
It’s been a month now and it still feels much better.
*** UPDATE ***
It was not a permanent fix, as the pain did return after a while. It mostly bothers me at night while lying down, or when lifting heavy objects. So, yes, it helped a lot, but no, not a total cure. Better, but I’d like to see this totally fixed. May consider scheduling a muscle work session every six months to a year.
