Texas Spring/Summer Thread

[Western]

I ordered a "TENS unit" yesterday, seemed to be the most effective thing at the chiropractor. 20 minutes of use at the office and I feel better most of the day. I'm just thankful only one leg is effected.

 

[jinman]

Oh yes. . . Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation. They either work or can be used as a torture device if turned up too high. Getting the electrodes placed and selecting the best level is an art. Once mastered, they sure can give you some relief though. The nice thing is they normally come in a small case that you can carry on the road with you, Dennis.

 

[pacerron]

Oh yes. . . Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation. They either work or can be used as a torture device if turned up too high. Getting the electrodes placed and selecting the best level is an art. Once mastered, they sure can give you some relief though. The nice thing is they normally come in a small case that you can carry on the road with you, Dennis.

At least it's not transrectal
Believe it or not, the old swollen prostrate can cause pain in the sciatica too.

 

[bindian]

BTW, have you guys been hearing about our N. Texas West Nile virus problem? getting pretty extreme this summer, 6 or 7 deaths so far I believe.

I had a good friend and coworker die of West Nile about 10 years ago.
hugs, Brandi

 

[Bird]

I ordered a "TENS unit" yesterday, seemed to be the most effective thing at the chiropractor. 20 minutes of use at the office and I feel better most of the day. I'm just thankful only one leg is effected.

Sorry to hear you're having all those problem, Dennis. Hope it gets better soon.

 

[Western]

Thanks Bird, it is literally a PITA

Jim, your spot on about the settings. The one I ordered has preset settings for different parts of the body, start out on low and increase as long as comfortable. I did order the portable one since it will be most convenient while working on the road, got a heck of a deal I think. Here is the one I ordered, should be here Monday from Austin.:thumbsup:
LG-SMART Digital TENS Unit with AC Adapter and Electrodes,

Brandi, That is awe full! did your friend have any "underlying "conditions? the 7 that have died here so far had medical conditions. Almost 300 cases reported here in a 4 county area. I have one can of DEEPWOODS off, going to get one for each of the trucks.

Ron, I don't think that is a problem, at least right now. I had the pleasure of a Colonoscopy, and every thing was normal. (last year) If things do not improve soon, I found a place that will do a CT Scan for $375, vs the normal place I use whih charges $800 without insurance and $1200 with insurance (PO's me when they gouge like that)

 

[Bird]

Dennis, I've never used a TENS unit (fortunately), but when I was on the board of directors of our water company in Navarro County, our board president used one a great deal and said it was a real life saver. Hope yours works as well.

 

[pacerron]

Thanks Bird, it is literally a PITA

Jim, your spot on about the settings. The one I ordered has preset settings for different parts of the body, start out on low and increase as long as comfortable. I did order the portable one since it will be most convenient while working on the road, got a heck of a deal I think. Here is the one I ordered, should be here Monday from Austin.:thumbsup:
LG-SMART Digital TENS Unit with AC Adapter and Electrodes,

Dennis,
The TENS will be great if it gives you some temporary relief but I don't think it will help fix the problem.
Even though it is hard to determine exactly what triggered this incident and others in the past, if you really think about it
you will probably come pretty close.
I've been researching and thinking about my problem a lot this week since I couldn't do much else as my left lower back was really puffed out at the pain spot and my left leg was about an inch shorter than the right.
One of the dumb things I did last week a lot, and have done in the past as routine is to dismount the tractors by jumping down onto my left foot instead of turning backwards and dismounting the opposite way I get on using the steps.
I have read that this sudden crunching of everything up into the hips is not good especially at my age. Really not good at any age but we get away with a lot of stuff when we are young that catches up when we are old. The other really bad thing I was doing, and I've felt my back snap out doing this, was jerking on a big tree branch to get it rolled into the FEL so it wouldn't fall out when raised up. The planted feet and turning while pulling at the waist is really bad and is one of the
moves that messes up even young tennis players. They often have to sit on a hard ball at the pressure point to fix that.
Proper sitting, not slouching and specific stretching exercises for the Piriformis muscle in my case, which I always just called sciatica, has gotten my swelling down to almost none in 4 days.
As I mentioned before, there are a number of videos, by chiropractors and physical trainers on the net that show the way to test yourself by various simple stretches to determine the actual causes of the problem and which exercises help and which hurt.
I'm going to try some more tractor work today, as a couple more big widow makers cam down yesterday.
Now if I can remember to not follow my old habits, we will see how I feel later today.
You are probably doing some of the same or similar things in your work that I am talking about.
Ron

 

[jinman]

Dennis, that looks like a great little unit. Of course, getting the electrodes properly placed is an art within itself. They sure can give you relief so you can rest and get sleep. Having back pain and being tired because of no sleep is double-dog dirty pool. I don't know about you, but if I can get sleep, I can deal with most every type of pain. I hope things settle out for you soon.

 

[Western]

I have been averaging around 2 hrs of sleep at a time, the worst part other than the pain, is finding something to do. Sitting around all day gets boring.

Been a bit cooler today, compared to last week. Only 104* here at our place.