Member
Coach, need help in figuring out where to go from here.
Here's the back story from my original injury
http://startingstrength.com/resource...ad.php?t=26684
Everything was going well up until a week ago. On the 20th I started back at the gym doing light squats with what I believe to be good form. I had no issues and all seemed well.
Two days later, I had to remove a toilet in my home and re tweaked the injury. No immediate pain, everything just suddenly got tight.
I scheduled an appointment with the chiropractor the follow Tuesday and he popped everything back into place. Everything felt fine days later.
Unfortunately, I wasn't able to bed rest- I own my own consulting forestry business so I couldn't take time off.
This weekend things got cold and I needed to bring in firewood, that also went well, however yesterday I was loading up some guns for a trip to the range when I picked one up everything in my pelvic area gave out. I fell to the ground and was in excruciating pain. Pain that was easily the worst I've ever experienced- even more that having my finger degloved from a wedding ring incident.
My wife did what she could to stuff me into the car and took me to the ER. They took multiple X-rays and couldn't find any issues.
Needless to say the MD didn't have the best bedside manner. She came just short of calling me stupid for lifting weights, and told me never to do them again, and instead if I wanted to exercise to do running and yoga. She also told me to go the my primary care provider who is a moron when it comes to biomechanical injuries. She also said to avoid ice and to only apply wet heat and to find a physical therapist, to avoid the chiropractor and that while I most likely will deal with chronic pain in this area for the rest of my life, that I may be able to regain normal activity within the next month.
Frankly, I don't know what to do. I have people telling me all sorts of stuff, every one tells me something different. I also feel that no one is actually listening to me, what I want, what my goals are, and what makes me happy. I'm frustrated, and all I can do right now is hobble around on crutches, hunched over like an old man, doped up on pain pills.
If you were me, what would you do to get your self right again?
TMPHBITEU
I'd get an actual diagnosis from an actual MRI-reading radiologist. A conventional X-ray very seldom diagnoses these types of spine injuries. That level of pain is usually associated with a disc injury, which would explain the previous symptoms. Ask your primary care dumbass for an MRI prescription NOW. You need to know what is wrong.
Member
Your injury sounds exactly like what happened to me when I injured my SI joint about a couple months ago and re-injured a month ago. A serious SI joint injury is not something you fuck around with if you want it to go away soon and heal properly. It takes severely damaged tissues roughly 8-12 weeks to get back to 100% tensile strength and it it appears as though you keep re-injuring it. I would listen to Rip and get the MRI done so you will know what is going on for certain and address it accordingly.
Member
While I was hoping for a more optimistic reply, I'm also a realist and I know that life can be a bitch. I'm going to try to get an appointment with my primary care provider this morning and twist his arm as best as I can to get the MRI.
Thanks for your time and advice.
Member
Well the trip to the GP was about as frustrating as I figured it would be. He did examine me more than the ER chick did, and he did give high praise to the chiropractor that I've been using for the past 3 years. However, he told me that lifting heavy weights were bad, that dead lifting was doublely bad, that I needed to strengthen my core, which generated a strong rebuke by me in that squatting, deadlifting, pressing and cleaning did strengthen the core which resulted in him saying that such things were between me and my PT.
He said that my back was more jacked up than any back he's seen and that it's rare for a person to come in with both SI joints inflamed and he thinks that I have disk injuries from L3 on down to S1 (this is the same guy who thought I had torn my meniscus a year ago and got me into see a ortho only to find out that it was just petalla tendonitis)
Anyway, he said that he could not get me into an MRI, that the new rules were that I had to do PT and take anti-inflammatories for a month before an MRI can be recommended, but only then if I had radiating nerve pain or loss of strength or sensation in my legs and was a candidate for surgery. I then asked how the hell was anyone supposed to get me better if they only had conjecture and broad assumptions without any data, and he said that will be the job of the PT.
He also prescribed me a steroidal anti-inflammatory and told me to stop taking NSAID and that while it was admirable that I wanted to lift heavy again, that I needed to be more realistic with my goals and stop taking risk.
I guess the good news is that the PT will be the strength and conditioning coordinator for Virginia Tech's football team - Mike Goforth. I hope that he's not an overpaid hack that I sometimes hear about in college athletics. At least I have some hope of having someone who will be able to relate.
So here's my plan- ultimately, sometimes in life you've got to grab the bull by the horns and do what you what, not what other people tell you. I'll do the PT as long as it is with what I understand to be rehabilitative methods for such injuries. I'll throw the prednisone away and continue the NSAIDs, and will continue chomping down Vitamin C and fish oil. Follow 6 or 8 weeks of being pain free, I'm going to head down to Winston-Salem and have Peter Haas coach me on my lifts to make sure I have the ability to use good form then kick this injury in the nuts and move on.
Finally, it's a damn shame what has happened to the state of medical care these days. Doctors who fail at relating to their patents, display ignorance when it comes to bio-mechanics, and a nightmare of a bureaucracy fueled by government involvement in a commodity which it doesn't belong. Congrats America on getting your change.
In closing, I again thank you for the wit and wisdom that you provide. I'll update this thread in a few weeks to document my rehab and hopefully someone will be able to learn from my experience.
TMPHBITEU
Can you not find a doc who will write the scrip for an MRI for which you pay cash? There is a place up the road in Lawton OK that does them for $525 including the radiologist. That was what I had in mind.
It is annoying as FUCK that you can't just hire the damn thing done in a free market.
Member
That's almost worth me buying a plane ticket for. I called and they said they wouldn't see me without a referal. With a referral, out of pocket would be $2,500Originally Posted by Mark Rippetoe
Around here in rural SW VA we are stuck with a monopolistic healthcare provider called Corilion Medical. The CEO is a big supporter of Obama and Obama used them as a model of what health care should look like, yet our health care costs in this area are the highest in the state and the system is bureaucratic mess of this person has to refer this person who has to call to this insurance person, who call this doctor who calls, blah blah blah
TMPHBITEU
You'll need a referral there too, but perhaps we can arrange that.
Member
What the heck is the reasoning that you cannot under any circumstances get an MRI whenever you want if you pay cash for it? I can understand if the insurance company doesn't want to pay for it, but you really can't just pay to get one done? This is some kind of rule or law? I can't imagine the MRI company wouldn't want your money.
Member
Don't go through your insurance on something like this. You're better off calling up independent offices and asking what the out of pocket price is, as if you have no insurance.
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