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Back Pain
John Perry Barlow's "A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace"
Do you remember when this was shared on the Net? It's worth a re-read. And some time to reflect. When doing research into my spondylolisthesis, I discovered that John Perry Barlow, cofounder of the Electronic Frontier Foundation and lyricist for the Grateful Dead, is dealing with it as well.
Karl at Wednesday, August 6, 2008 | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Back Surgery Research - New England Journal of Medicine
There's a wealth of information in the peer reviewed papers at nejm.org that I plan to read over the following few days.
Surgical versus Nonsurgical Treatment for Lumbar Degenerative Spondylolisthesis - May 2007
Back Surgery -- Who Needs It? - May 2007
Lumbar Spinal Stenosis - February 2008
Surgical versus Nonsurgical Treatment for Back Pain - September 2007
Surgical versus Nonsurgical Therapy for Lumbar Spinal Stenosis - February 2008
Spinal-Fusion Surgery -- Advances and Concerns - Februaru 2004
Surgery versus Prolonged Conservative Treatment for Sciatica - May 2007
Spinal-Fusion Surgery -- The Case for Restraint - February 2004
Karl at Monday, June 30, 2008 | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Back Surgery in Philadelphia - To Do It Or Not
So much conflicting research!
ABC News: Back Surgery Can Quickly Relieve Pain
MedicineNet.com: Back Pain Often Ends Without Surgery
Karl at Sunday, June 22, 2008 | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Morning Exercise Video Watching
Douglas Adam's Hyperland, via North Is Up.
Waxy.org: "The Machine that Changed the World
Karl at Tuesday, June 10, 2008 | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery article search
They have a lot of research available to download for free.
Karl at Monday, June 9, 2008 | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Making time count
Each morning I do an exercise routine that takes 30 minutes to 45 minutes. Typically, I would do this in the living room watching TV. These past couple days I've been exercising in my office and orienting my monitor towards the floor so that I can watch video.
Led by a Dave Rogers post, I watched Jill Bolte Taylor's talk at TED as my first video. I'm glad I did. Take a gander: "These are the we, inside of me".
Karl at Thursday, June 5, 2008 | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Getting shot 4 of 4 today
I'm off to get my last epidural today. The last two had decreasing amounts of effectiveness, so my hopes aren't all that great. I'll need to weigh options after this. What next?
Some Ask Metafilter threads:
I have a pain in the butt. Help me fix it.
Grade 4 Spondylolisthesis: your experiences, please.
Help with my lower back pain issue
Karl at Wednesday, May 28, 2008 | Comments (3) | TrackBack
Leg pain returning, but there are some sports stars dealing with this too
I'll post an update about the latest injection's progress (not good), but while researching my condition using Powerset I found out that NBA MVB, the Suns's Steve Nash, and tennis star Andre Agassi, have my condition, spondylolisthesis.
Sports Illustrated: Point Guard from Another Planet
NBA.com: Steve Nash's MVP Workout
Charlie Rose Show: A conversation with basketball professional Steve Nash
Tennis Warehouse: Interview with Andre Agassi
theage.com.au: Pain is Agassi's main foe
webmd.com: Andre Agassi's Battle With Back Pain
cnn.com: Interview With Andre Agassi
Karl at Wednesday, May 14, 2008 | Comments (2) | TrackBack
Leg/Back Pain Update
I had a follow up at the University of Pennsylvania last Friday to discuss my progress.
My lower back pain symptoms has been unchanged, I still get a very hot pain while sitting, either happening immediately in unergonomic settings, or after an hour or so in ergonomic-correct settings.
My leg pain (only my left leg) begins after walking 3 or more blocks and progresses to a level 2 after five blocks, requiring me to stop walking and take a break for it to settle down. If I don't the pain rapidly grows into something that incapacitates me.
The leg pain starts in me left hip, left knee, left shin almost simultaneously (I think the hip just slightly before the rest). Along with that is a growing tingle in my left big toe and a pressure on the top of my left ankle. Sometimes the tingle remains in the toe whether sitting, standing or walking. Most times all of these will subside when sitting down or leaning against a wall.
Unfortunately, the level 2 pain is a step back from the level 1 pain I felt earlier in the week (which was a level 5-8 pain before the first shot in this series), when I sounded so optimistic. I'm doing everything 'right' as far as I know. Eating well. Exercising. Watching posture and my body mechanics.
The doctor was encouraged by my progress. The leg pain/tingling used to come on earlier and far more strong. So he's scheduled me for two more Selective Nerve Root Block injections.
I don't mind the back pain. Don't care that much about it at all. Getting up every hour to relieve it is good for for me. But the leg pain continues to be a drag on so much.
Gotta keep on trucking. Things could be far worst.
Karl at Tuesday, May 6, 2008 | Comments (2) | TrackBack
New Balance 992s - Not good for lower back pain
Many folks who suffer from lower back pain are told - "buy New Balance sneakers".
The mistake comes in where folks follow the hype and buy what is a terrific running sneaker - New Balance's 992s.
I can understand why. I've seen Steve Jobs wearing them for goodness sakes.
And yeah, I actually bought a pair.
But here's the thing, that particular sneaker does not help back pain sufferers. In fact, I believe can trigger low back pain when they are mis-worn. Which is wearing them for a purpose other than running. 992s are running sneakers with additional cushioning in the heal for the hammering they take during jogging or running. This additional cushioning elevates your heal, adding pressure to your legs and encouraging your back into a posture that isn't helpful while walking.
And if you are suffering low back pain, like me, you're not running all that much.
After following some advice found in this message forum I went out and bought some Clarks and Pumas. There is a notable difference when standing or walking. Richelle's mom has sung the praises of Clarks for her knee pain for a while.
So it was great to read in New York Magazine that this approach made sense.
Related: Boing Boing thread on the previously mentioned article and subject.
Karl at Tuesday, April 29, 2008 | Comments (1) | TrackBack
More from Back Pain
Thursday, April 17, 2008: Had the 2nd of 2 epidurals last night
