Least Expensive Flying

On Mar 28, 3:52*pm, "Morgans" wrote:

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Unfortunately, fixing fritzed backs is what doctors are the worst at. *The best
of them will tell you that they only have a 50-50 chance of fixing it.
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Dear Jim,

I find no fault with your logic nor did I try to test it against my
own. The grit behind an opinion posted publicly is warmly
appreciated. Indeed, it will probably be the path I'll follow. But
we put such effort into presenting our bodies to the knife, to be
treated so callously truly adds insult to injury. However, I am
presently awash with chemicals that often cause me to misconstrue such
oafish behavior. By expecting polite behavior from a an over-paid and
ill-educated technician is to put reality at risk :-)

Since time is the only resource of which I have a surplus -- and even
that perception is flawed if we use the Grim Reaper's clock -- I'll
spend it lavishly in hopes (laughable) of finding some Silver Bullet
instead of an ill-mannered oaf likely to send out for pizza should the
procedure run a bit too long.

-Bob

On Sat, 28 Mar 2009 19:02:48 -0500, Tech Support wrote:

Bob

I have a bad back from my ejection from a jet. Was an early seat and
hard on spine during ejection and then landed on fozen rocks in
GreenLand.

One thing I use. is capsaicin (pepper juice, don't laugh).


I think what you are doing is stimulating an adjacent nerve pathway.
up in the top of your spine in the back of your head is a nerve
integrating structure which seems to multitask the pathways.
if you stimulate an adjacent nerve the system stops processing the
original pathway and swaps to the new sensation. ...for a while.

same characteristic we are exploiting when scratching an itch.

btw there is nothing stopping Bob from reaching over to the guy and
saying "it may be just the drugs I'm pumped full of at the moment but
could you stop being an asshole while you are working with me. I'm
just a regular person in a lot of pain you know."
the guy may not be aware of how people perceive his body language.

(not even 2c worth)
Stealth Pilot

"Bob Hoover" wrote


Dear Jim,

I find no fault with your logic nor did I try to test it against my
own. The grit behind an opinion posted publicly is warmly
appreciated. Indeed, it will probably be the path I'll follow. But
we put such effort into presenting our bodies to the knife, to be
treated so callously truly adds insult to injury. However, I am
presently awash with chemicals that often cause me to misconstrue such
oafish behavior. By expecting polite behavior from a an over-paid and
ill-educated technician is to put reality at risk :-)

Since time is the only resource of which I have a surplus -- and even
that perception is flawed if we use the Grim Reaper's clock -- I'll
spend it lavishly in hopes (laughable) of finding some Silver Bullet
instead of an ill-mannered oaf likely to send out for pizza should the
procedure run a bit too long.
************************************************** *****
I understand your sentiment on this subject, also. I was not pleased with my
1st back procedure, or my second one. I found someone different for my second
one, and if I have to undergo a third one, I would think long and hard, and
probably try to find a third practice to have a go at it.

It is kind of like appreciating a weather man. There are not too many
occupations where you are considered a genius, if you are able to be right 50%
of the time. It seems a back surgeon is another one of the occupations. To be
poorly treated by one on top of that is inexcusable.

Good luck on which ever and when ever way you go. Your medical dilemmas are
always at the top of my thoughts.
--
Jim in NC

This is an extermely useful thread for me.

I just spent an hour and a half in the MRI machine at the V.A. here in San
Diego. I've already had one surgery involving the lower 6 vertebrae and now
4 years later symptoms are returning in spades.

The VA gave me a machine that applies a pulsed voltage that varies in pulse
width and repetition rate. You put sticky pads on, placed to put the current
through the painful area. I've only had it for a few days and I'm not
convinced that it is worth the effort. Time will tell.

The capsaicin is on my shopping list. Sports Cream helps quite a bit.

Cheers:

Paul

On Mar 29, 9:32*am, "Tri-Pacer" wrote:

The VA gave me a machine that applies a pulsed voltage that varies in pulse
width and repetition rate. You put sticky pads on, placed to put the current
through the painful area. I've only had it for a few days and I'm not
convinced that it is worth the effort. Time will tell.
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Dear Paul,

I wish to hell I knew how to put the damn thing on! On the advice of
my sister, who was an x-ray technician for nearly twenty years before
she got in to teaching, the thing is supposed to work like Gang
Busters. Well... mebbe they do, once the pads are properly positioned
and the pulse magnitude & duration are properly set. But going at it
blind was a waste of time, as was seeking help from a physician, who
labeled the thing as snake oil and wouldn't even discuss it.

I bought mime via the internet, by the way. I think the price was
about $30. It is the same unit used by my sister... who got hers
through some kind of 'well-ness clinic' ...for about $200. The
'clinic,' which she swears by, is also into 'crystal healing' and all
kinds of 'healing teas,' the ingredients of which would probably have
a dope-sniffing dog humping your leg. Back in the 1990's this same
idea -- an oscillator that pumped a minor jolt through a pair of
sticky-patch electrodes -- was being offered as the Sure Thing for
muscle pain in athletes. I took mine apart and found a house-labeled
NE555 wired up as a variable oscillator, plus a switching circuit. It
ran off a 9v battery and was touted by some as a sure cure for
everything from cancer to bad breath.

-Bob

On Mar 28, 10:50 pm, Stealth Pilot
wrote:

I think what you are doing is stimulating an adjacent nerve pathway.
up in the top of your spine in the back of your head is a nerve
integrating structure which seems to multitask the pathways.
if you stimulate an adjacent nerve the system stops processing the
original pathway and swaps to the new sensation. ...for a while.

Maybe. One doctor told me that such things work by irritating the
nerves in the skin. This draws more blood flow to the entire region,
including the muscle mass and joints underlying the skin that's
irritated, and the extra blood washes away the excess lactic acid
formed when muscles are in spasm too long. And they're in spasm
because nerves in and around them are being pinched or annoyed by
inflammation. The lactic acid burns the nerve endings. The
inflammation in muscles and joints could be due to the lactic acid,
too.
So almost any irritant will work. Isopropyl aclohol, various
liniments, pepper juice. Others are forms of topical anaesthetics like
menthol or eucalyptus or camphor. Those deaden nerve endings. Vinegar
is also a mild anaesthetic and works on mosquito bites and mild
sunburn and other itches.

My Mom gave me some pepper juice roll-on stuff in the more
expensive form of Lakota. It works. And stings the most when I'm in
the shower long after it was applied.

Dan

"Bob Hoover" wrote

I wish to hell I knew how to put the damn thing on! On the advice of
my sister, who was an x-ray technician for nearly twenty years before
she got in to teaching, the thing is supposed to work like Gang
Busters. Well... mebbe they do, once the pads are properly positioned
and the pulse magnitude & duration are properly set. But going at it
blind was a waste of time, as was seeking help from a physician, who
labeled the thing as snake oil and wouldn't even discuss it.

I've got one sitting in a drawer, and have not had it on in a couple years. It
did a little, maybe, but not much. Not enough to bother, IMHO. Some people
swear by them, though.
--
Jim in NC