Physical therapy and minimal strengthening added some stability and helped to reduce some of the swelling, but not back 100%.

historic treatment description

Multi-modal approach to permit return to activity after abatament/alleviation of symptoms

Due to chronic abuse, I have chronic pain in my lower back. I went in to seek treatment at 18 years of age, and the doctor first suggested I lose weight ( I was 5'2'' and weighed 115 lbs). I went to see someone else who after trying a number of drugs with awful side effects eventually put me on Amytryptaline (10 mg a night) and encouraged me to participate in physical therapy. I went to physical therapy twice a week for 6 months, and today since I don't have health insurance I continue to use the exercises and stretches I was taught. While I am not 100% perfect, I've come a long way in my mobility, range of function, and overall pain levels.

My right leg i found out about 5 years ago is about 3/4 inches shorter than my left. I was playing football in high school at the time and was having back problems. This cause me to go to the physical therapist to find out my condition.

I am a runner, and currently log 60 to 80 miles a week. About a year ago I began to feel a mild stinging pain on the outside of my left knee, which radiated up my leg about 6 inches. At first I did not think much of it, as the pain was not constant and felt more like a general tightness in the area. The pain increased progressively, until I began to feel pain when I walked, and had significant discomfort while running. I went to a local Dr. who specializes in running ailments, and he diagnosed with IT syndrome. He recommended that I temorarily reduce my milage, and concentrate on cross-training in the interim. Also, I began to ice the area before and after activity, using anti-inflamitories (ibuprofen), and elevating the leg as much as possible when sitting or laying down. (rest, ice, commpress, and elevate). After about 6 weeks I was back to my normal milage without any problems.

Being a pitcher, I have faced bouts of tendinitis in both my shoulder and elbow. I threw curve balls at an early age before there was awareness for the subject like there is now. I was put on anti-inflammatory medicines, used ice, and also rested it for a season. It really never came back although sometimes I face pain.

ice helps control the swelling, which is the only continuous symptom i have

In May of 2007 I was rear-ended in my car why stopped for a school bus. Since than I have had very bad back and shoulder pain. I have had x-rays and mri's to determine the problem that was causing the pain. I had treated myself with motrin and heat and ice. Since than I have had epidurals injected into the cervical and thorasic areas with little relief. I continue to have pain and treat with ice and heat when I have flare ups. I also use pain patches that contain ibroprofren. I have recently decided along with my doctor to have a spinal stimulator implanted for the thoraic discs as the pain gets so bad and radiates into my ribs, he feels this is my best choice as I do not like to take medicines.

Initially, I started to have trouble with my knees after roller blading one day. The pain continued and never seemed to get better, so I made an appointment with my orthopedic doctor. After x-ray analysis and sending me out to get more tests, he found that my right leg was actually .5in. shorter than the left, thus calling for the use of orthotics or "shoe inserts" along with a knee brace, and also strengthening exercises. All of this really seemed to help a lot, but I was still getting shooting pain in my knee every now and then, so at my recheck visit I asked a bout a cortisone shot which my doctor readily assented to. Not only was the shot itself very painful, and I have a high tolerance for pain (I've had three children without epidurals), but it actually seemed to be worsened after the injection. It took about a month before the affects of the shot finally wore off though. About a year after doing all of this work, I was hit by a drunk driver, while I was pregnant with number three, and my knee was severely injured and so was my ankle and then began the back problems.. I immediately began to see a chiropractor and a physical therapist on a regular basis. The physical therapist gave me so many exercises and also did ice and ultrasound to my ankle, which really relieved a lot of pain and I believe helped me walk again without a limp. This was also the effect of seeing the chiropractor almost 3 days a week, as well. I improved dramatically from seeing the chiropractor and the physical therapist, but I still have flare ups with my knee. My back and ankle are completely restored back to normal. I just have to remember to do strengthening exercises for my knee and back and I also try to do other exercises to lose weight because that really made a big difference in how my knee felt.