Just thought I'd pass on this information as it might help someone who is having pain of unknown origin. I started having pain and severe spasm one one side, from my ribs to my hip months ago. At first it was just a hassle, and would resolve quickly if I changed my posture or just took a break by sitting or lying down. Standing for more than 10 or 15 minutes seemed to bring on the pain and spasm. Over time, the pain continued to come on with less physical activity, and it was more severe.
We tried adjusting the pump, even though I was pretty sure it wasn't spasticity. We adjusted it up, we adjusted it down, no relief. I've adapted my lifestyle to deal with the pain, and when it wasn't possible to "get off my feet" I'd have to take some pain med.
So my physiatrist and GP recommended PT but it just wasn't much help. My physiatrist then ordered some x-rays and it seems I have scoliosis in my spine, and it's rather severe, affecting portions of my thoracic and lumbar spine. Normally she said they'd send a someone with this severe a curve to a surgeon, but due to my age, and other considerations (the pump) I'm not a candidate for surgery.
So we're going to try to design some PT stretches that we hope will help keep it in check and try to lessen the progression. All this to say don't just chalk up pain to being MS. Although neuromuscular scoliosis is caused by the MS, it is not specifically the MS that's causing the pain, and you may be a candidate for therapies or even surgery that would give you relief.
What I learned...signs of scoliosis: pain, especially when standing; leaning to one side; one shoulder appearing higher than the other shoulder, and/or one hip being higher than the other.
It took about 6 months of me mentioning this spasm, and specific symptoms, until a doctor decided to get to the cause of the pain. Why? Because when you tell a doctor you're having a painful spasm, they remind you that you have MS Yes I do, but it is not what causes all our symptoms and pain. In the end, even though I might not get relief from pain, at least I'll know what's causing it.
We tried adjusting the pump, even though I was pretty sure it wasn't spasticity. We adjusted it up, we adjusted it down, no relief. I've adapted my lifestyle to deal with the pain, and when it wasn't possible to "get off my feet" I'd have to take some pain med.
So my physiatrist and GP recommended PT but it just wasn't much help. My physiatrist then ordered some x-rays and it seems I have scoliosis in my spine, and it's rather severe, affecting portions of my thoracic and lumbar spine. Normally she said they'd send a someone with this severe a curve to a surgeon, but due to my age, and other considerations (the pump) I'm not a candidate for surgery.
So we're going to try to design some PT stretches that we hope will help keep it in check and try to lessen the progression. All this to say don't just chalk up pain to being MS. Although neuromuscular scoliosis is caused by the MS, it is not specifically the MS that's causing the pain, and you may be a candidate for therapies or even surgery that would give you relief.
What I learned...signs of scoliosis: pain, especially when standing; leaning to one side; one shoulder appearing higher than the other shoulder, and/or one hip being higher than the other.
It took about 6 months of me mentioning this spasm, and specific symptoms, until a doctor decided to get to the cause of the pain. Why? Because when you tell a doctor you're having a painful spasm, they remind you that you have MS Yes I do, but it is not what causes all our symptoms and pain. In the end, even though I might not get relief from pain, at least I'll know what's causing it.
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