Back Issues
- Thread starter Keefe
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Hax0rs
Banned
Get yourself a Teeter-Hang-Up, best decompression besides being on a table.
Not my back, but I have a “severely ruptured” C5/C6 disk that is causing “severe stenosis of the spinal column” and pinching the nerve that feeds my left shoulder and arm. I’m ****ing miserable.
The surgeon I was referred to said it’s non urgent and wanted to schedule my first appointment a month out. I basically told them to **** off. I found a doctor that fixes these things non surgically, but the insurance doesn’t cover it. I did the whole appeal thing. They hired an “outside source” to review it. They hired a ****ing neurosurgeon. Surprise, surprise the surgeon said the non surgical treatment is a no go. Now I’m appealing to the state insurance commission to see if they’ll approve it so my insurance will have to cover it. I really really don’t want to do the surgery and have vertebrae fused together in my neck.
The surgeon I was referred to said it’s non urgent and wanted to schedule my first appointment a month out. I basically told them to **** off. I found a doctor that fixes these things non surgically, but the insurance doesn’t cover it. I did the whole appeal thing. They hired an “outside source” to review it. They hired a ****ing neurosurgeon. Surprise, surprise the surgeon said the non surgical treatment is a no go. Now I’m appealing to the state insurance commission to see if they’ll approve it so my insurance will have to cover it. I really really don’t want to do the surgery and have vertebrae fused together in my neck.
One Brow
Well-Known Member
What's the specialty of the non-surgeon?
That’s what he does. Non surgical treatment of exactly what I’m dealing with. https://advancedspineutah.com/
One Brow
Well-Known Member
Patients pay thousands for back pain treatment — with little scientific evidence that it works
Claims of success for spinal decompression devices stretch the truth, an investigation found. The treatment hasn't been proven in rigorous studies.
www.nbcnews.com
If it really worked, insurance would jump all over it, because it would save them thousands of dollars. Health insurance companies always prefer the cheapest solution.
One Brow
Well-Known Member
Promising research gets funded by the government.
I'm not telling you what to do, just making sure you see all sides first.
Al-O-Meter
Well-Known Member
I don't blame you for not wanting vertebrae fused. Check to see if you insurance will cover Cervical Disc Replacement. Some will. Some won't.
That's essentially what my cancer surgery did. They fused C6 to T2 and sacrificed all nerve roots that feed my left arm. That's the exact pain I've been dealing with as well. I hope they figure it out for you. That really sucks.
I've recently been diagnosed with osteoarthritis in my middle and lower back, and it hurts a ton. Started PT on Friday. I am grateful I don't have the serious problems that many of you have. But on top of my recent diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis and my on-going heart and lung issues, there is just too much pain going on in my body.
I decided to order the McKenzie book suggested by a couple of you ($9.99 on Kindle). Sounds like it will give me a better understanding of my back and its issues. I suspect the arthritis is due to the many car accidents I was in during the 80s and 90s (no, I'm not a bad driver - only one was my fault). I remember a doctor telling me back then that I would have back pain for the rest of my life. I haven't until now, so again I'm grateful.
As far as mattresses go, I bought a Serta hybrid 3 years ago and I love it. My bed is about the only place I can get comfortable. Not all the time, but at least most of the time. I'm a side sleeper and don't move too much. I rotate it six months or so for the other side to get some use (for some reason, I can't stand sleeping in the middle). I got a free Purple pillow at the time, and it is my favorite pillow ever. Keeps my head cool.
I decided to order the McKenzie book suggested by a couple of you ($9.99 on Kindle). Sounds like it will give me a better understanding of my back and its issues. I suspect the arthritis is due to the many car accidents I was in during the 80s and 90s (no, I'm not a bad driver - only one was my fault). I remember a doctor telling me back then that I would have back pain for the rest of my life. I haven't until now, so again I'm grateful.
As far as mattresses go, I bought a Serta hybrid 3 years ago and I love it. My bed is about the only place I can get comfortable. Not all the time, but at least most of the time. I'm a side sleeper and don't move too much. I rotate it six months or so for the other side to get some use (for some reason, I can't stand sleeping in the middle). I got a free Purple pillow at the time, and it is my favorite pillow ever. Keeps my head cool.
Keefe
Well-Known Member
**** man, I’m really sorry. Your situation sounds awful and is infinitely worse than mine.
I hated my purple pillow. I think it’s still floating around here somewhere.
Jazz Traveler
Well-Known Member
I have degenerative disc disease plus steel rods in my back from a fall when I was 23. I got a epidural steroid injection in my back yesterday. Hurt a little more than I thought it would. Woke up this morning with no pain. It’s been months since I’ve gotten up with no pain. Knock on wood that the pain continues to stay away. It’s awful to live with pain every minute of the day.
Aside from whatever modality not being covered by the insurance, another large barrier will be insurance not covering chiropractic care and/or tests/procedures ordered by a chiropractor. If you find yourself looking for more non-surgical options, you can search out a PM&R physician (MD or DO) who practice physical medicine (meaning musculoskeletal) but aren't surgeons. I don't know what non-surgical options would or would not be available, but they'd be covered by insurance and (typically) their recommendations. PM&R can be pretty broad, so finding someone who does more spine.
This used to be a belief I held on a simple litmus test of what works and what doesn't by appealing to those most financially incentivized to scrutinize the information the most effectively. Unfortunately, the connection between efficacy, cost-effectiveness, and insurance funding is tenuous, at best. Insurance companies certainly have policies in place that make them money, but there are massive holes where this is wrong if we're left to assume that insurance decisions tightly intertwine with effectiveness. Too often I have had to do prior authorizations or peer-reviews with the insurance company and waste a lot of my time to get them to approve something that's actually in their best interest (to the tune of thousands of dollars). They can create algorithms that overall are net positive for their bottom line, but imbedded within that is a lot of other waste because the calculations become too complex and can't account for second and third order thinking. One example is having to spend 45 minutes on the phone to get a medication approved that's on the Walmart $4 list where the risk of not taking it is the insurance company shelling out $2k/day for rehospitalization. Or an insurance company not funding 2-3 more days in the hospital to tie up loose ends and instead discharge the patient, only for them to be re-hospitalized for 10 days. They hire physicians to do the "peer-review," but their role is not to actually think like a physician. They are just given the insurance company's criteria for _______ with no wiggle room. So it isn't really a "peer-review," it's a review of insurance criteria (set by who knows) that someone making minimum wage could do, but they have a physician do the review because they can indirectly give the impression that a physician signed off on that, when the physician isn't rendering their opinion about the case at all, just about whether the case fits the company's criteria. I will have them admit that they know it's going to be more costly to the insurance company on the back-end when the patient is re-admitted, but there's nothing in the insurance company's guidelines that allows their physician to help protect themselves from their own horrible policies. On the flip side, there are so many practices and interventions in medicine that are paid for by insurance but have very questionable benefits (even if we’re just talking financially). Even more unfortunate, when they try to act on that, they end up screwing it up for the individuals who may actually be benefitting, but their criteria often can’t capture the right populations for the right interventions.Patients pay thousands for back pain treatment — with little scientific evidence that it works
Claims of success for spinal decompression devices stretch the truth, an investigation found. The treatment hasn't been proven in rigorous studies.
If it really worked, insurance would jump all over it, because it would save them thousands of dollars. Health insurance companies always prefer the cheapest solution.
This isn't to make any claims about this specific case, just that using insurance as a rubric is much more flimsy than common sense would have us believe.
This is similar to the above. It's a great idea in theory, but in reality this is not so neat and clean. There are plenty of flaws with this.
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One Brow
Well-Known Member
I fully agree, and I should used somewhat more reserved language in these statements.
Also a neurologist may be able to point you in a particular direction.
Archie Moses
Well-Known Member
This is from my back and hip SI Fusion surgery from May. I was scared af going into it and getting a joint fused, but so happy I did cause it worked. The chronic pain I had in my back and hip for 10 years is pretty much gone. I'd say, it's 85% less painful now. The best surgery I've had from all 8 of my orthopedic surgeries. The only problem is now I have sciatic pain in my right butt cheek. So annoying.
Keefe
Well-Known Member
Woah!!!! What the hell happened to the rest of you?!!! You ligaments, tendons, muscles, and blood?