Physical Therapy

One of the things that my doctor and I decided to try for my headaches was physical therapy. I had been to therapy several years ago for some leg pain, so I already knew one of the therapists. In fact, she became my patient and I delivered her lovely children. So, I'm back to seeing her twice a week again. So far, she has me doing neck stretches four times daily. I have been good at getting it done two to three times per day. I've been trying to integrate it into scheduled prayer times.

I've had neck traction twice. I don't think that has really done much. My PT said that if it works, she'll arrange for me to have a home traction set. We'll see. The soft tissue massage/trigger point release does seem to help some. My neck and head feel a little better after she's done with that.

We're also trying a TENS unit on my neck. This is pads stuck on my neck, hooked up to a little device that sends mild electrical pulses to my neck muscles. There are a number of theories on how it works, including endorphin release and the gate-theory of pain mechanism. In any case, this does seem to help. It's not earth-shattering, but I am getting a little relief and using less pain medication. I can use it for an hour at a time then take a thirty minute break from it - so I don't get tolerant to it.

Two weeks of physical therapy under my belt, and things are looking a little better. Every little bit helps.