Acupuncture

Ive got nerve damage in my leg. Whether its temporary or not remains to be seen. Ive seen the doctor and he`s prescribed tablets but they are having little effect.
I just wondered if anyone here has tried acupuncture?

Yep!

They stick needles in…it tingles… you leave feeling like you’ve just had a good massage!

If you’ve got any questions I’ll try answer them, but really, if you want to try it, do, because I found it helped and so have others.

I took the approach of “I don’t understand it… but I’ll believe it if it works” and It did.

Alex

Scarab:
I took the approach of “I don’t understand it… but I’ll believe it if it works” and It did.

Same here mate!!
In my case, it didn’t fix the problems, but it gave marvellous pain relief whilst I waited for surgery.
I’d say accupuncture is a good idea, provided that your doctor agrees that it’s appropriate in your own case.

Will be interested to hear how you get on if you go for it JB. Have wondered about trying it myself and your scenario sounds as close a match as I’m likely to get on here for mine, albeit with very different causes (I assume).

Lucy:
Will be interested to hear how you get on if you go for it JB. Have wondered about trying it myself and your scenario sounds as close a match as I’m likely to get on here for mine, albeit with very different causes (I assume).

All of my accupuncture was for nerve damage too.
I’ve had accupuncture on my spine, both arms and left leg- almost a full set
I’m actually looking forward to my next op on 18th Dec.
(More ops to follow )

Which part of your nerve pain did it help? What kind of “pain” do you experience - is it your classic “ouch” pain or do you get the whole gamut of sensory wierdos and electric shocks as well? Which of those did it most help?

I take Gabapentin for neuro pain along with regular Paracetamol and Ibuprofen plus Baclofen when needed…Opiate-based medication does nothing because of it’s nature and cause. I also have a large degree of sensation loss - would that make me unable to feel the effects of acupuncture, I wonder?

Sorry about the questions, just genuinely curious - if I can find ways to avoid up-ing my already ridiculous drug intake (I take two others not already mentioned for various symptoms as well) then bring 'em on!!!

Ps. Good luck with the ops!

Lucy:
Which part of your nerve pain did it help? What kind of “pain” do you experience - is it your classic “ouch” pain or do you get the whole gamut of sensory wierdos and electric shocks as well? Which of those did it most help?

My nerve pain is of a couple of types and has a couple of separate causes, but they can be grouped into general wear and tear and RSI.

Lucy:
I take Gabapentin for neuro pain along with regular Paracetamol and Ibuprofen plus Baclofen when needed…Opiate-based medication does nothing because of it’s nature and cause. I also have a large degree of sensation loss - would that make me unable to feel the effects of acupuncture, I wonder?

I’m very reluctant to start taking any medication, but I haven’t shied away from “procedures,” described below. Interesting question about the efficacy of acupuncture in your own case though…my own experience of this is also described below.

Lucy:
Sorry about the questions, just genuinely curious - if I can find ways to avoid up-ing my already ridiculous drug intake (I take two others not already mentioned for various symptoms as well) then bring 'em on!!!

No problem with the questions, because I know they’re designed to gain enlightenment.
I hope my experience can shed some light on acupuncture for you and others…
I’ll do what I can, but it might be an idea to grab a butty and make a brew. Klaxon sound----- Long post alert!!!

Spinal stuff and left leg.
In 2000 I had my coccyx removed due to it having become arthritic, which was extremely painful. That was purely down to me having covered an exceptionally high mileage on dodgy roads in ropey trucks. As you can imagine, the removal of a coccyx leaves a void, which fills with blood, which then turns to scar tissue so it’s fairly hard and gristly. Depending upon the type of chair/seat I sit on, I can experience tingling and loss of sensation in the whole of my left leg. This can be anything from mild pins and needles to a very painful episode that I can only describe as a feeling of having my leg filled with extremely gassy (fizzy) pop. Before the op, I was warned that there might be some lasting side-effects, and this is well within the range of possibilities described to me by the surgeon. The best way to describe the symptom is to liken it to sciatica, although I’ve been tested for that and I don’t have it

Having tried several “procedures” in which I was injected with CO2 to try and kill-off various nerve endings disconnected from my now removed coccyx, it became apparent that this only provided temporary relief lasting 3-4 days. Imagine tearing out the electricity meter from your house and having all those disconnected and bare wires hanging around. They’d short out sometimes and cause strange things to happen. That’s what’s going on at the bottom of my back!!! Fortunately, only the wiring to my left leg is affected. The hospital ran out of “procedures” so I turned to acupuncture as a private patient outside of the NHS.

I went to a nice Chinese lady doctor, who had me lie on my front on a table. She inserted approx 15 needles at various points from the base of my back (left side) extending down the back of my left leg and ending with a couple at my left ankle. Next she connected electrical wires and passed a mild current down the nerves. IIRC, I had 5 or six of these treatments. Although it didn’t cure the symptoms entirely, I’ve had a massive improvement and it’s settled down quite well. On balance, I felt that acupuncture helped this problem in my case.

Left arm.
Also around 2000, I began to experience mild tingling and loss of sensation in my left arm, and ring and small fingers of left hand and left side of left palm whilst typing. Over the next 4 years, this developed into my left hand suddenly flinging open causing me to drop whatever was in my left hand. This would be preceded by an extremely painful feeling that I can only describe as suddenly twanging a guitar string in my left elbow. It became disconcerting when this happened whilst pouring water from a boiling kettle to make a drink I broke several kettles by dropping them Fortunately, I was never scalded, although I did frighten my cat several times. Around the same time, I developed similar symptoms in my right arm, but always to a much lesser extent.

To cut a long story short, I ended up having acupuncture for this as well. I still get the numbness and a little loss of sensation, but nothing like it was. The twanging left elbow was completely cured by acupuncture.

That takes us to 2006. in the Jan or Feb, I was sent for nerve conduction tests at Chester hospital. Very interesting and somewhat painful. The idea of the tests is that the speed of electrical nerve impulses in humans is a velocity of 45 metres per second (IIRC.) The test is to measure the speeds at various points along a nerve to discover where the problem lies. It very similar to a conductivity or resistance test in an electrical sense. Electrodes are attached at various points along a nerve, and a (very) strong and painful electrical current is introduced. There is a pick-up sensor at the other end of the length to be tested and this result is displayed on a computer for the doctor to see immediately. My problems were instantly diagnosed as being in both my elbows. Equally quickly, the surgeon decided that an operation called a “cubital tunnel release” is called for on both elbows. My readings were R elbow: 41m/s and left elbow: 27m/s. By this time the right elbow was far more painful, which flew in the face of the measured results-- there’s nowt so queer as folk!!

I was given the option of which one I wanted to have done first!! I considered that the left had settled significantly and that I’m left-handed, so I opted to have the right elbow done. That took place on 19/12/06. I’m told that, now the op has had time to settle, the abraided nerve will repair at the rate of 1mm per day, so the repair estimate is the length from my elbow to my little finger in mm expressed as a number of days. 12 months later, it seems about right.

As things currently stand, I’m due to go in again on 18/12 to have the op on the left elbow. Last Friday saw me go for a pre-operative assessment, where they made sure that I’ve had enough pies to eat.
They also advised me to grow by at least 1’ 6" to get my height/weight right, so no problems there.

I’m wondering whether the viewers would like a hospital diary with pics, once the dressing comes off?? That would be about seven days after the op, which turns out to be Christmas day. I’m also not allowed to drive or operate any machinery for 7 days after the op. That’s due to the side-effects of the anaesthetic that they’ll use. Last year I was dropping off to sleep without warning exactly as I’d been warned could happen. If that happened whilst driving the results could be quite spectacular It’s not a question of how tough you are, this comes without warning, and the next thing you know is the clock has jumped forward by about an hour You’d imagine that you’d feel drowsy first, but I’ve got that “T” shirt, and I can say that I didn’t have a clue when it would happen.

My typing speed will be even slower than normal and I might be a bit groggy for a while, but I guess that folks will understand.

Don’t dare to ask how you’d know the difference…

Given as how most of your troubles seem to be down to either broken or dodgy connections, complete with the whole shorting-out thing, it sounds like it may be worth me giving it a shot. Thanks for that Dave - and good luck!

I have MS, for those that don’t know.

Lucy:
Given as how most of your troubles seem to be down to either broken or dodgy connections, complete with the whole shorting-out thing, it sounds like it may be worth me giving it a shot. Thanks for that Dave - and good luck!

I have MS, for those that don’t know.

There you go… Everybody reckons that a Stralis has dodgy wiring… mine’s far worserer
Since I’m proper English, I think my wiring comes from Joe Lucas .
IMHO, I think it’s more about the punishment my body has taken during my time on the road, rather than anything else. I was a Euro tramper for most of my time. That meant all the usual things, but add to that that I was often away for up to 8 weeks at a time You don’t notice this stuff when you’re young, but it does catch up with you later. The surgeon has told me that my ailments are all work-related, and as you know, you can’t do enough for a good boss

Sorry about the time taken to reply, I was teaching on Sat and Sun and wanted to be fresh(ish) to write you a good answer.
I wish I was smart enough to offer you a good opinion on whether acupuncture would help with your MS, but I’m not
Doctor question methinks.

That’s my excuse. Drive too many Ivecos and you will turn into one.

Blimey dave you sound as fit as my dad …
False hips… bones fused here there and everywhere. Arthritis… numerous other maladies. I hope the op goes ok for you.
When you say the nerve heals at 1mm a day? Is that a figure i can expect with mine? I had an op which left a 6" scar and a lot of bruising and “trauma” pushing down on a clump of nerves.

I read on “another site” of your illness lucy and kinda guessed it was you.
I hope you cope with things ok.

Ive decided to just let nature take its course, i can feel things knitting and getting better slowly but surely (and im a chicken and cant face all those needles )

Thanks for the advice anyway- i hope it helps someone else decide.

JB:
Blimey dave you sound as fit as my dad …
False hips… bones fused here there and everywhere. Arthritis… numerous other maladies. I hope the op goes ok for you.
When you say the nerve heals at 1mm a day? Is that a figure i can expect with mine? I had an op which left a 6" scar and a lot of bruising and “trauma” pushing down on a clump of nerves.

I read on “another site” of your illness lucy and kinda guessed it was you.
I hope you cope with things ok.

Ive decided to just let nature take its course, i can feel things knitting and getting better slowly but surely (and im a chicken and cant face all those needles )

Thanks for the advice anyway- i hope it helps someone else decide.

I don’t have the false hips or fused bones, but if I were a horse, I’d have been shot long ago Mind you, my doctor was talking about inserting a camera into my right knee, but that’s another story…

I was told (by the surgeon) that once the op is done, and the reason for the damage is removed/dealt with, the nerve will heal at 1 mm per day. Just so I don’t mislead you, I’d say that advice relates to an abraided ulnaic nerve in the elbow. It’s the thing that people call a “funny bone” so you’ll have some idea of what it feels like if you bang yours by accident. In my case, that same feeling came of its own accord, but far worse and without having been injured.

Just to help you a bit, acupuncture needles are very fine (thin) indeed, and aren’t inserted very far. TBH, they’re that sharp that you don’t really feel it. I’d say that it’s a very mild discomfort/inconvenience in exchange for a great deal of relief.