[AZRickD]

Background: 52 years old. Active. Highschool and college wrestling in the old days. Pick-up sports, hang gliding, mountain biking, off-road dirt bike racing currently.

Symptoms first surfaced in highschool. Treatment was one vibro massage before a wrestling match. No other problems until inter-mural flag football at Ohio State (got speared in the back). Fairly rare episodic flare-ups from age 22 to about age 25 when hang gliding started. Began seeing chiropractor from time to time which helped nicely.

Over time, the episodes became more frequent. Perhaps two or three per year. lasting a week or two. Seemed to be driven by over-use. Rest, ice, chiro, stretching did the trick.

Severe lock-up for four months in 1998, followed by another battle six month later. Went to ER for demerol (I hate being medicated). It took me three years to get my back stable and to figure out how much and what types of exercise I could tolerate.

Did well in the early 2000s, but later in the decade the episodes became more frequent, but never as acute as in 1998. This past summer had me over-using my back moving furniture, working in the garage. Four months of muscle tension spiral.

Three weeks ago my chiropractor suggested RFA. I did nerve block #1 with good success. With nerve block #2, I decided to test it. I went straight to Thunderbird Park in north Phoenix and hiked the 600 foot hill at a rapid pace -- pulse at 160 BPM. Then I hopped on my mountain bike for a short street ride (bending over the bars is the key factor). I got a flat so I had to walk home 2 miles in my clippy shoes. When the lidocaine wore off, no pain. My muscles were relaxed, and I had zero pain for three days (until I decided to sling a 50-pound bag of grass seed over my shoulder). The next day I did 20 miles of dirt bike riding.

I entered the clinic with near zero pain. Some muscle tightness. Not bad.

They hooked me up and gave me the propofol (Milk of Amnesia) with a fentanyl chaser. I was completely out (or I have no memory of the procedure). Next thing I knew the 15-minute procedure was over and they were telling me to roll over. Then I dozed off again.

I awoke for good in the recovery area. Just slightly foggy. I dressed, chatted up, and headed home with my Designated Driver.

The "pain" I feel (now about 90-minutes after the procedure) is more of a pressure. Sort of like a pulled muscle, maybe. I'm waiting for the lidocaine to fully wear off to see what I'll have to deal with for the next three days. No plan for prescription pain meds. Just ice. Maybe some ibuprofen.

I have a dirt bike race this Sunday. It would be nice to putt-putt around the course in sub-race speed. Yeah, I know they said "no exercise" for two weeks.