Inversion table

[Maria]

I think what you are talking about is the thing one lies back on and hangs near upside down? I have seen that Costco has one type for $299. I was thinking to purchase one. One of my neighbors has one on his patio and he uses it nearly every day. Says he just stays on it a few minutes when he feels like his back is getting sore or "crunched up" in his terms. He has some bad lumbar discs but has had no surgery. I have had 2 failed discectomies and while on low dose daily opioid therapy now for quite some time still have flare ups.. like this last one lasting 6 weeks. I feel better when I walk but sitting is not good and laying down can become painful too.

Am seeing my OSS today after not seeing him for a year now (have been seeing same person since 1998 with no surgeries performed by him). He's my WC Primary Treating Physician for my low back prob. I imagine he will order an xray but doubt anything else unless my symptoms are gruesome enough to warrant WC paying for it and that is sincerely doubtful.

There is only one thing I have noticed that is different than the last so many years or so and that while most of my lumbar pain is midline low lumbar and to the left iliac crest area sometimes piraformis.. my right upper leg (thigh) while driving for about 20 minutes will start to ache and feel weak with pain and dead weight like. I have to pull my pants on the top and hold my leg up to alleviate this feeling or put my hand underneath my leg and support it. My foot feels fine while all this is going on and functions well. Also getting some sharp shooting pains in the upper thigh on the right when walking which I can usually just walk off after a few minutes.

Anyway writing down what I'm going to ask him today and while I don't have an ADR I'm still going to ask about using the Inversion table and see what he says.

[Jim M2]

Hi Maria,

X-rays may show how much disc height is left but probably not much else. An additional MRI on top of the x-rays could certainly reveal a lot more.

I'm trying to upload some old pictures of home made traction from 12 years ago. It was probably under $50 for the straps. I already had the pillows. The blood doesn't run to your head. You can put yourself in mild or intense traction.

[Maria]

Went differently yesterday due to what the OSS said is "Obama Care."
I've never been there with so few people and had to wait so long or had to do such a dog and pony show before getting seen.. anyway finally 2 hours after I arrived I was seen and my appt. took all of 5 minutes with the OSS which remained the same as most years past.

Yes I had an xray which I expected and my L4 is very flat but not fusing and L5S1 appears to have auto fused. OSS suspects all probs coming from L4 though I still have good tone, strength, etc so no MRI ordered (didn't think there would be) although I was taken by surprise by his recommendation for an ESI (epidural steroid injection) as it's been about 3-4 years since my last one and each time I asked in the past about getting one he said that WC would not authorize it. He now thinks they will. We shall see. I'm not expecting that to happen.

Anyway I was so rather bothered by what seemed like the new process to be seen (wait half hour in what looked like not full waiting room, get called in to cubicle to have my updated info typed into chart, go back to waiting room, wait another half hour to be called into xray, made to put on super oversized paper shorts and wait in waiting area for xray, made to keep those super oversized shorts on and wait in xray waiting room another half hour to get called into to see Dr.... here's where it gets back to normal seeing OSS for very short appt. which is OK with me since I didn't think anything was out of the ordinary). I was also preoccupied with having a note given re not being able to perform Jury Duty so I could send that in ..

So I forgot to ask about the inversion table. At this point I think I'll just do whatever I think is Ok which is what I've been doing pretty much all along. I'm not into anything that could even remotely be considered high powered, intense or risk taking so I'm pretty sure that I should be OK unless a disc just blows by me bending over which is what seemed to happen originally!

Jim, I'm not quite as resourceful as you.. is that a traction type unit you designed and/or is that a surfboard in background that you're going to use to lay down on? It's cool that you did made your own version for much cheaper! btw how are you and what's going on with your surgery stuff?

Itsgoa yeah.. maybe I'll look for a used one. $299 seemed about the cheapest I've seen them in a store. Will check on Amazon.

[Jim M2]

Yes, it is a traction device made from straps I bought at Home Depot and a black weight lifter's belt. It worked very well. I did not use it after ADR.

That picture was taken in Kentucky. There are no surfboards. I believe what you are looking at is my nephew who is hold a yellow yardstick.

I have surgery this coming Friday (1/23) at Tri-city Medical Center in Oceanside (north San Diego County).