Since the scar tissue is giving me fits today, thought I'd talk about that a bit. Of course nerves were damaged and severed during the scoliosis surgery. How could they not be when you are cut open and pulled apart? Sometimes that feeling of a white hot branding iron becomes too much. Sometimes it feels like a red hot blade slicing into me. Quick flashes of intense burning. Thats how I would describe it. I would imagine thats exactly what getting stabbed in the back would feel like. Out of nowhere. I can manage with the stabbing feeling if its for just a few hours. But when it goes on endlessly it often becomes too much.
But as much as I hate that burning sensation I loathe that white hot branding iron one even more. Just like someone stuck a branding iron in the fire til it glows past red and into white and then just presses it into my back. That section just between the shoulder blades... OMG! That one I can't handle. Thankfully the pain specialist I was seeing had me try lidocaine infusion. That helped so much. Calmed those nerves right down. It was lovely. Eventually I was put on lidocaine pills and I get that pain less often. Having the lidocaine patches to put on my back between my shoulders and neck was such a blessing to have in my arsenal too. But those are gone now. Insurance won't cover them since I've never had shingles. MMMMK... Doesn't make sense to take me off what was working but... I am not paying $900 for them either. Thats ridiculous. The dr office did give me some lidocaine ointment to try. But the results are not the same. Very dissappointing.
So thats about the nerve pain in my back. I'll get shooting sparks down my arms and legs randomly too. Thats fun. Just be minding your own business and BAM! Can't tell you how many things I've dropped when it comes out of nowhere or how my legs buckle when they get zapped. I try to stay off ladders because you just never know when those bad boys are coming.
The scar tissue on my back is pretty severe. Not from the outside but from the inside. I went YEARS thinking that my actual muscles were caught on top of the herrington rods. It seriously feels just like that. Well, low and behold while getting trigger point injections for the fibromyalgia my doctor tried myofacial treatment on that area. Injecting the scar tissue itself. Thats what she said was across my rods. Bands of scar tissue. And it gets tighter and tighter making that pulling sensation worse and restricting my arm movement. So now when it gets hard to get full arm movement I go into her and ask her to do her magic. Oh my goodness. Such blessed relief! I don't realize how tight it all gets until she goes in and injects. She's really a life saver in my book.
The scar down my spine is jagged but thin. With a few raised keloid areas. I had a few inner stitches that didn't disolve and got to be like little rocks. We got most of those out with tweezers. Felt much better. But a few areas have those keloid scars and I'm thinking its caused from a few of those stitches that were too far under maybe? Don't really know. They are just there and super ugly. The part where they did the bone graft is like a wide fat worm. Raised and varies from red to purple. I tend to scar horribly. I discovered that after the fact. Oops. Nothing I could have done anyway though. So it is what it is. I don't let my ugly scars limit my apparel. I earned those battle scars so I am not going to hide them. If people have a problem with it, well, its there problem. :)
Pain level is currently a 6. The stress of work and standing too long is a big factor today. Will try soaking in a bath with epsom salts and then laying down on some ice packs shortly. Do try heat AND ice. Alot of people don't do the ice and I was one of those people for a very long time. But alternating between the two really does help me.
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