Barnacules
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I'm walking again thanks to this TENS unit
🕑 Added 2017-06-06 00:58:51 +0000 UTCI was unable to do Morning Coffee with Barnacules this morning because while visiting Joel (3D Printing Nerd) yesterday I pinched my sciatic nerve and the pain was so bad a few hours after it happened I needed Joel to help me get into the car so my wife could drive me home. I've remained in bed ever since only getting up to use the bathroom with the help of my wife to get to and from the toilet screaming the whole time. I also woke up last night screaming as I rolled in my sleep. I can't describe just how bad the pain is but the pain medication I take for my back wasn't even touching the pain. I tried doing the ice and heat and then just the ice because heat was making it worse and it seemed to get a little better but I still couldn't sit upright in bed or even sit on the toilet without massive pain.
Today someone recommended that I try a TENS unit to numb the nerve and I remembered that I had one that I used quite a bit of shoulder and neck pain and gave it a shot. After a 30 minute session I'm able to get up and walk around in pain but not falling down pain. After an hour I was able to walk up stairs to the Nerd Cave and type this. The only problem is when the machine turns off the pain comes back almost instantly (just not as severe) so I can really only move while it's on so I am going to just leave the pads on me and when I need to wake up to use the rest room I can just turn the device on and buy me some time.
I was surprised that this device works so good for sciatica and wanted to recommend it to anyone else that suffers from any form of nerve pain. I numbs the entire area deep into the tissue while it's running and for a short period after it stops. I now know that the pain that is keeping me from walking is purely nerve related and I'm hopeful now that I can stretch it will heal faster. I'm allergic to NSAID medication so I can't take anti inflammatory like Advil or Alieve and it means I usually just have to wait out inflammation. I even tried some turmeric and ginger with no success but this TENS unit is a miracle.
I just wanted to take a moment to tell you guys what is going on and that I finally found some relief so I should be able to do the Morning Coffee with Barnacules live stream tomorrow. Generally when I've pinched my sciatic nerve in the past it takes 4-5 days to recover to where I can walk comfortably again and this device just allowed me to do it the very next day when the pain was so intense my wife got a front row seat to me crying on the floor in front of the toilet when I tried to get up and collapsed.
I hope this device can help any of you that also suffer from nerve pain since honestly I would take it over the opiate based pain medication. I'm going to continue to use it after the sciatic nerve pain is minimized to combat my normal every day back pain and see if things improve in general over time. See you all tomorrow provided things don't get worse again. Also, thank you for all the support you have given me. This device has been so helpful I might even do a YouTube review video on it just because I love reviewing products that actually improve peoples lives.
Comments
The wife has similar issues with her back/sciatic. We have tried a lot of things, but not this. I am willing to give it a shot. I was wondering if you got an affiliate link for this... for that big amazon payout.
Based on how you've described your pain, I'd think so. Talk to your pain specialist about it - Medtronic and Boston Scientific both make good ones (I've heard Boston Scientific is the best, but usually the doc just picks which brand they've worked with the most). I can't recommend it enough - it's not a miracle fix but much like the portable TENS it takes the edge off and gives you a better comfort of living day to day. The unit isn't cheap so maybe get a quote from your insurance on what they pay on the unit itself (the surgery part isn't too bad cost-wise). My insurance through work paid most of it, so it wasn't too bad. If your doc wants to go forward with implanting you, they'll first send you off to a psychologist for an eval to make sure it's a good fit for you - I think it's mainly to vet out people who can't handle having something inside their body. You'll have to let me know what the doc says (I'm loriwood01 in Discord).
I wonder if I could get something similar implanted?
I have cervical dystonia (aka Torticollis) in my neck that causes me chronic pain on a daily basis. I had a neurostimulator implanted, which is essentially a TENS unit and it gave me quite a bit of relief along with medicine. Glad to hear you found something that helps you! Looking forward to Morning Coffee :D
