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Joined
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Location
Crewe, Cheshire, UK
This is a little tale of preparation and result, and I am in no way suggesting it will work for everyone, just a write up on things that have happened to me.

Since 1974, I have been in constant pain in parts of my lower spine and legs, from an accident I suffered whilst serving in the RAF. After a bout in hospital to try to put things right, I ended up with a right foot that feels totally dead all the time, and nagging pains in the areas I have already told you about. The surgeon told me that in later life, things would come back to haunt me. It wasn't too bad for the first 35 years, being mainly controlled by pill popping and taking a rest when needed. I think it only caused me to have about a month off work in the whole of my working life.

Nearly a year ago, the haunting started, and I was basically knocked off my legs because I could stand the pain no longer, as it had gone from bearable and controllable, to feeling like I wanted to scream whenever I moved my legs.

To cut a long story short, after visits and examinations by many eminent specialists, I was told that there are no surgical procedures that can help me with my predicament; I will just have to cope the best I can. My GP came into it at that time, and suggested maybe I should attend a 'Pain Clinic', at which point I told him "I have enough pain at this time, without anyone giving me some more".

He then went on to explain that a 'Pain Clinic' was a group of specialist people, who looked at ways of using alternative treatments to long standing problems that everyone else had given up on. As it was in my case. I had other skeletal and bodily problems, but they would only be looking at the main cause of my grief.

Being very sceptical about the whole thing, I agreed to submit to their torture treatment, but only for six months.

During my time under normal treatment regimes, I was being given enough opiate based products to ensure I will be hooked on them for the rest of my life.

The first thing these 'new age' quacks came out with was that they are going to stop all my pill popping opiates, and just leave me on the high dose patches that Mal has to stick on me twice a week, as I can't reach the places they are recommended they need to be stuck.

So then they started to feed me small doses of drugs used to treat epileptic fits. Not that I am epileptic in any way, they were using a side effect of the drug Pregabalin to condition my spinal nerves to be receptive to a Tens Unit. Unfortunately, because they had taken away some of my pain killers, the pain was worse than it normally was.

I tried all different versions of that drug, as some of the other side effects were worse than having the pain, ranging from being suicidal, to wanting to kill anyone who showed up at the door. Luckily they saw the problems almost straight away and found one that only gave the side effects that were needed. That might explain a few of the bad posts I did during that time.

Anyway, six months passed, and yesterday I attended the clinic to see if things had worked.

You must remember, I was very sceptical, even though mates such as Cedge told me that it had worked for them, and I made the quack promise me that if it didn't work straight away, he would put me back on my old opiate intake. He duly agreed and stuck a couple of pads either side of where the main pain emanates from, and connected me up to his all singing, all dancing medical Tens Unit.

After twiddling a few knobs and nearly giving me a heart attack by a sudden tingling sensation in the upper regions of my a**e, all of a sudden, my chronic pain had disappeared, and I felt as though I could do a couple of circuits around the block.

So instantly I said "That’ll do for me, wrap it up and I will be on my way”.

The unit he gave me for playing about with was this one

https://www.tenscare.co.uk/index.php?action=products&product=1

About the cheapest product that they sell, but in my case it was free (good old National Health Service). A more robust unit will be issued once I find that this method of pain relief is going to do me some good over the long term.

So I duly got home, then Mal attacked me, and stuck two sticky patches on my backside and duly plugged me in. A quick bit of programming and I was having roughly the same relief as I was getting with the quack. Absolutely great, moving about like I hadn’t done for years, no chronic pain at all, just a slightly annoying tingle in my nether regions. That will do me just fine.

Now for the bad news, there is always a catch.

I can only use this particular unit for six hours a day, with the max of one period of use being 1.5 hours. So it looks like I will have to plan my day well ahead, so I can use it for times when pain needs to be at its minimum, like going into my shop for a machining session. No more 16 hour days in there, just 6 hours max, spread over the whole day. But anything is better than what I can do at the moment, which is absolutely nothing.

So why have I told you all this.

Very recently, my pain had been so bad, and other things were getting to me as well, I was considering giving up my shop completely, selling everything off, and settling down in front of the television to become a cabbage.

But now, with this small revelation, I have decided to get off my backside and regain my life, no matter what it takes.

There is even more light at the end of the tunnel, a new procedure has just been undertaken, and speaking to my quack, it just might be on the cards for me in the future.


Those outside the UK might not be able to see this video.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10516682



Never again will I dismiss something offhand, without first giving it a go.

Bogs
 
John,
That is great news! I'm really glad the saw bones were able to give some relief without taking out the life from your routines. The implant looks interesting, it could extend your day.

Yes, the video did work just fine here across the pond.
 
John, that's just great. I'm very happy for you. I hope it continues to work for you.

So, now that you're an electrical engineer, can you light fluorescent bulbs just by grasping them? :)
 
More to the point, can you get BBC 2 on it ?

John DVD went in the post today.


John S.
 
That's fantastic,John.I'm glad it's given you a new lease of life.
I'm sure it helps your family as well,not having to walk on eggshells around you.
I look forward to seeing more of your projects as and when.
all the best.Hans.
 
John, thanks for writing about this. Not only the trouble you've had, but how they found a way
to get you some relief.

As another guy whose early injuries and accidents have finally come to roost in the last decade, I'm
glad to hear there may be something that will let me stand up like a man, (besides the
unlimited supply of pain pills the doc currently supplies!). The pills work, but I can't work in the
shop when they're doing their magic.

I'm asking the doc about this next time I see him. I'd love to be able to stand in one place for
an hour, or walk around a tractor show without resorting to a cane.

It's great news to hear that you're feeling better! Being able to get back into the shop will do
your inner man a world of good, too.

Dean
 
A Tens unit is a remarkable device. About ten years ago, I used one for a while until the docs figured out a surgical procedure that fixed me for a couple of years and then needed more surgery.

I am glad it is working for you. Don't turn the power up until it burns the skin. The pain from the burn makes you forget about the pain in your back but then both hit you. Good Luck.
 

Wonderful news John. I so happy for you.

Now get back in the shop. :big: :big: :big:

Seriously now you can have a little fun again.

Ron
 
John
Glad to hear the stimulation unit worked for you. It isn't a magic bullet and it won't reverse the root cause, but back when I used mine, it was all I had between me sitting at home counting wall spots and doing a day's work. Once you've learned to dial it in properly, you'll find you can block just about any level of pain you might be having on a given day. That odd tingle does take a bit of getting used to....LOL

Those time limits are pretty much spot on. I could stretch it to about 8 hours but there was some residual effect on the nerves of the skin. I had a numb spot on my lower back for some time after I stopped using it, although that eventually went away too. Just as an aside... I was talked into trying acupuncture/pressure at one point and while i was just as skeptical as you were of this regime, it did help the problem a good bit and aided in the final healing process.

If I'd known I'd last this long, I might have cut back a bit on the dirt bikes and the cliff rescue work. Both were harder on me than I imagined, back when I was having so much fun doing them.

Steve
 
Great news.................What's the next project ;D :p

Best Regards
Bob
 
John, that's wonderful news. As somebody who suffers from chronic pain I cannot tell you how happy I am for you. Sadly I am without health coverage and such a beastie would be out of my grasp.
 
Great news John. I am very happy to see you creeping back towards the fun side of life.
Gail in NM
 
That's wonderful John. I'm still doing the pill thing three times a day, and the Doc is still buggin me to get my back sliced open by the surgeons. Says that will stop all the pain etc etc. I looked it up and the surgery has around an eighty percent success rate, but that still leaves 20% of the patients who get no relief from it. Glass half empty is what I say...well, when I ahve something that works why change it? ;D Like you said though, I'm hooked on the stuff now. Miss a dose and get the 'junky sniffles', miss two and the world turns dark and ugly.
Scary how many of the people posting here have almost the same health problems. I am interested though, because as others have mentioned; pain killers and metal cutting machiines have no business being together in the same room. Makes this hobby a real slow goer for me.

Congrats on the 'recovery' John,
Kermit

Ps. up at 3:00 am again. Damn this 90 minute wait for medicine to take effect.
 
Never again will I dismiss something offhand, without first giving it a go.

John great news on another result.
I can really identify with your sentiments, about two years ago I was suffering from what I called a "frozen shoulder" the pain was excruciating and relentless, numerous visits to the quacks and use of a purchased TENS unit provided little relief. During a visit to the hospital a physiotherapist suggested accu-puncture might help. I was absolutely terrified of the thought of it ( I have always hated needles) but he convinced me, and after just one twenty minute period of treatment ( I never felt a thing) the pain was gone and some 2 years later I'm firing on all 4. There must be a moral here somewhere.
Hopefully many more hours of workshop fun!

kindest regards
TerryT
 
I'm very pleased to hear this is working for you, John, and thanks for sharing your thoughts with others who may also benefit. My wife used TENS after her cesarians, but since then I hadn't given it another thought. Sad to hear so many of you guys are in pain.
 
Gents, many thanks for the well wishes, and I do hope that it will let me get back in the shop after such a long layoff.

My brain is almost exploding with ideas and projects, purely because I could think about doing them, but not actually do the physical side of the job. I have built so many engines in my head, if I put them into metal, it would take me many years to get them all finished, and it doesn't help when I read about all the new stuff being built on here.

My post wasn't about getting sympathy, but to show that, after such a long period of pain, supposedly non curable, relief can be available for very little outlay, as long as you are one of the lucky ones that it works on.

As I said in my post, I was getting ready for giving up, but by putting my scepticism to one side, it has opened up, hopefully, many more years of enjoying what I like doing the most.

There are so many people on this site that have major pain like I did, I only have one thing to say to them.

Don't give up on it, try a few of these 'alternative' treatments if you can, you never know, pain relief could be just a matter of pressing a button, just like me.

The moral is, no matter how implausible it sounds, it just might be the relief you are looking for.



John
 
Acupuncture is a black art. Before I tried the Tens unit I tried acupuncture. One treatment and I was pain free for about twelve hours and told that I would need several treatments to get permanent relief. I tried the several more treatments but none of the needles hit the magic spot that provided the relief the first time.

I have never regretted having the surgeries even though the second one was less than 100% success. Like many here, my troubles started when I was young, macho and indestructible, doing things that no sane person would try. Since you never grow out of stupidity, after the first successful operation, I didn't follow the surgeon's advice and damaged his work.
 

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