Has anyone had vertebroplasty? Osteoporosis and fractured lumbar

Muscle spasms were the nightmare after a back injury I had years ago. When you consider it, they can cause a nerve to be pinched or compressed so it makes sense. Also can trigger inflammation
with similar results. But they were scary at the time. In part, because I would 'freeze up at the first sign of one coming on, which would in turn, make them even worse. And yes muscle relaxants (and physical therapy and acupuncture) helped. As did hypnosis to help break the 'freezing up/anticipation' reaction.

I avoided the recommended surgery (one that is now thought ineffective no less!) and everything stabilized pain-free but it was a year-long saga.

Muscle spasms are the main source of pain with my now year-old multiple spinal fractures. I do take tylenol occasionally and have some Klonopin but have not really used it during the day, and maybe once a month at night. Maybe I should use it more often!

I tried lidocaine patches with no effect but find that Capsaicin patches actually help prevent the spasm.

With multiple fractures my spine is quite a bit shorter than it was, but the muscles are still the same length. I think that is the root of the problem.

I am down to a week away from my MRI. My FPhy put my on cyclobenzaprine and naproxen also a steroid for inflammation. I do think the cyclobenzaprine has given me some pain relief but I still can't get in contact with the surgeon. So I have reached out to Mayo where I have previously received help. I also have cysts on my thyroid that I want aspirated. Here I got we are concerned about one in particular but that was it. I have had these before and they were always aspirated. They physically bother me and I have voice loss especially when teaching. Maybe I am going to far in asking for Mayo's help but I am looking for resolution not being strung along or ignored. I don't like physical limitations just because I am a certain age. I get the feeling that when you hit 70 they think you should accept physical issues and be quiet. I refuse to be miserable. I went to Mayo for stomach issues that I was told to learn to live with. Now they are manageable and diagnosed and I don't need a bathroom every 10 minutes! I also am not getting sleep with the pain, two hours a night if lucky. I can't function on that amount. So hopefully someone will reach out with help. It is a long drive from Michigan but I feel I am banging against walls here.

I know that my back injury was a different situation (it led to four herniated discs) from what you are dealing with so this may not be helpful. But I carried a TENS unit around for nearly a year as it did 'interrupt' muscle spasms enough that I could get some breathing room and mental distance from them. I later gave it to my brother to help deal with spasms and pain while healing from hip surgery. And it helped him sleep. My unit had a lot of bells and whistles so one could find the cyclicity and intensity that seemed the most comforting, which helped.

Thank you! Is the TENS expensive? Can you PM me the model?

I don't have it anymore but it was, at the time, 20+ years ago, the best model made by Medtronics. I'd bet that the tech has been further improved and an orthopedic or physical therapist could suggest one. What was odd was that sometimes a certain setting (say, a constant linear pulsing at medium intensity) would perfectly offsetting pre-spasm twitches and, at other times, completely different settings helped most. My orthopedic surgeon sent me to a physician/acupuncturist to show me how to use it as there were different variable to play with. It truly helped ease the fear of the fear of pain in that I didn't feel so helpless.