Vibration and massage therapy

Hi @bulgebattler -- I tried one of those small hand held massagers with heat made by Wahl on my feet and didn't get much benefit other than it warmed my feet a little. I don't think it did anything for the numbness and I don't have pain with my neuropathy. There is a new discussion you might find beneficial here:

Groups > Neuropathy > Myofascial Release Therapy (MFR) for treating compression and pain
-- https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/myofascial-release-therapy-mfr-for-treating-compression-and-pain/

For me, massage has just immediate benefits. Not really much in the treatment of my neuropathy.

Thanks

Just read about MFR Therapy which one website suggested for many conditions. This worries me a little as it sounds like a wonder drug but as the network is through out our bodies it does make sense. I am hoping to find a local therapist who is familiar with it as I am experiencing sciatic pain and have a bulging disc diagnosed by an MRI. I do not have neuropathic pain but do have some loss of feeling in my feet but also in my thighs. The Dr. indicated the latter is from the discs. Appreciate this info
Jim

Hi Jim @bulgebattler -- I just went to the website in the post by @jenniferhunter and found a link to locate a MFR therapist.

I wished I could find one a little closer Rochester but there are quite a few scattered around the Minneapolis area. I think it will benefit me quite a bit from what I've read so far.
John

@bulgebattler Myofascial release is physical therapy. Doctors have misunderstood living fascia for many years because when they study anatomy it's with cadavers, and they don't see living fascia that can expand. Yoga is a good example of a fascial stretch, but only if you don't stretch to the point of pain. The body will guard and overprotect if you do. Instead, this is gentle, like as if you are going to knead bread dough. You sink in with your hands, push until you find the "barrier" and hold it, and just wait for the tissue to start to slide. After that release, the therapist will change position finding the next path of tight fascia to release. You'll work though layers of this, but it's worth it. Be patient, it takes awhile, and we are all different, but you should start feeling benefits right away. At first, I got itchy skin because so many waste products were released from my dehydrated tissues. I soaked in epsom salt baths to detox which pulls it out through the skin.

I have been doing MFR a few years and doing home self treatments, and just yesterday at my physical therapy appointment, I had a breakthrough session that interconnected so many places we had worked on previously, and I felt pathways go from my neck and jaw, under the collar bone, to my chest, and diaphragm, to my hips and pelvis, my ankles, and all the way up to the base of my skull, and I felt all of it release. That happened in a one hour session, and it felt like as if I was being suspended by a parachute through the air. That's what it can do.

Guess what I can't do now....I've lost some of my ability to cause tingling in my arms because of moving the position of my head. I still feel some, but about 70 % of it is gone now. My head and neck moves better. This means that some of the fascia released around the compressed nerves in-between my collar bone and rib cage. It means that I can move my shoulder blades behind me instead of always winging forward and out to the sides. The tightness on the left side of my chest that has plagued me for years relaxed, and both sides of my chest are moving together equally now when I breathe. I am a cervical spine surgery patient, and also have a bulging lumbar disc. MFR has also released my fascial surgical path scar tissue. MFR kept my neck in better ergonomic position before my spine surgery, and my neck muscles were looser, which made it easier for my surgeon to retract during the procedure, and I had an easier recovery because of it. I didn't get the physical complications that were risks for my surgery. Surgical scar tissue is always a factor to consider in further surgeries in the same area. Tightness and neck spasms move the vertebrae and pull them out of alignment, and even fascial restrictions that crossed through my chest, pulled my thoracic vertebrae out of alignment into a functional scoliosis which my doctor could see on my back. That was corrected with MFR, and now my MRIs show a straight spine.

Don't worry. Just find the best expert level therapist that you can. This really isn't new and the MFR therapy has been around and successful for forty years. Sometimes medicine is slow to embrace change, but many doctors are recommending this for me now, including my surgeon at Mayo.

@bulgebattler, @jenniferhunter This response so defines my relationship and therapy plan with my MFR therapist. There is no magic pill. And one treatment or even one treatment a month is not going to cure what ails any of us. I often read statements like, "I tried that and it didn't have much effect, or I tried that and it really hurt, or even I tried that and it didn't last." I am also a cervical spine surgery patient. One nerve was so damaged that it just couldn't be expected to heal as a bone heals. SFN added to the presenting issues of pain, tingling and lack of feeling or numbness. Only with consistent attention to restricted areas can I anticipate some pain-free hours and even days. Remember that fascia is present everywhere in our bodies. So the area that appeared to be better last month after treatment can come back and show up again next month. Recently, like last week....when we have been concentrating on an extremity, all of a sudden my jaw and temple developed restrictions and dominated the treatment process until relieved. In addition to being a patient we need to be participants in our MFR. My MFR therapist even invited my partner to come to a session so that he could practice working on my numb feet. Last week she taught me where to place my hands to gently release the constriction in my upper jaw and facial bones around my eyes. There are other things we can do to help ourselves. Some are so simple.....e.g. use a lumbar pillow to keep your spine straight while sitting. I had some custom-made to ensure success. Make sure that your body is in alignment as if a string went down the middle from the top of your head to the bottom of your feet. Do this every day so you don't put undue strain on certain areas that will lead to restrictions and pain. Please make living without suffering or without experiencing the causes of suffering an achievable goal and the focus of your daily practice of moving with awareness. Don't know why the pic of the lumbar pillow is turned around. Just has a mind of its own I guess. You will get the idea. Thanks...Chris

Hi Chris @artscaping - I'm guessing you took the photo with your phone and you were holding it vertical. I've found if you hold it horizontal and take the photo that it will end up with the correct orientation. If you are able to take a square photo or edit it on your phone that should make it come out OK when you upload it. The other way to do it is to send it to your computer and if it shows up correct when you view it, you can upload it to a post OK.

John

@johnbishop Thanks...I did use my phone and then edited it in Photos on my laptop. I think I should have made it smaller. Sorry. Next time. I will also try square.

Just a suggestion for all social media. If using abbreviations please print the full word(s) and then the abbreviation in brackets the first time you use it in a posting. That helps poor duffers like me who are usually struggling and using the dictionary a lot any way. Thanks