for Phyllis- I never had any numbness. Mine started with just a few minutes of
brief
numbness when I was at work one day then sudden onset of terrible pain in my
hand. Then
it went into the arm neck shoulder and then it went to the other side. I tried
to type
for a few days but my hands swelled up like big red footballs and I could not
stand the
pain.
I was not a surgical candidate and the PT they gave me was useless. I spent a
year
doing research on my own and I found one note from someone that said An
excellent PT
did it for me. This is the PT that is done under the AAOM. American Academy of
Orthopedic Medicine.
This was only offered at Cardinal Hill Hospital in Lexington, KY. The PT in the
hand
clinic of Kutz and Kleinert was uselsss. I went to this hospital twice a week
for a
few months and learned their pt. It has helped quite a bit but it certainly has
not
made me pain free. It has made life survivable. They also told me to sit at
night
with my hands propped up until they became numb so I could sleep w/o waking up
longer.
I also sleep with my shoulder shrugged. If you can keep your shoulder up it
takes the
pressure off the nerves and helps. This was the only PT for me that made life
livable
and the reduction in pain did help me function. Usually they just remove the
ribs but
they advised me against that and also said scar tissue build up can be a
problem. I
hope you win your work comp case.
I did not. The laws in each state are different and in KY they are against the
worker.
I don;t know what type of Pt you have had or if you have had any. The AAOM used
to
have a web site on the net...you can search and see if you can find it. It gave
classes for PTs in TOCs and I called them to find a hospital in my state where I
could
find a PT who did this. The work comp said they would not pay for it but they
did. I
submitted all to the bills to them and they did end up paying them I guess... I
never
did. Good luck and welcome

=====
Cathy

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