I was in a car accident in February of 2009 that's left me with some lasting whiplash injuries.
Anyway, today, the latest attempt at treating the injuries had me in hospital, while a surgeon attempted to take care of some bits of calcification I've got going on in my supraspinatus muscle. I'll admit it... I wasn't happy while I was waiting for the treatment.
The surgeon used an ultrasound machine to check out the area first. He looked all over my shoulder, watched it on a screen, took some pictures and finally made a mark on my shoulder. Then he rubbed in some anaesthetising gel then gave me an injection to numb the area up even further. And then the part that I was most scared of - he went in with another needle and "stabbed" the calcium deposits with it. I was definitely pretty well numbed up, because apart from a couple of bits of referred pain, I felt nothing at all. There were some definite muscular twinges further down my arm and one was sharp enough that I couldn't help wincing and gasping at the shock of it. Apart from that, though, there was nothing at all at the source. In fact, if I couldn't see the screen out of the corner of my eye, then I wouldn't have known the needle was in at all. But I could see the straight line repeatedly stabbing at the deposits.
Since then, the anaesthetic has been wearing off gradually and I've felt the pain building. So far it's nothing I can't deal with, but there's a numb sensation spreading right up into the right side of my neck and even seems to be spreading out along the occipital ridge at the back of my head. So far, it's been more interesting than anything else, to chart the progress of these sensations.
The most interesting thing of all has been this distinct rustling noise. When I first heard it, I thought it sounded faintly like a paper bag and I wondered whether there was something in the cloth of my t-shirt making the noise. So I took the shirt off and flexed my shoulder, but the rustling noise was still there. So it's definitely coming from what the surgeon did to my shoulder this afternoon.
I'm not looking forward to the following weeks, because I've been promised a lot of pain and discomfort. But if it takes care of this whiplash, then some short-term misery will be worth it.
Anyway, today, the latest attempt at treating the injuries had me in hospital, while a surgeon attempted to take care of some bits of calcification I've got going on in my supraspinatus muscle. I'll admit it... I wasn't happy while I was waiting for the treatment.
The surgeon used an ultrasound machine to check out the area first. He looked all over my shoulder, watched it on a screen, took some pictures and finally made a mark on my shoulder. Then he rubbed in some anaesthetising gel then gave me an injection to numb the area up even further. And then the part that I was most scared of - he went in with another needle and "stabbed" the calcium deposits with it. I was definitely pretty well numbed up, because apart from a couple of bits of referred pain, I felt nothing at all. There were some definite muscular twinges further down my arm and one was sharp enough that I couldn't help wincing and gasping at the shock of it. Apart from that, though, there was nothing at all at the source. In fact, if I couldn't see the screen out of the corner of my eye, then I wouldn't have known the needle was in at all. But I could see the straight line repeatedly stabbing at the deposits.
Since then, the anaesthetic has been wearing off gradually and I've felt the pain building. So far it's nothing I can't deal with, but there's a numb sensation spreading right up into the right side of my neck and even seems to be spreading out along the occipital ridge at the back of my head. So far, it's been more interesting than anything else, to chart the progress of these sensations.
The most interesting thing of all has been this distinct rustling noise. When I first heard it, I thought it sounded faintly like a paper bag and I wondered whether there was something in the cloth of my t-shirt making the noise. So I took the shirt off and flexed my shoulder, but the rustling noise was still there. So it's definitely coming from what the surgeon did to my shoulder this afternoon.
I'm not looking forward to the following weeks, because I've been promised a lot of pain and discomfort. But if it takes care of this whiplash, then some short-term misery will be worth it.
How has this been working out? Are you still undergoing treatments? Is the whiplash injury much improved?
ReplyDeleteHello, Meadowe
ReplyDeleteThe rustling died out almost immediately. I'm still getting physiotherapy, but the results are variable. It'll get better eventually, but it's going to take a while.
Graham