Joint hypermobility disorders :

Massage Therapy - - Posted by Stacey (Stacey), 29 May 2003

My dad has become very compasionate lately and has started to realize that i am in a lot of pain and has decided that I should try massage therapy and that may take away some of the aching feeling in my body.  Well either massage therapy (covered by insurance partly) or just go get a real massage (lots of money and not covered).  Any one find any relief from a massage and an achy HMS body?

Stacey
Posted by Shazinoz (Shazinoz), 29 May 2003

I couldn't live without my weekly one hour massage. They help me to keep my migraines in check and even my pain to a point.
I recommend it Stacey, to at least try (as we are all different) but I have been having a 1 hr weekly massage for about 7 years now.
Good Luck
Sharon
Posted by rhea (rhea), 31 May 2003

I tried massage therapy with a RMT (registered massage therapist) and had 1 hour sessions 2X weekly to loosen up the muscles in my legs.   I found it pretty relaxing and nice and would have liked to keep it up on a regular basis but overall it did not make a huge improvement on my week to week well being and the insurance wasn't covering the $60 and hour, (120 a week, $480 a month my parents had to shell out!) so I had to discontinue it.    At my last PT joint I got a massage as part of the $30 session but like everything else I experienced in my old PT's philosophy those massages were MUCH more aggressive and quite PAINFUL.  

I say if you can afford to go or if you can get your insurance to cover it, than just having it to relax and stretch out the muscles is beneficial and I would go back in a heart beat if I could.

(((Hugs)))

-rhea
Posted by Stacey (Stacey), 1 June 2003

Thanks Rhea and Sharon!  I am definatly going to call about it tomorrow and make an appointment (It is run out of the persons house so i dont really want to call on the weekend).  

I am also going on wednesday to see the doctor at work to get a referal for this and also getting a refill on my T3's as i took the last two last night (I stil have percoset but dont like taking them too often since the T3's are already not doing much i dont want the percoset to end up the same way).  I am also going to get him to look at my ankle that i hurt last week and which still hurts quite a bit.  

An update on my specialist situation.....  The rheumy that i was supposed to see in december -> well I called her office last week to see if she had any knowledge of Hypermobility (if she didnt i wasnt going to waste my time waiting for this appt) well I got a call later last week and they cancelled my appt  So I called my OS and since he is going away for most of hte june and july months the earliest i can get in to see him is aug 6th  However I think he has knowledge of HMS since he is the one who first 'discovered' it and I think he was sending me to the rheumy to rule out arthritis now that i think about it (Rhea did Fowler ever mention anything about HMS to you??).  

Well that is a run down of my last week here  Hope everyone is doing well

Stacey
Posted by rhea (rhea), 2 June 2003

Hi Ya Stacey,
When I saw dr. Fowler my GP, OT, and parents and I all thought I had rheumatoid arthritis so we were chalking up my other joint pains to that.  Dr. Fowler's student, "Justin" asked me if I was hypermobile and I didn't understand and than he asked if I could bend my thumb to my fore arm (I did) and if my elbows hyperextended (they did) and when he was 'briefing' dr. Fowler about me he said I had some hypermobility. They (Dr. Fowler and Justin) have seen that hypermobility and tracking problems often go hand in hand so my hypermobility was just another thing classifying me as a a typical knee cap tracking problem patient.  But like I said, because we thought I had RA we didn't even think twice about hypermobility syndromes or anything until I saw my rheumy, and than the opthamologist who got the whole connective tissue ball on the roll.

Goodluck with Dr. Fowler!  I didn't know he was gone for some of the summer months.  Phew, I hope he'll be gooooood and rested for my scope in Sept 23. LoL.  

I hope your ankle feels better soon Stacey (that damn gremlin!  Believe it or not but I'm wearing an ankle brace right now too, and am off to the dr. for a script for a brace for the other one!)and that you get into a GOOD rheumy who knows something about EDS/hypermobility and  connective tissue disorders.

(((hugs)))

-rhea

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