help with back and hip pain?

[Briza]

For those of you who do rescue instills, do you find that it helps with the lower back pain many of us suffer from? The pain referred from my bladder to my aching back and hips is one of my worst symptoms.
I'm going to give this a try as soon as school is out end of this month.

[Berkshire Road]

Brig -- I don't get much help in my back and hips from the instills. But lidocaine transdermal patches are like magic for my back especially, also pretty good for hip pain. If you haven't been using them, you should ask your doctor.

[ihurttoo]

Do they stick well?

Yes, except on joints, then the edges work loose when the joint moves. So, when I use them on joints, I cut off a section of an old pair of pantyhose and put it over the whole thing to hold it in place. (A sock with the foot cut off or an ace bandage would also work.)

In the water?

No.

How long does the relief last?

The maximum dose is 3 patches per day. Mine are r/xed to be worn 12hrs on and 12 hours off.

How fast do you get relief?

If they are going to help the pain, they usually work in about 15-20 min, (at least for me. I dont know if this varies with others or not.)

Do they come in different strengths?

I don't know. I know several people that use them, but everyone I know, (myself included), we all use the 5% patches.

How many do you use? Are they intended to relieve pain for just a few hours, a day, days?

Some people are r/xed 1 per day, others 2, and others are r/xed 3 per day. 3 is the maximum dose. I was r/xed 3 per day. They only work while you are wearing them. If they help you, they quit working about 15-20 min after you take them off. So, if you get 12 hrs of relief, then you will have to figure out something else to try for other 12 hours.

They help me with certain kinds of pain, (but not the bladder pain.) They help me more with my Fibro pain than my IC pain. I cut mine in strips and use them on the trigger points for my MPS. They do help me some with back pain and hip pain, depending on the type, and how bad it is. The problem with the patches it that though they numb some, they dont numb very deep. They numb the surface and right below, but they dont numb down thru the mucscle. But it gets the top part.

My Rhematologist explained it to me this way: She said that if you have ever skinned a chicken, when you remove the skin, you see this filmy, opaque, covering of the mucsle. (I forget what that is called, maybe that is the myofascial?) Anyway, the patches numb thru the skin, and even that opaque covering, and sometimes, the very top of the muscle, but not all the way thru. (Most of the time, for me at least, it doesnt even numb the top of the muscle.) But, when that opaque covering is hurting, it causes other parts to hurt too, because that covering isnt contained to that muscle. That's why we have referred pain to other locations. That "covering" goes all over our body, just like it does the chickens. Does that make any sense? (You guys are probobly laughing your butts off at my explaination, but this is the best I can do! )

Anyway, with the Lidocaine patches, it numbs that "covering" and that is sometimes enough to stop the pain from going elsewhere. HOWEVER, if the pain has already gone to other places, it usually doesnt help ME a whole lot. But, sometimes it does. It just depends how deep the pain is too.

You really just need to try it to see what I am talking about! Most any of your Drs. would give you these. It isnt like asking for a narcotic or anything. You could even call your pain Dr. and he would probobly call it in for you to let you try them.

For me, it is just one more tool in my pain tool box. Like everything else, sometimes it helps a little, sometimes it helps alot. It isnt a "stand alone" med, but then neither are the rest of them! LOL! But, when the pain gets bad, every little bit helps! For me, this is at least as good as the heating pad, in how it helps my pain.

I can sure empathize with ya on the hip and back pain! I am going thru it right now too! (It's been a few weeks of it for me.) I am just praying that it quits soon, and that this isnt some new thing that is going to now be a daily thing from now on!

Love and hugs,
Amy

P.S. Sorry about the phone tag the other day! I will try ya again this weekend. It was just a crazy phone day around here!

[blue]

Those Lidocain patches never helped me, although I wish they did. I really suffer from the back pain.

[Berkshire Road]

Blue, have you seen a specialist for your back pain? A doctor of physical medicine (physiatrist) specializes in myofascial pain. I got a lot of help with my back problems with prolotherapy injections. I have scoliosis, and a disk that tends to slip a small amount, but it lands right on a nerve (OWW, OWW, OWW), and because of the scoliosis and left hip arthritis, I have an unstable sacroiliac joint on the left side. All of this was greatly improved, but it took months and months of treatment.

I'm sorry the lidocaine patches don't work for you, that is probably a sign that the locus of the pain is deeper in, either deep in the muscle or in the actual joints.

For me, the lidocaine patches are a miracle. I guess they do penetrate to my muscle layer; maybe it varies from patient to patient? For my arthritis pain in my hip, they take the pain down, not all the way to gone, but down. I use them during the day because they are twelve hours on, twelve off. I have things to help me sleep so I choose to have the lidocaine on in the daytime. My insurance covers them, no problem. I think the cash price is $700 for 3 boxes of 30.