Recommendation needed - Ortho or Neuro

[lechatnoir]

Hi, after my last Swartland galivant with @Mamil, my neck/shoulder/back has a spasm that's taking too long to settle. and has pinched a nerve in the process

I've had a few physio sessions, and made little progress. The resulting broken sleep night after night for 2 months needs sorting.

Can anyone recommend a Cape Town-based neuro or an ortho that is more sports-focused? Muchos!

[ajnkzn]

Good chiropractor not better place to start?

[Prince Albert Cycles]

26 minutes ago, ajnkzn said:

Good chiropractor not better place to start?

Yes

[Steady Spin]

1 hour ago, lechatnoir said:

Hi, after my last Swartland galivant with @Mamil, my neck/shoulder/back has a spasm that's taking too long to settle. and has pinched a nerve in the process

I've had a few physio sessions, and made little progress. The resulting broken sleep night after night for 2 months needs sorting.

Can anyone recommend a Cape Town-based neuro or an ortho that is more sports-focused? Muchos!

Find a good Biokinetcist. Physios are only that good. They treat the symptoms, a good bio will find the cause. 

[Andreas_187]

2 hours ago, lechatnoir said:

Hi, after my last Swartland galivant with @Mamil, my neck/shoulder/back has a spasm that's taking too long to settle. and has pinched a nerve in the process

I've had a few physio sessions, and made little progress. The resulting broken sleep night after night for 2 months needs sorting.

Can anyone recommend a Cape Town-based neuro or an ortho that is more sports-focused? Muchos!

Chew some Mybulen like smarties, will fix your trapped nerve quick quick. Last time I went to a Chiropractor in Sea Point he left   me in so much pain, watched me crawl out of his office but emailed the invoice by the time I crawled to the car

Edited June 14 by Andreas_187

[Jewbacca]

Chiropractors are basically like ordering false teeth off Temu........ 🫥

I'd hit up an orthopaedic surgeon. I'm not sure who is out up the west coast, but the lower leg (Dr Workman) and arm (Dr Mike Mulder) at Constantiaberg are both world class plus change. 

So Gevender and and Polley would be a good place to start in Cape town

But closer to home I'm not sure.

I'd avoid non specialist push/prop hacks if it's been months

[ChrisF]

My 2c ....

 

See a specialist.  A CT scan is their first port of call.

 

With my knee I was fortunate to get a specialist that is not "knife happy" .... he showed my the scans, torn meniscus and years of arthritis.  He sent me to a biokineticist, who insisted to read his file even before seeing me.

 

The bio sorted out my knees ... well, the series of muscles that supports it.

 

Sadly covid broke up our routine, and as my knees felt good I did not go back.

 

Fast forward 4 years .....

 

8 years of cycling and long office hours, and I was suffering from neck issues for a couple of months.  A massage helped ... for a few days at a time.

 

Reluctantly I contacted the bio again.  She started from scratch and did a full mobility and strength checkup.

 

Aqua and land exercises .... starting off once again with core, then targeting certain muscle groups .... It was almost two months before the first "neck exercise" was introduced !

 

It is scary just how many layers of different muscles are in the neck alone, never mind the rest of the body.  

 

Play around on "Muscle & Motion" - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCo0du-IzWuYaVf9QTg10nAQ

 

One a few videos are free, still interesting to play around, and to get some idea of what these bio's see when they work with you.

 

Happy to report that my neck is a LOT better !!  

 

 

HOWEVER, mine was a muscular issue, thus the success of the bio.

 

PLEASE start with a specialist, get confirmation if it is a "physical" or muscular.

 

 

Disclaimer ... just my personal experiences.  Your medical condition may well be totally different, and require another approach. 

 

Here's hoping for a good outcome for you 

[RossTopher]

agree with @Jewbacca and @ChrisF.

excuse the essay, but i'm in a similar boat at the moment, post Ronde van Riebeek. My back went after 85km and i spent the next 75 riding in agony with the pain shooting into my groin/glute/hip. i'd be able to ride full gas for 3-4km at a time, stopping from the pain.
come the Monday, it was still bad. Booked with a back specialist who had been recommended. he's so full up that i will finally get to see him on Tuesday - hopefully i get some answers. X-ray and MRI seem the only real way to find out whats wrong when its that nerve pain and not just a muscle spasm.

i've had on and off back issues for years, invariably triggered by hinging motions, sometimes running, riding of even washing dishes/doing laundry.
i always thought it was muscular, and i've spent $$$ on physio (massage and needling).
last year i spent some time with the bio, we worked almost exclusively on activating and strengthening my glute medius (its a common weakness among men especially). 7 sessions in, he told me to go for an x-ray as there was no progress despite me dilligently doing the exercises. Patients invariably show improvements in that time. the physio told me not to bother with an x-ray, we continued with needling and i did more yoga to take the edge off, and avoided lunge/squat/deadlifts. that was modus operandi until RvR.

I am PETRIFIED of chiro's, i know its not true, but my brain says they just buy a bed at a seminar, print a certificate and blindly bugger around with people's skeletons.

 

Good luck @lechatnoir and hope you get your answers

[RobynE]

As someone who suffered chronic back issues for 10+ years - 

 

Go and have an MRI and see what you’re dealing with. 
 

I had never done chiro and luckily not as I had impingement on my spinal cord from a collapsed disc - clearly visible on MRI. Could well have ended up incontinent or worse if I’d done chiro.
 

NB I had zero pain at the site of impingement - my issues were recurring shoulder spasms and neurological fallout (sound of water rushing in my ears, seeing flashes of light, etc) when I finally sucked it up and went to the neuro.
 

Getting to that point had been a steady onset of frustrating “small” symptoms - it wasn’t an overnight thing. I just kept treating the symptoms with meds, physio, dry needling, etc. One day I realised that I couldn’t even go for a game drive or do more than sit on my horse at a walk without needing an anti-inflammatory. I realised it was absolutely ruining my life. 

 

Two surgeries (2021 and 2022) later and I have three prosthetic discs in two different sites and haven’t had a single back ache, spasm, neuro event since, live a totally full and unguarded life, no medication or supplements, like nothing was ever wrong. For 5 years it was a daily struggle and I lived on painkillers and nerve blockers. I was about to turn 41 when I had my first surgery. I still have osteoarthritis in different sites but it doesn’t impact me. My discs were the problem (partly genetic, partly hooliganism). 
 

My surgeon is Dr. Louis Nel (Jnr) from Spine Africa in Pretoria. Not sure who to recommend in the Cape but I’d suggest giving Spine Africa a call to ask for their recommendation. 
 

Do not go ortho (trust me - ward speak taught me a lot about how often this goes badly wrong), do not go chiro. Go neuro and get an MRI. Arrange in advance with your med aid; mine gives one free MRI a year but it must be pre-authed. 

[Mook]

On 6/14/2024 at 5:36 PM, Jewbacca said:

Chiropractors are basically like ordering false teeth off Temu........ 🫥

I'd hit up an orthopaedic surgeon. I'm not sure who is out up the west coast, but the lower leg (Dr Workman) and arm (Dr Mike Mulder) at Constantiaberg are both world class plus change. 

So Gevender and and Polley would be a good place to start in Cape town

But closer to home I'm not sure.

I'd avoid non specialist push/prop hacks if it's been months

If you suspect a pinched nerve, your spinal column becomes the target area. I would suggest a neuro surgeon. I suffered from the effects of a rearend whiplash injury for 20 years before my neck decided that's it. In that period I consulted everybody but the local township's chief sangoma. Ended up having an ACDF(disc replacement) in my neck after the disc broke in two.

Did a Transbaviaans 5 months post op and 6 years later I still have no pain as before the procedure. I do not for one moment suggest you have a similar problem, but do not take shortcuts with your spinal column.

SA is blessed with some of the world's top neuro surgeons.

@Jewbacca might be right. I agree that you should see a surgeon in the field of orthopedics or neurology.

Strongs 🤞