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Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxr!ihnp4!wucs!mef
From: mef@wucs.UUCP (Mark Frisse)
Newsgroups: net.med
Subject: Re: Back pain -- Dr. recommendation request
Message-ID: <609@wucs.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 14-Jan-85 10:50:10 EST
Article-I.D.: wucs.609
Posted: Mon Jan 14 10:50:10 1985
Date-Received: Tue, 15-Jan-85 02:24:08 EST
References: <929@ihuxn.UUCP> <416@whuxl.UUCP> <623@voder.UUCP>
Organization: Washington U. in St. Louis, CS Dept.
Lines: 48

> [sciatic line]
> 
> > > I hope someone out there can recommend a good doctor for the
> > > treatment of chronic back pain. My wife has suffered for years,
>  
> > Tom, I wonder if your wife has tried back excerises?  Unless, of
> > course, there is something *physically* wrong, i.e. damaged such
> > as a pinched nerve or slipped disc, I recommed trying the excerise
> > route.
> 
> I am a sufferer with some physical back damage; for me exercise HAS helped.
> I'll never be free of trouble (while alive), but I'm able to do such things
> as vigorous Bulgarian folk dances.  I don't lift refrigerators or VAXen
> anymore, though.
> The doctor at Kaiser Redwood City was useless except for one thing:  he sent
> me to the physical therapist there.
> For those in other parts of the country, Kaiser is a large HMO (health
> maintenance organization) with many hospitals etc.
> 
> -- 
> Gene E. Bloch (...!nsc!voder!gino)
> Extend USENET to omicron Ceti.

>>>>I have to agree with the general inadequacies of M.D.'s 
when it comes to treating back pain.  In one sense, if a
physician is able to asses that the cause of the back pain is 
not a life-threatening disorder (e.g., retroperitoneal tumors 
eating away at your spinal cord, nerve root compression, 
fractured vertebrae), the physician is "useless" and one
could have consulted a physical therapist in the first place.
But the importance of this step has been made clear to those
with serious organic problems who chose physical therapy
techniques BEFORE consulting a physician.

The key to the whole process is to find a physician who will
refer you to the therapist without depleting your wallet first!

In jest, I recommend 3 helpful hints for back pain victims:
 
    1.  If something works, keep it up.
    2.  If something doesn't work, stop doing it.
    3.  Avoid the surgeons!!!!

				Mark Frisse, M.D.


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