physiotherapy

can anyone tell me if they have had any physiotherapy treatments with a pm in place. i am suffering strain and tension in my neck and shoulders which is causing severe pain now and getting worse. ive been to physio in the past for same problem but they said they cant do any of the treatments because of the pm. ive had acupuncture three times the first two sessions helped a lot but the latest session did nothing. a course of steroid and anti inflammatories did nothing either. i am having my pm repositioned in six weeks and need some relief from the neck pain before i go to surgery. thanks for any suggestions.

2 Comments

PT can help you!!

by gmorrissey - 2008-06-10 07:06:52

Belly 321,
I am so sorry that your physical therapist was not more helpful. I am a physical therapist who has a pacemaker and I could help you tremendously. I developed a frozen shoulder after having my pacemaker and had to have PT myself.
You need to see a physical therapist who does alot of manual therapy. If you can find a PT who has there OMT specialty that would be best. You can receive manual therapy, ROM and all kinds of exercises. That initial couple of weeks to 1 month you can't do ROM with your left arm, but after the leads are solid, you are good to go. As said in the earlier response you cannot have e-stim anywhere in your body and no US in the upper quadrant.
I don't know the rules on personal information here, but I would love to find out the state where you live and who knows, maybe you are in my neck of the woods and I can help. I'll check out the rules and see if I can get you my work number and maybe I can help.
Ginger

Physiotherapy

by richan - 2008-06-10 09:06:39

Hi Belly 321,
I have a few question. When was your PM placed? What happened to require a repositioning? How far out of position is it? Is there a threat that the leads may "pull" out because of the current position?
I have had physical therapy on my right shoulder (about 1 year after PM placement) because of rotator-cuff surgery. I did do all sorts of stretching (range of motion stuff) and strength training stuff on both shoulders and I still continue many of the exercises today. The only things that my therapist would not use was ultrasonic and electrical stimulation (even though my cardio said those treatments were OK). As far as I know, none of that stuff did any damage to me and my PM.
I'm guessing that your physiotherapist might be concerned about pulling your lead(s) out - particularly when doing range of motion stuff with your shoulder. I'm thinking that neck massage and shoulder massage (without range of motion stuff) might help.
I suppose muscle relaxants and/or pain killers might help, but, these kinds of meds have all sorts of side effects.
Hmmmmm..... doesn't sound very easy.

I hope that things go well for you,

Richan

You know you're wired when...

You can shop longer than the Energizer Bunny.

Member Quotes

I still feel great today and can’t stop feeling excited at my "new" life. Modern day miracles through medicine and electronic devices are amazing!