So did the epidural injections accelerate the bone density loss in my lumbar spine? I couldn’t prove it in a court of law. Since I didn’t have a DXA scan until seven months after my last injection, I don’t know for sure if the injections were correlated with bone loss. Even if I could prove causation, I don’t think any doctor knows for sure what effect that will have on my fracture risk thirty years from now.
Month: April 2020
A Body in Motion
In short, I’ve been treating my spine like a bendy straw, which is perhaps a sub-optimal technique. Sure, my spine can move like a bendy straw when it needs to. But are bendy straws really designed to withstand a century of daily use? If not, perhaps I should give my poor spine some help.
An Unwanted Constant in a Time of Change
While Amelia U.’s young adulthood included all the adventures and growth opportunities you’d expect, she also dragged an unwanted companion named “sciatica” around with her.
Book Review: Back Mechanic by Dr. Stuart McGill
Any budding complaints died on my lips somewhere around Chapter 2. Unlike most other books I’ve read that cater to patients, this one was straightforward and packed with information. Refreshingly, it did not seem to assume that I am a couch potato who is incapable of following a doctor’s advice.
In This Office, Standing Was Mandatory
One man complained about the expectation to stand all day, while the other shushed him. Didn’t he realize that this expectation was keeping them both employed? If they eased the physical requirements of the job, the clerks would soon be replaced with women (cheap labor).
How to Find Scientific Papers (for Free)
The truly aggravating thing about digging through research papers is that so many of them are behind a paywall. The good news is that many biomedical papers are freely readable in some form or other if you just know how to find them. Here are my tips for doing so.
When Your Sitting Pain Starts Where Doctors Won’t Look
To chronic pain patients, the following situation is all too familiar: They start having pain, which worsens until everyday activities become unbearable. They go to their doctor, expecting treatment or at least a diagnosis. But the doctor scratches her head. She is looking for an obvious cause. Say, a knife sticking out of a patient’s chest. But there is no obvious cause. So the patient starts a scavenger hunt of specialist visits, general therapy, and alternative treatments. Maybe there is some degree of relief. Maybe not. There sure isn’t a diagnosis, or any specific problem identified. Hillary B.’s experience was…
Sitting Disabilities and the Curse of Boring
Before I developed one, I never realized how quickly sitting disabilities (or any disability, really) could make you a pariah. Sure, there are obvious reasons. If you can’t drive, it’s pretty hard to meet up with people outside your house. And if you can’t sit down, movies, restaurants, museums, and other public places are automatically less fun. But when I got my sitting disability, I realized there was another reason I was now no fun to hang out with: I became a boring person. I used to have plenty of hobbies and interests. I was a drama nut, and I…
Sitting Disabilities and Insurance Fights: Even When You Win, You Lose
While researching the legal background for my Sitting Disabilities: A Primer page, I spent quite a bit of time researching court cases and legal decisions related to sitting disabilities. So far, I have only been able to find one court case that directly addresses whether sitting disabilities are protected by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). However, I did find several cases from the lower courts that dealt with sitting disabilities indirectly through workplace insurance battles. In each of these cases, the court concluded that the disabled person was, in fact, disabled, and could collect disability insurance money. Still, together…
Linda’s Trick for a Happy Flight
As I’ve mentioned, people come to the “sitting disabilities” camp from many different directions. A fellow upright, Linda V., alerted me to this blog post, which she wrote in 2015. I’m impressed by the creative solution she found to the anxiety-inducing ordeal that is air travel. She put herself to work. This might be my own insecurities speaking, but when I’m in public places I often worry about how my weird behaviors will come across. When I stand to avoid pain or beg flight attendants for a spot in their prep area, I often worry about coming across as demanding…