Opinions on my physiotherapy appt. - Astro...or ?

Discount Big box retailers even have foam rollers in their work out isle in sporting goods. Walmart does. And any of the big box sporting goods stores have them too. Many varieties.

I started using a softer one for mid back (ribs). Then graduated to a firmer one for shoulders and legs. You dont need the 3 ft long one, 2 foot works. Compact 1 foot rollers are best just for travel.

I might get another firmer one with the knobs on it for legs - I tried one, they dig in (great on legs, might be harsh on back).

Also- any type manual muscle massage is detoxing the tissues. Our "plumbing" system in muscles is not very good and needs help.

I think nerve impingement is pretty common- and from what I've read and my experience, the resulting pain is often down stream from the pinch area.

My shoulder feels so much better now, my left pinky feels better too (ulnar nerve was affected)..

I was on my feet yesterday, my glutes were sore again this morning (foot is goof though!). Just rolled with a lacross ball and roller, now sitting on a gel pack. My hips/glutes/but are the current issue. Releasing muscles there can be painfull - must be done evenly to avoid imbalance on the base of spine. I could not afford to have someone else do this, as it must be repeated several times a day the first few weeks to keep muscle in the new soft state - avoiding spasms. There is some pain involved as old muscle memory is forced to be replaced with the new correct position of muscles- if things were out of whack for a long time.

After an aggressive session, it feels a lot better to cool it with a cold gel pack. Heat can aggravate muscle after release.

You have nothing to lose by trying this. Experiment and play it by ear.

This is somewhat what Rollfing does. But a therapists hands and body weight are used with slow deep stretching after release. Its a complete body release and restructure. And they say there is pain involved between the 10 - 12 sessions. $125 US per session is the usual. I still might do this some day after I've self tuned my structure a little more. But I've shied away from it since other programs just didnt work on me like they do for the non-lyme public.

Now i'm a bit reluctant to do the muscle stim.

My husband told me we have a TENS unit and a muscle stimulator....and they are different.

So, are they both not recommended for lyme?

It is the muscle stim that the physio is going to use.

I googled and this is what I found:

T.E.N.S. stands for Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation. The key here is the NERVE part. TENS is a “pain blocker.” The buzzing sensation is thought to block the pain signal from the nerve to where it is perceived in the brain as pain. T.E.N.S. units are also thought to aid in the release of endorphins, which are the body’s natural pain fighting mechanism.

NMES, E-Stim or Muscle Stim stands for Electrical Muscle Stimulation or NeuroMuscular Electrical Stimulation. The key here is the waveform that it outputs is different than that of a T.E.N.S and it affects MUSCLE. T.E.N.S. simply blocks pain where muscle stim targets muscle to prevent retardation of muscular disuse atrophy, relaxation of muscle spasm, muscle reeducation, increasing range of motion, increasing local blood circulation, and as an immediate post surgical stimulation to prevent venous thrombosis.

uses:
Relaxation of muscle spasms;
Prevention or retardation of disuse atrophy;
Increasing local blood circulation;
Muscle re-education;
Immediate post-surgical stimulation of calf muscles to prevent venous thrombosis;
Maintaining or increasing range of motion.