Spineforce- Treatment One

Hello lovelies,

I'm writing this a few days after my first Spineforce treatment, and boy I am wrecked! But lets take it back to the day and discuss my first session.

As I told you in my last post, I was really excited leading up to my first session. I was (and still am) putting a lot of faith in it working and having some sort of relief.

I don't want to publicly give the name of the technican of the sessions, so let's just call her "E". E was also the technican last time I did Spineforce and I really love her. She also suffers chronic illness so we are connected on that level of understanding. She knows pushing yourself when you suffer chronic fatigue is more of a hinderance then help to your health.

So at the start of the session we chatted a little about my health and how my foot and back were. E mentioned that my foot injury would impact the treatments and make it a little harder for me. For those who don't know, December 2014, halfway through my Spineforce treatment, I broke/shattered my right foot. It will never be the same again and now has Chronic Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) in it. E asked me to stretch my foot every day to help loosen up my foot and calf muscles. I have been stretching a few times a day since Thursday and it has helped the flexibility a lot already.

If you want to know the basics of how the machine works during a session, check out the video below. It will help understand what I'm talking about with my progress on the machine in the future.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Og1kB6YR_h4&index=75&list=WL


We started off with a round of the machine without the base moving. I quickly remembered the push and pull techniques for the handle bar thingys and realised how sore I was going to be! We added in the base movements which made reaching the targets a lot harder. The aim whilst on the machine is to reach the target number (or you can use the bullseye but I prefer using the numbers). For this session my target was a 3, we started off on the Discovery mode also- so really really easy paced.

Despite it being a very easy session, I felt it a lot in my right leg and foot, as E expected. She said my leg was "like concrete" and I absolutely need to stretch before each treatment. The rest of the day my leg and foot ached quite a lot. We ended with planning out the 16 sessions, Medicare approving 2 sessions a week. I was expecting to be doing 3 sessions a week for 3-4 weeks, but I'll be doing 2 sessions a week for 8 or so weeks. It probably work out better in the end only doing 2 sessions a week because it'll give me more time to recover in the long run.

I'll update you after a few more sessions on how I am going, I won't be writing blog posts after every session.

I hope you are all well.

Gentle hugs,
Bridget

What the heck is Spineforce?

Hello lovelies,

If you know me personally, you know that I have some major problems with my back that causes severe pain. It’s become so debilitating that I can no longer stand, sit or lay without feeling as if there is a knife in my lower back, lots of sciatica pain and a very numb right leg. A resolution to this problem would be to have a spinal fusion, but the idea is still very daunting to me and I’m not ready for it.

In 2014 I began doing Spineforce (I promise I’ll explain what Spineforce is in a moment) but mid way through the treatment I ended up breaking my foot. So treatment stopped and I focused on healing my foot. Now, a few months after applying to do it, I start tomorrow. And I am SO excited.

Spineforce (also is referred to as Huber) is a machine that is one of its kind. It’s a neuromuscular trainer that helps strengthen the muscles attached to your spine/vertebrae to strengthen your deep core. It's the only machine in the world that can do this. It can assist in spinal rehabilitation and PREVENT further injuries. Having already completed half the treatment in 2014, I  did already feel my back being stronger and more stable. The benefits of Spineforce include: improved balance, enhanced co-ordination, better flexibility and enhanced muscle strength. My doctor also believes it could help my Chronic Regional Pain Syndrome in my right foot that happened after I broke it. 

I think of it as a somewhat intensive treatment because in order to make sure it effectively works, you are required to do 3 sessions a week for 3-4 weeks. For me, that's a lot of work. I live 20 minutes away from my Doctors Office (where the treatments happen), so I need to get myself ready to go, do the treatments then wait around for my doctor to check I am ok after the treatment. Luckily I have someone to do the driving for me, which I don't think I could've handled doing myself. I do remember last time, in 2014, I did flare, and did have some added back pain at first, so I am prepared for that this time around. It will definitely take my everything to get to the treatments, but I am determined to do it. 

The treatments initially are very very short. I was told that as soon as I felt any sort of pain we were to stop, as that meant we were pushing too hard. Some treatments can last only five minutes. The treatments themselves are very basic. You stand on the machine, holding onto the weird handles and complete little exercises; pushing and pulling the handles with varying degrees of pressure. It might seem like you are achieving nothing, but you are retraining your brain as well as working your muscles, and these things shouldn't be rushed. 

There aren't very many of these machines in Australia, I just happened to be lucky and have free access to this thanks to my amazing SuperClinic and Medicare. I think part of the reason that there aren't many available is due to the price of the actual machine, it is a very expensive piece of equipment. I do hope more are available for those with spinal problems in Australia soon. 

I am going to give Spineforce my absolute ALL. I need this to work. I need some sort of relief for my back and I don't want to have to resort to a spinal fusion yet. The neurosurgeon I consulted with about my back told me he recommended I put off spinal surgery as long as possible because of my age (I was 27 at the time of the consult) and he believed I'd need more fusions in the future due to the pressure spinal fusions place on discs above and below the fused disc.

I plan to document this journey, not only for myself, but for you reading this. There really isn't much online about Spineforce from a patient's view, in fact when I first did it in 2014, I was very skeptical because I couldn't find anything on the internet about it! I want people to be able to come to the blog and get an honest opinion, so I will be blogging about this journey, as well as posting over on my Beautifully Broken, Chronically Strong Facebook page (link below). 

https://www.facebook.com/BeautifullyBrokenChronicallyStrong/

So, here I go, hoping and praying for some relief. To not have to reach for the pain medication or the Zen spray, but to be able to complete simple tasks such as washing up or cooking without the need to sit on my walker. 

If you have any questions about Spineforce and the treatments you are welcome to comment below or contact me privately. 

Gentle hugs,

Bridget