Botox ,Etc.

[Guest guest]

Everyone:

    The threads are getting confusing, so I'm starting anew.

    I have had huge muscle imbalances for as long as I can remember, but managed

prior to surgery to do just about everything I ever wanted to do (save ballet,

LOL).  My adductors and quads are very strong, while the abductors and hammies

are very weak.  Glutes are also very weak and nothing works below my knees. 

Thanks to nerve damage from the hematoma after my dethering and stenosis

decompression surgery in Jan. 2010, I now have trouble standing and walking and

have lost strength in my hip flexors.  The PT people keep insisting that I work

on strengthening the muscles that never were strong because supposedly I need

them in order to stand.  Well ...  I didn't need them before, so why work them

now?  How about concentrating on the muscles that do work?  How about the

experts suggesting that I  work my back muscles (erector spinae)?  Although they

were not severed in the surgery, they were shoveled out of the way and then

reassembled.  Anyhow, while trying to walk sideways to strengthen the abductors,

I tore an adductor.  The physiatrist was amazed how tight my adductors are and

suggested injecting the injured adductor with Botox.  I refused - don't need one

of my strongest muscles weakened.  They've always been tight.

    I forget who, possibly one of the men in this group, maybe more of you, but

what did the Botox injection to the adductor do for you?

    On the subject of MRIs:  All my MRIs say my cord is tethered, even those

done post-op, and they disagree on where the conus lies (L2 -L5).  All the

pre-op MRIs say that I had mild to moderate stenosis.  When the surgeon got in

there he found insignificant tethering but severe stenosis.  I'm not impressed

with MRIs as the gold standard for diagnosis.  I do have scoliosis, though, and

I am old (66).

    I had a steriod injection to the nerve roots leaving L2, not an epidural. 

This was prior to the surgery and was done under fluoroscopic guidance and with

my MRIs on-screen in the room.  It was done to try to figure out if my

occasional severe hip pain was TC or stenosis or ?.  Results- inconclusive.

     Pain was never a big part of my problem.  It is worse now than before the

surgery, but I take no pain meds.  I do feel so very sorry for all of you who

deal with debilitating pain daily.  It's humbling to read your posts.