This is the story of a 89 years old retired officer from the Air Force who had lead a very active life till a couple of years ago. Steroid therapy for a skin problem had resulted in his sustaining fracture of rib as well as vertebra 2 years ago. This along with age-related degeneration of his spine had resulted in severe back pain and sciatica. The pain had seriously affected his daily routine activities. He had difficulty standing and walking for even for a few minutes. The pain in his legs was burning in nature and this had caused a great deal of distress and discomfort. This gentleman had also tried physiotherapy and alternate therapy with no relief. The intolerable pain in his back and legs and severe restriction of his activities had made him so depressed that he even felt that there is no point in continuing to live with this kind of pain.
Listen to what this gentleman has to say…
Since he was 89 years old, both he and his relatives were reluctant for any surgery on the spine to relieve his symptoms. In such patients, medications could relieve the pain, but only to a limited extent. Moreover, stepping up the dose of pain medications in elderly persons can result in unwanted side-effects. He had reached, what seemed to him, the end of his tether.
This gentleman received 10 sessions of dry needling on a weekly basis over the next few months. He was also started on medications to soothe the nerves as well as painkillers. Gradually his back pain and leg pain subsided. In the following few months, all medications were tapered off as he had complete relief of back pain and burning pain in his legs. He also resumed his daily walks and his normal activities. One year after the dry needling sessions, he is still pain free. He is now a happy and cheerful person and looks forward to a fresh innings in his life.
Dry needling is a useful non-drug therapy in the management of patients with spine degeneration and sciatica, especially when other options are not feasible and when advanced age is a limiting factor for spine surgery. It acts by causing relaxation of the spinal muscles, which could also be a source of compression of the nerves to the legs. Dry needling is part of a multimodality approach in the treatment of a variety of chronic painful conditions. The other modalities include exercises & physiotherapy, psychological counselling, relaxation therapies such as meditation and yoga, diet counselling and, most importantly, encouraging the person to be as active as possible. Medications to treat pain originating from nerves may be required initially, but these can be gradually tapered off as the patients’ pain decreases and their activity levels improve. With this type of a holistic, multi-pronged management, it is possible to decrease and even relieve back pain and sciatica, as in this gentleman, and increase the functional activities of the person. This, in turn, would go a long way in improving the overall quality of their lives.