i cannot stand massages. they either hurt and still hurt later or they just don't do anything for me. i used to give great massages. but that of course is a thing of the past.

that is great. i wish i could afford them. i wonder if medicare pays for massages for ppl with fibro.

n/p. they actually said that they only pay for it if the dr proves it is needed for somebodies health problems. i also have a Rx for physical and aqua therapy. but medicare says that the dr has to call them to arrange it blah, blah, blah. so on my next appt i will have them set that up and get me a referral to a chiropractor. i have medicaid as backup. i just have to find out what that entails.

thanx for all your input. i went to a chiropractor wednesday evening. i'm not at all happy with the results or the way the office is run. i'm bruised, annoyed and totally flaring. ruined my whole weekend. i had an extra day without my grandson so i was going to make big use of it by scrubbing the house down and doing some work online. ALL THAT IS DOWN THE TOILET. headaches, back pain like i have been punched and sleeping a lot. dizziness also.

i don't know if this is what all chiro's do, BUT instead of giving me the deep tissue massage that i was waiting for to push my disks back into alignment and all, he took a hand held tool that looks like a big shot with a rubber tip on the end. this he punched me with all over my backside. it hurt, but not have as much as it did by friday and saturday. (this after he had me wait in the room for 20mins). when going over my history, he didn't want to hear about my healthy diet, exercise or my history. this annoyed me. then he gave me over to an massage therapist that had me lay down on my stomach so they could put little vibration disks (about the size or a nickel or quarter) on my back with hot wet towels on my upper and lower back.

because of my fibro i couldn't lay down without my lower back going into painful spasms. so i had to lean over the raised bed while sitting on a chair for 15mins with the things on my back with the wet heat over it. this felt very nice. but this i can do at home with my daughter and not have medicare pay for it (at a very outrageous price i'm sure). frankly i liked the sitting up better as i can't lie in one position for very long and i also get very bored. this way i could at least go online on my daughters phone or read a book if i had thought to bring one. nobody checked on me to see how i was doing until the timer went off. then she removed everything and took me to billing to pay my copay which was $9 per medicare.

when i came into the office (they have walk-ins, but asked if i could come at 5:15pm, as they close at 6pm) everybody was cheery, happy and chatty. when it was time to go (around 6:30pm) nobody had anything nice to say, no smiles, just lets get her the hell out of here so we can go home. the only thing i can say they did right was call me back the next day (thursday) to see if i was okay. but i was fine then. but as anybody knows with fibro, your flare can take up to a week to happen after an episode and boy did it hit me with a vengeance on friday morning. i'm NEVER going back to that office. if the dr is going to punch my back with a little punching machine all over my back, i could get my daughter or son to do that for free. i remember the deep tissue stuff that used to be done in the 70's, if this is what chiro has turned into, then they can kiss my big fat *kitten*!!!

I'm a Chiropractic Assistant. I also have Fibromyalgia/Neuropathy. If it were not for my Chiropractor, I don't think I would get along as good as I do. I consider every day a battle against Fibromyalgia, and every day I intend to win. Occasionally though, it will get me down. My Chiropractic adjustments and therapy really help me in my quest to not let Fibromyalgia and the Neuropathy beat me. Our office still does muscle stimulation (TENS), heat, and traction tables, (the moist heat is my favorite) He has also be vital in helping me understand ways to help combat it. I know Chiropractors can be expensive, and that in my case he is readily available, but if you have these conditions a Chiropractor can at least help alleviate some of the terrible and debilitating symptoms it causes. An at home TENS units can help greatly as well, I highly recommend them and they are fairly inexpensive. I am also checking into the CES (Cranial Electrical Stimulation) I hear these are very under-used, have no side effects and are pretty effective.....but that's another post!! Good luck to all in search of help!

is a TENS unit a machine with little attachments that provide vibration and stimulation right at the points on your back that need tissue massage? maybe i will see if medicare covers them. you would be surprised what they cover and what they don't. thanx!