Suplasyn?

[depraved]

So I crushed the ball socket joint in my ankle (bone crushed at tibia end & ankle). After looking at my MRI & x-rays, doc tells me that I'm looking at long-term pain management. He suggested Suplasyn (I'm not interested in nsaids or painkillers).
Does anybody here have any experience w/ or know anybody w/ experience re: Suplasyn (or other non-medicinal symptomatic treatment of osteoarthritis)?

 

[EffinHard]

does your ankle require pins?

I want to warn you that a buddy of mine had this happen to him. It took away two years of his life, a guy who never watches tv, turned into a couch potato, mildly addicted to pain killers, booze + other habits increased as well.

He's fine now, and I know he had great luck with Deep tissue massage to prevent scar tissue from forming around the injuries - (which can really do permanent damage to your gait / ability to run / pain and re-injury).

Put your friends on high alert so they can interject and stop you if you ever go down a depressive path.

Good luck with the recovery, and your doing the right thing asking for opinions on pain meds.

 

[judge wopner]

my own advice and experience on this:

Pain management clinics in Toronto like the Functional Restoration Program at the UHN or work-hardening programs at Lifemark Health Clinics are good places to be referred to, they use a team-based approach w/ a doctor, surgeon, therapist and psychologist to asses you and map out a treatment plan that covers all angles. a critical goal is to reduce any medication addictions that are a big problem w/ chronic pain managment.

the mental/emotional aspects can be as critical as the physical in treating a long-term pain issue, having your head in the right place and following a good plan to get back to regular activity (as much as physically possible given the limits of your physical injury) can be the deciding factor in your recovery.

be careful of family doctors who may be the type to simply prescribe meds and more of them if you arent responding well, these kinds of conditions require you to be somewhat more proactive. definately talk to your doctor about a more comprehensive approach.

good luck.

 

[Vote_4_Pedro]

depraved,

Awful to hear, best with the recovery! Inquiring minds want to know - how did you crush your ankle?

 

[depraved]

v4p,
deets + pics re: injury at: http://www.tribemagazine.com/board/showthread.php?t=143510&highlight=ankle

5 weeks of intensive daily physio after the injury, I was skiing Whistler/Backcomb backcountry & made a bad injury worse. Bad choice of routes (it's a non-established route for a reason!) resulted in a 6 1/2 hour climb up steep suncrust i.e. ice about 3/8" thick. I had to posthole my way up for traction since I didn't pack my crampons (smrt). Pounding through ice is apparently not the best thing for a crushed ankle (huh, who knew?! :O ).

Anyhow, I'm rebuilding & dealing w/ the pain, but getting woken up by my ankle in the middle of the night is crap -- leading to my interest in Suplasyn. Range of motion is somewhat less, but no surprises there. I'm booked for a bio-mechanical analysis/assesment by a sports medicine expert in September (I noticed I'm compensating to minimize ankle pain through range of motion).

I'm not taking Advil or any anti-inflammatories or pain meds. Booze? A cpl drinks; nothing habitually shmammertimey. Bud is my friend, but no more than usual i.e. minimal. Suplasyn apparently involves 3 injections of fluid into the joint, with reduction of pain for 9-10 months. The needles I'm told are the size of frikken knitting needles, I'm needle-phobic. If I go that route, I'll blindfold myself before the doc pulls out his gear, b/c otherwise I know the temptation to sneak a peak while he's slamming that shit into me will be too great & once I do, I'm afraid I'll freak. I don't know anybody who's doing Suplasyn, so I have no idea how effective it is.

I'm doing what I can to be back on my 'A' game by December (lots of cycling, some running, weight training, strengthening core, + bootcamp for anaerobic stamina). If I only make it back to my 'B' game or less by then, I'll figure out what's next at that time. In the meantime, my goal is to shred some pow out West again with that 420 guy (Norm!) + hook up w/ Extemely Canadian in Whistler (I had to bail on them when I was there due to pain) + do some ski mountaineering in the Tetons w/ Exum Guides this coming Winter.

 

[Vote_4_Pedro]

Hardcore, fo' real yo! Dang, heal that up!