I have not taken one pain pill since being struck by a drunk driver, and I never will.  I’ve had a few doctors prescribe muscle relaxers and anti-inflammatories.  I only took one muscle relaxer tablet before throwing away the bottle.  It wiped out all my energy for the day and made me into one cranky dude.  I don’t have time for that.  I don’t want to take medications to medicate the pain and I don’t want the side effects.

If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you know what my recovery plan has been.  I’ve continued to focus on rehab workouts and building core strength to protect my injured back.  My S1, L4 and L5 discs in my back are as crooked as a Jenga tower that is close to falling over.  I’m not ever planning to have surgery as recommended by one doctor.  I’ve also been focused on utilizing DDP Yoga to increase my flexibility and build strength in areas that need it the most.

So what about the pain?  I feel pain every day, which is especially heightened in the morning.  The pain increases if I need to lift something more than 25 pounds.  Normal activities can tweak it.  Heck, it has hurt to sneeze over the past two years!  Hey, you know that sensation you feel as you anticipate a sneeze coming up?  Now think about that while bracing yourself for back pain.  Good times.

Cryotherapy has been the key to everything.  Cryotherapy has been the single-most effective tool in reducing my pain levels.  I’ve been in a cryotherapy chamber almost 200 times since last summer.  There have been two periods of time where I stopped utilizing cryotherapy.  In both scenarios, my pain levels increased from where they were at previously.

Each cryotherapy session takes 3 only minutes.  The whole experience is less than 15 minutes when adding time to disrobe before going into the chamber and getting dressed afterwards.  I usually fit a session in during my lunch hour or stop by on my evening commute.  I immediately feel benefits and my pain levels drop over the next several hours.  I feel so good afterwards with pain levels very minimized and sometimes, no pain at all.  The benefits continue throughout the next day as well.  I take advantage of cryotherapy 4-5 times per week since I have an unlimited plan, but I have found 2-3 sessions per week to be sufficient when my schedule is too busy.  I’ve also visited cryotherapy studios in other cities while I am traveling.

I spend time in hot tubs and periodically get massages or spend time in a sensory deprivation tank as other pain management methods.  Those tools are helpful as well, but there is not anything that has the immediate and lasting effects that I experience with cryo.

I was not aware of cryotherapy or its benefits prior to the accident, but I wish I would have used it prior to my injury.  Cryotherapy would have been very helpful for me during marathon training to reduce recovery time.  I’ll continue with cryo, even if one day I feel 100% and have no more pain.