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View Full Version : Please Help me find A good Medical Forum BESIDES Healthboards dot Com



Paul Simmel
12-30-2008, 9:23 PM
I'm looking for a good forum for medical/post surgical advice & help. I've never been so frustrated with the "moderation" of the afore mentioned board. Threads get locked on a whim, and there's no PM feature over there. Anyone have any place they can recommend (PM me if this is against the Rules here). Please help me if you can. It's very important to me to find a good medical forum, and Google in this one case is not helping me much.

Thank you VERY much, folks. The quality of my life depends on this.

Paul

Benjamin Dahl
12-30-2008, 10:20 PM
Paul, I am not sure if this site fits what you mean by a forum, but I find it pretty informative. http://www.mayoclinic.com/
Also, don't forget http://www.cdc.gov for overall information about health.
Ben

Paul Simmel
12-30-2008, 10:59 PM
Thanks Ben. Very mcuh. I will check these out. I am looking for something sort of like this format, but instead of woodworking, medical issues. I found such a place, but within a few days, it seems there are whip snapping Mod's who lock threads without warning a particular offender... which penalizes everyone who participated in the thread/discussion. This is SO frustrating, and it has happened a lot.

So, thinking of good old Creekers... I thought that maybe I'd be lucky enough to find such a place by posting here. If such a place exists... I shall find it.

Thanks again, Ben. When it comes to medical issues, when you are right in the middle of an important discussion... to have your thresd locked because of one person's breaking the Rules, vexes me to no end!

We are lucky here! I aprticipate on many forums all over the 'net, and have never seen such unresonable "moderation".

I'm in need, so I hope your links pan out. If not, I still very much appreciate that took the time to help me.

My best,

Paul

Dewey Torres
12-31-2008, 10:40 AM
Paul,
Not sure but does web MD have a forum???

Rob Cunningham
12-31-2008, 11:49 AM
WebMD has many message boards/forums that I have found very helpful.
http://www.webmd.com/community/boards

Frank Hagan
01-01-2009, 2:56 AM
BusinessWeek recently had a story on the website PatientsLikeMe.com that was started by two brothers of an ALS sufferer; they have spread to cover other diseases as well, and they work by allowing the patients to converse freely. The patients even did their own "medical trial" by comparing notes to see if lithium helped ALS (they determined it doesn't). I doubt that would be tolerated on healthboards (they are too concerned about potential liability).

These things are usually condition-specific, so if they don't have a forum dedicated to your issue, perhaps there's a place to ask. A national patient's group for that condition can also help; usually the members know of or have started a forum as a support group.

Paul Simmel
01-02-2009, 7:23 PM
Thanks everyone... the webMD looks promising... I am recovering from back surgery.

Paul

Ken Fitzgerald
01-02-2009, 7:28 PM
Paul,

Keep looking and here's hoping things work out for you in the very near future. 7 almost 8 years ago, I broke my back. The recovery was slow but I did get better. I'm 8mm shorter than I used to be but I can do most everything I could before. My only complaint now is lack of flexibilty but I'm sure if I worked at it, I could recover more of that.

BTW......I remember going to Mazon years ago to the dirt track races there. My wife is from Fairbury and we've attended the races there too.

Good luck and don't give up!

Frank Hagan
01-02-2009, 8:00 PM
I have a bulging disc at L4-L5 that may need surgery at some point; it herniates and then withdraws.

I went through a program of physical therapy due to "drop foot" they suspected was from the back problem, and even though my back pain was not related to the drop foot, I did find something worthwhile: trigger point massage really helped my back pain. (The drop foot was due to an injury to a nerve at knee level; full function came back a few months later).

The PT did trigger point massage, and I have since found a book on how to do it myself. According to her, it helps in about 20% of the people she sees. Its something you would want to run past your orthopedist, of course, but after trying some pretty expensive remedies, the one that helped me the most was a $20 book and a tennis ball in a sock.

Paul Simmel
01-04-2009, 3:54 AM
Thanks, guys. I am by no means the only one who has had an L4/L5/S1 fusion! Because it is such a long recovery, and because there is so much pain involved with the process, I THOUGHT I had found decent site to discuss and relate recovery issues (daily exercise (walking) routines etc., etc. at one time there were three or four of us who had been just a few weeks out from on another, and we were more or less just cruising along with our various issues/remedies/opinions and all, but then the board just clamped down and threads were being locked and people left in the dark. This was very disconcerting and may I say quit upsetting. No warnings, no redirection, just locked thread with little explanation.

I was actually suspended, and to this day I'm not sure why, but the mod "allowed me to return" after numerous emails. I have not gone back since, because frankly I am afraid that I might blink sideways. It's interesting, and important. because peoples actual recoveries can be affected by how well others have been doing and learning of what was successful for them.

I fully respect and adhere to the policy that private boards must have rules, but in this case is was a bit "insane" and IMO defeated the purpose entirely. PM's were against the policy, so when thread was locked that was it brother.

God help the Cancer patients! I've never had a worse experience on any other internet board... so the WebMD thing looks promising. If there is any interrest here, I'll check back and let you kow how it goes over there. I justy Regestered last night, but have not posted yet.

My best,

Paul

Frank Hagan
01-04-2009, 2:15 PM
Paul, I found an old bookmark to a site I was perusing when I thought I was going to have a fusion ... use this link (http://www.spine-health.com/forum/treatments/back-surgery-and-neck-surgery) for spine-health.com's back surgery forum.

I never posted there, but they seem to have a lot of shared experiences, and they don't seem to have a lot of restrictive rules.

Pat Germain
01-04-2009, 6:08 PM
FWIW, I have read numerous articles and have seen multiple news reports about how regular walking is very beneficial for back pain and back injuries. Of course, one must be able to walk relatively well for this therapy. :)

Paul Simmel
01-06-2009, 3:11 PM
Thanks, Frank. I like that link very much. I will lurk over there for awhile. The WebMD looks pretty good also.

Thanks to all.

PS - I wouldn't recommend anything to anyone. My reference to walking is specifically in relation to lumbar spinal fusion patients. Most of us are supposed to walk up to 1.5 miles per day (not at once) by the 6th week in order to stimulate blood circulation which in turn stimulates bone growth. Prior to my surgery I could hardly walk from one end of the house to the other, and had I pushed it I may have caused more nerve damage. I don't do ANYTHING unless it is ok'ed through my doctor's office.