"Knee Defender" leads to passenger fight and diverted plane

[Ms. Toad]

88. Whether ice or pain works depends on the source of the pain.

In my case, I have had a muscle spasm of unidentifiable origin for 3 decades. It never disappears completely, but if I pay attention to how I sit, I can keep it down to a background level that I can live with. When a cycle of increased spasm starts (triggered reliably by certain chairs - including unreclined airplane seats), coaxing the spasm to cycle down is what decreases the pain. Heat does that - cold does not. Because of what it is that is causing the pain, heat does not give rebound pain - and cold only exacerbates it because when the muscles tense in reaction to the cold, it increases the spasm activity. http://saveyourself.ca/articles/ice-heat-confusion.php

Thanks for trying to help - but I spent the first decade and a half of living with this spasm visiting numerous physical therapists and pain management clinics. None of what they offered (including - off the top of my head - ice, short term heat, traction, TENS, cortisone blocks, massage, anti-inflammatory meds, and muscle relaxers) provided any long term relief. Extended heat coaxes the spasm to relax. It takes about a month once the spasm starts its vicious cycle of increased pain causing the muscle to tighten, causing increased pain, etc. But it is the only thing that does, short of one muscle relaxer which brings with it both physical and emotional depression. If I sound cranky it is because I run into so many people who are sure they know how to manage my pain better than I do, including the last physical therapist I ran into for a completely unrelated reason who set off set off the last month long spasm increase because she refused to listen when I told her that what she insisted that I do would set it off. Needless to say, she was fired.