Hello, all. I really need some help on this one, especially from anyone with expertise. I know I’ve seen chiropractors and such on here before, so I’m counting on you guys. :)
My husband has been dealing with serious back pain off-and-on for most of his life. It got a lot better during college, when he was frequently alternating between sitting, walking, standing, and active exercise. However, after college, he got a desk job. He spends a great deal of time seated, with his arms outstretched to work on the computer; he is a graphic designer. After a few months of working there, his back problems started to come back with a vengeance. Around a year ago, I got him going to a chiropractor. It really seemed to be helping a lot. However, after his visit yesterday, he found out that he has run out of insurance-covered visits. He asked how much it would be without the insurance, but it was more than we could afford, even if we cut back to once every two weeks.
We’re considering trying to get him in to see a regular doctor, since that would still be covered by the insurance, but this presents its own set of problems:
1. He works from 9:00 AM – 6:00 PM Mon. – Fri. and he’s low on sick days, so we pretty much have to find somewhere that’s open late or on the weekend.
2. He doesn’t handle pain pills well. It’s not that they make him sick, it’s just that they only seem to work for a rather short period before they lose effectiveness. In addition to being rather hard on one’s liver, this sort of thing could lead to addiction, and makes pain management rather difficult.
3. Surgery would, to my understanding, likely put him out of commission for months, and I don’t believe he would be eligible to continue receiving pay that entire time.
4. Our insurance company puts physical therapy and chiropractic under the same category, if I’m not mistaken, so it probably isn’t an option.
As you can see, we’re in a bind. He’s been searching for other work for the last 2 years, and has not had any luck as of yet. We don’t know what to do. Please help!