Pleurisy Support Group

After 5 1/2 months of severe 'pleurisy' pain attacks....I applied for SSI disability(for other condition(s)). I had appt w/SSI doctor. He implied that my pain WAS NOT due to pleurisy but to a strain/rip/tear of the muscles & tissues on/near my ribs, chest cavity wall (left side). He asked if I had overused or strained sharply my arm or that side of my body. I thought of a fall that I had 2 days before my pain attacks started and that made a lot of sense then. The doctor told me of one patient of his that was riding in the back seat of a car w/her arm stretched out the window when a large city bus drove by closely in the opposite direction. The draft wind was so strong that it pulled her arm back violently and caused her to tear the muscle away from her ribs. Evidently muscle healing takes a very long time, but can be dramatically speeded up if the arm or area affected is not used at all.
I guess that is very hard to do as I can't imagine having the use of one arm in everyday chores and life in general. I'm now trying to conciously not use my left arm as much.
In other words, I really still don't know what is wrong. I do know that I'm in EXTREME pain...having 'attacks' from 1-8 times a day. Pain in still nearly unbearable. I do somewhat of a meditation and deep/calm breathing and that seems to make them go away sooner. I still have lots of questions WHY, WHY - WHY...don't really know what I have????
Posted on 04/10/08, 12:04 pm