Betty,

I had long speaks with my physiatrist at Ohio State University a couple
years ago.  I posted a long-winded dissertation on the list about those
conversations, but I seem to have deleted the post.

Anyway, this guy (William Pease, M.D.)basically said that the cerebral
lesions are static, but the spasticity causes the joints (and all their
associated viscera) to degenerate faster than those in a "healthy" person of
the same age.  He likened it to driving a car with the tires out of
alignment--the tires will wear faster than if they were aligned.

He gave me "4-F's" that were associated with increasing spasticity and pain
in SPASTIC CPers:

fatigue (get enough rest)
fronts (move to an arid climate to avoid rapid barometric changes)
fat arse (move!  stretch those limbs!)
feelings (emotional upheaval and stress (as Bobby alluded to in an earlier
post))

-Kyle

BTW-if anyone saved that old posting of mine it might be good to repost if
you can



-----Original Message-----
From: Betty Alfred [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Friday, October 29, 1999 10:39 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Pain


Howdy folks!

I have what might be a stupid question.  I've been reading the posts about
the Baclofen pump, and I am wondering: is pain due to CP itself, or to
secondary issues as a result of CP -- like joint stress or whatever?

Please forgive me for asking such a boneheaded question, but I would like to
learn more if I can.

Thanks for being patient with me!
Betty