Archive for May, 2021

A long time ago in the Army we used to use webbing with metal pins. These would dig into your lower back above your hip bone. We had old Alice packs & these would often force down upon the webbing so those metal pins would rub & dig into the back fascia all day long.

I recall I used to consider that it was probably doing damage that would pop up one day.

That day came some 13 years later. Seven years ago roughly I started to get back pain occasionally in that very same spot above my hip bone on both sides. The iliosacral region above the hip bone flexes and bends a lot. It also rubs against the ground if you engage in some activities. I do all of those things in my job renovating & painting houses.

I climb up and down ladders and scaffolding. I bend over & pick stuff up. I lie & roll around on steel rooves & concrete floors all day long. Have for 20 years.

I twist, bend & rub all day long in that job.

So a few years back I started to get a couple of bouts of back pain every year. It would last a few hours or a day or two and be gone for months.

Gradually the incidences began to become more frequent. After 4 years or so I was getting it every couple of months.

It was around this time I noticed there were some small welts or soft lumps exactly where it would hurt. I assumed these were muscle knots & several massage people told me that was the case & massaged the area.

Not a good thing to do on a hernia & I never got any relief at all from massage

Over time the lumps got bigger and the pain became more frequent. Excruciating pain like a stubbed toe. But in my back

However its intermittent & when it doesn’t hurt there is zero pain upon palpation.

Eventually after many years I realized the lumps are lipomas. Unfortunately GP’s are trained that lipomas are benign and not painful.

Its kind of like dentists being trained that cavities are not painful.

Trust me Episacral Lipoma is as painful as hell. It hurts like the devil for hours relentlessly.

So I went to 2 physiotherapists who confirmed the lipoma’s but had no idea how to treat it. I went to a GP who was clueless and said it doesn’t hurt to have lipomas & he refused to remove them surgically.

I wanted to punch him in the face but politely told him I wont be using his services.

Finally after years of pain I know exactly what I have & that it can be fixed with a 20 minute operation under local anesthetic.

OK so in this stupid city Auckland I cant find a surgeon that is willing to do the surgery.

There is one final option though it just takes longer. A couple of research papers document episacral lipoma being treated with ultrasonic fat cavitation. Also ultrasound shockwave therapy. Both methods can shrink the lipoma (fat hernia) and allow the torn fascia that it has protruded through to heal.

I have ordered the two machines above from Aliexpress to treat the lipomas.

I got the fat cavitation machine yesterday & have already done a treatment. This will melt & shrink the lipoma.

I don’t yet have the shockwave machine. This will also melt the lipoma & in addition will stimulate the damaged fascia & ligaments to heal.

I expect this to take 3-6 months minimum.