[pgo]

Thought I'd give a friendly, health-related warning to everyone - especially those who spend a lot of time in front of a computer.

For the last 2-4 years (last couple years of college/university), I kept horrible posture when sitting at my computer. The result? Degenerative disc disease and a herniated disc. DDD is a natural process for everyone (30% of 30 year olds show signs of disc degeneration), so the "disease" part is a bit of a misnomer.

However, at 23, I'm far too young. Generally, DDD is caused by muscle imbalances, acute injuries to the spine, or repeated bad posture/movement. When a disc degenerates (in my case, the L5/S1 disc), it can often herniate (basically leak into the spinal canal) and put pressure on the nerves as they exit the spine. Mine is such that it puts pressure on the sciatic nerve and causes sharp, burning pain from the nerve root (low back) all the way down to the sole of the foot.

Diagnosis required 3 doctor visits, 8 x-rays, and an MRI. Treatment? Well, so far I've gotten three epidural steroid injections (an injection of steroids into the epidural space...i.e. right into the center of your spine) and a lot of physical therapy. If the pain comes back, it will probably mean surgery.

The cost, so far? $400 doctor visits/x-rays, $1800 MRI, ESIs $1650 each, therapy...God only knows, but I'm guessing $40-$50/session x 20 or so sessions...$800-$1000...maybe the grand total coming to around $7000-8000 (before insurance) - maybe $3000 out of pocket.

It ain't cheap - I don't even want to consider the costs of surgery.

So, when you're mother used to say "Sit up straight, don't slouch," she wasn't joking - keep good posture and maintain good muscle balance/strength in your trunk/legs. Or suffer the consequences.

This has been a public service announcement from PGO, Inc.

[lyndon]

jesus, sorry bout that - so how does health insurance work over there?? I thought you just handed over your insurance card and that was it???? Perhaps the NHS aint so bad after all...

[pgo]

It all depends on the insurance company.

Some insurance will pay 80% of your medical costs - mine pays 50% of the conditions and procedures they cover. You'll have a deductible - say, $500, that once you meet, the insurance company takes over and starts paying their share.

On my plan, everything goes to insurance and then I get bills from the various doctors for the amounts the insurance company says I owe (usually less than 50% of the cost because the provider gets a write-off for using certain insurance companies). The most I'll ever pay in a year is $5,500 - once a year's medical expenses go over $11,000, the insurance company pays 100%.

But $5,500 is around a third of my current salary. If I still work this shit job in October, I'll be able to switch to a better plan that will max me out at $2,800/year.

Of course, none of that covers dentistry, vision impairment, or anything like that.

The problem I have with our system is that it's governed by corporations - both the providers and insurance companies, so they try their damnedest to not pay for anything - because their only concern is the bottom line.

For instance, they tried to get out of paying for my MRI by putting my claim in as a "pre-existing condition", which basically means that if you've had this condition before you were covered by Company X, they won't pay for anything related to it. In other words, it falls on the patient to pay 100% of the costs.

Our government programs - Medicare and Medicaid - only cover those in real poverty or those who are retired and in poverty.

[Subversive]

Hmmm... Wonder if I show that to my boss, if he'll be pursuaded to buy me one of those posh expensive chairs that help with posture instead of this crappy cheap one that I sit in.

[pgo]

Originally Posted by Subversive

Hmmm... Wonder if I show that to my boss, if he'll be pursuaded to buy me one of those posh expensive chairs that help with posture instead of this crappy cheap one that I sit in.

Ask him if he'd rather pay for a decent chair once - or for medical expenses to correct lumbar spine problems.

[weldo]

When I worked at the Health & Safety Executive, we had someone that'd rally us round to stand up and move about - every hour or so for 5 minutes.... that's really leading by example and in hindsight a very worthwhile exercise....

Pity I tended to just sit through it and laugh....