How I Strike the Balance Between MS Prevention and Treatment Everyday Health MenuNewslettersSearch Multiple Sclerosis
How I Strike the Balance Between Prevention and Treatment
Until there is a cure, we have knee pads to prevent MS damage, and bandages to cover the wounds. By Trevis GleasonReviewed: August 17, 2021Everyday Health BlogsFact-CheckedMS management will always require weighing the pros and cons of any treatment approach.Klaus Vedfelt/Getty Images There is an abundance of metaphor about living with multiple sclerosis (MS). I’ve been writing about my life with MS for over a decade and a half, and I’ve still to see an end to the list of tropes, descriptions, similes, allegories, parables, analogies, and comparisons which are apt. There are low-hanging fruits out there, and there are those for which I’ve had to stretch, but we usually tie them together in the end. A Recent Fall Gets Me Thinking
After a recent fall, I’ve come up with another I’ll share. This one has less to do with the disease and more to do with how we choose to cope with it. I was only out for a walk when I took my spill, so I wasn’t draped in protective gear. Had I been riding a skateboard or something (yeah, we’ll just let that image slip away without much thought, shall we?) I would have been bedecked in helmet, knee pads, elbow protection, and likely those padded “Artful Dodger” type fingerless gloves you see the kids at the skate park putting to use.As I wasn’t padded up like a linebacker for my simple walk down the lane — or for my fall — I was left to patch the damage with betadine and bandages, and therein lies the comparison. Prevent MS Relapses and Progression or Treat the Effects of Them
When deciding where to focus our energies and monies in treating our multiple sclerosis, we either tend toward padding, in the form of disease-modifying medications that we hope will reduce the relapses and arrest the progression, or bandages — literal or metaphorical — to help cope with symptoms and relapses after the fact. I’d not assume to offer suggestions or solutions to anyone when it comes to making the choice for their life. For my life, I have studied both research and my personal disease course. I have discussed the options with my medical team and my wife. We’ve weighed all the options we care to consider at this point (because there are always going to be changes in options as well as situation), and we’ve come up with our plan. Everyone must come to their own conclusions. An important aspect of the process is understanding the decision in the context of the whole. Pros and Cons of Padding and Bandages
The padding approach can be very good at protecting but, like that school kid whose pads weigh more than he does as he stumbles onto the field, they have their downsides: Cost, side effects, relative efficacy, and convenience, to name a few. Bandages, on the other hand, are only useful after the damage is done, but some will protect you from further injury — a bit. Bandages are usually less expensive than padding, but if you keep banging your knee and throwing a plaster on the cuts, there will eventually be more substantial damage that a bandage can’t help. Even with the padding route of DMTs, breakthrough disease can occur. With the help of our doctors and family, we treat the symptoms and decide if our choice of padding is still right for us or whether we should rethink our protection plan. How Do You Know What Approach Is Right for You
If you’ve read this far hoping for an answer as to which is better — knee pads or bandages — I’m afraid the answer is “yes.” A well-thought-out decision, based on medical advice, personal research, family discussion, financial planning, and not a small bit of soul searching to come to the conclusion with which you are most comfortable, is always going to be the right decision. It’s just not as easy as throwing on pads and stocking up the first-aid kit. Wishing you and your family the best of health. Cheers, Trevis My book, Chef Interrupted, is available on Amazon. Follow me on the Life With MS Facebook page and on Twitter, and read more on Life With Multiple Sclerosis. Important: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and not Everyday Health.See More NEWSLETTERS Sign up for our Multiple Sclerosis Newsletter
SubscribeBy subscribing you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. The Latest in Multiple Sclerosis
How to Craft a Life s Mission Statement
By Trevis GleasonOctober 21, 2022 Dysarthria When MS Makes It Hard to Speak
By Mona SenOctober 20, 2022 Is That Really How I Walk
By Trevis GleasonOctober 18, 2022 How Do You Know When to Throw in the Towel
By Trevis GleasonOctober 14, 2022 Living With MS What to Know About Neuropathic Pain and How to Manage It
Neuropathic pain is not your average pain. Here’s what to know about this unique type of MS pain and how to find relief.By Kerry WeissOctober 12, 2022 UTIs and MS The Importance of Early Diagnosis and Treatment
If you have multiple sclerosis, you may be prone to frequent urinary tract infections. Besides being painful, UTIs can make MS worse, so it’s important...By Kerry WeissOctober 12, 2022 Why Is Orange the Color of MS
By Trevis GleasonOctober 11, 2022 13 Celebrities Who Have Multiple Sclerosis
Look among the millions of people with multiple sclerosis and you'll find famous faces, too. Learn how some of these celebrities are dealing with MS and...By Regina Boyle WheelerOctober 11, 2022 We All Have Something to Teach Our MS Doctors
By Trevis GleasonOctober 7, 2022 EBV An MS Box I Can Finally Tick
By Trevis GleasonOctober 4, 2022 Most Recent Living With MS What to Know About Neuropathic Pain and How to Manage It
UTIs and MS The Importance of Early Diagnosis and Treatment
The Importance of Early Long-Term Treatment in Multiple Sclerosis