So I took your guys’ advice and received a referral from my PCP for massage therapy. Still denied by the insurance. Honestly though, it’s about what I was paying for PT which was $25 (my co-pay) per half hour. This is $55 for an hour under a package.
Had my first massage today and it was fantastic. I immediately bought a package afterwards for a 1 hour massage every other week. My hip pain is gone for the first time in weeks and it feels wonderful 
Wow, that’s great!
This is always an emotional subject, because people have first or second-hand reports of dramatic results from all sorts of alternative therapies. There is no question that chiropracty, massage, and acupuncture can provide short-term pain relief. But validated studies have shown at best weak relationships between long-term pain elimination and these alternative treatments, usually about equal to ibuprofen
From an outcomes evidence perspective, PT is head and shoulders above the rest in terms of long term efficacy. On par with surgery for most (not all) back pain, with a lot less risk. The most effective chiros and massage therapists are really doing a form of PT. This is because good PT is using therapy time to help the patient understand their condition and learn exercises to do themselves to strengthen their bodies, which will in turn reduce /relieve pain. Thus most PT should be closed - ended, not ongoing (validated neurological diseases are the major outlier). The most effective chiros and massage therapists are really doing a form of PT.
If you are serious about song something about your pain, and not relying on a lifelong series of visits to a provider for temporary relief, I highly suggest you find a good physical therapist.
As far as insurance goes, it really isn’t much of a mystery… Either your policy has coverage for each of these therapies or it doesn’t. Read your policy. Usually there will be an annual visit maximum, and your provider will still need to prove medical necessity to get the benefit paid. The insurance companies don’t charge enough for every member to use all of their visits every year, so it is not intended as a right to go 20 times a year, just a benefit you can use when medically required. That is the way insurance works.
Physical therapy (tried a few different places and a few different PTs) did nothing for me and I can’t take ibuprofen.
I am as skeptical as they come. I want RCTs and peer-review. But science/medicine has basically told me that there’s nothing left for them to try. The typical treatments haven’t worked for me and pain medicine actually makes my condition worse.
Lupus, RA, and whatever else is going on inside my body are lifelong conditions that will flare and go into remission forever. It’s not like an injury where once it’s healed, I’m good.
I hope for long-term relief but considering my day-to-day life often consists of being in too much pain to get out of bed, I have to go with short-term relief.
PS: There actually is evidence (in peer-reviewed journals) that indicate that massage &/or acupuncture + typical SLE or RA treatment is more effective than just typical treatment.
I’ve been glad that H is able to find some relief. As his body ages, degenerative progressive changes just make things increasingly painful. He sees a physiatrist and a series of physical therapists. They do a range of treatments including teaching him some strengthening exercises, some therapeutic massage and some scraping (sounds weird but he says it helps). He rotates parts of the body to have them work on the most painful one at the time. I am glad his Medicare B and our private insurance together cover Q100%, but would willing pay for him to get relief. He’s gone to several different PTs and gets different exercises, treatments and relief from each. He hasn’t had a bad PT session yet!
One of the places he’s gone to has an icing finish where you sit in a chair and cold water in a bag on a machine is run over the tender muscles for 10 minutes. He finds that a nice touch as well.
My PT used to use ice but it made my joints hurt really bad so we stopped that.
I am hoping to find a good rhythm for pain in the next year or so as Mr R and I are seriously considering trying for a pregnancy. To do that though, I have to come off the vast majority of my meds so I’m hoping that this will be the magic missing piece that makes me comfortable 
I’m glad it helped! Keep us in the loop. As for the posters comment it is short term, define ST? My acaupuncture eliminated discomfort for up to 2 months…completely gone. With PT, it was never completely gone and lasted maybe a week. Everyone is different.
@romanigypsyeyes – I’m so glad you found some relief! My mother suffered from some of the same issues you have and she found massage therapy to really help. Living with daily pain is stressful; I’m a big believer in massage therapy. Hope it continues to help you.