As an acupuncturist and Chinese herbalist, I would strongly urge B.B. to try acupuncture for Torticollis. I have successfully treated people for this very painful condition. Acupuncture is one of the best treatments for Torticollis, and reduces muscle spasm and pain.

Acupuncture has no side effects and can be used along with the vicodin you are currently taking for pain. Usually we treat up to daily at first, then reduce the frequency of treatment as your condition improves. Often improvement is immediate during the acupuncture treatment. The goal is to get you feeling better and back to drawing and enjoying your daily life again.

To locate an acupuncturist near you, check www.nccaom.org --they have a list of acupuncturists who have passed a national certifying exam, and have a minimum of 2000 hours of post-graduate training in acupuncture, biomedical sciences, and traditional chinese medicine theory. Many have more than 3000 hours of training. California has a separate certifying exam, ask friends and colleagues locally for a referral and check with the board of medical examiners in CA.

Hope you are feeling better soon. Thank you for your work. I always enjoy Opus.

Best regards,

Margaret Batzer

Board-Certified Acupuncturist

While it is true that Vicodin is a very powerful pain killer, one that should not be mixed with any kind of liquor, it is also very effective at treating short-term pain.

I just hope BB does not use very much of it, and that his doctor is searching for a more sustainable long-term analgesic. It's ok for the short run, but it is not recommended for the rest of one's life.

Trust me, being hooked on Vicodin is the next step to being hooked on the badder drugs..like Percocet. That stuff is deadlier than hell.

Get better soon, Creator!

I'm glad that the Vicodin seems to be working, but I was expecting something more...exotic. I'm really just teasing. The cartoon was great, and I'm glad you're back this week.

I have a strong suspicion that people have an individual reaction to drugs which might be different from the reaction that other people have. For example, drugs like Vicodin, sedatives, and marijuana don't do anything for me except give me side effects, despite the praise they receive from so many people. If you ever think you need an alternative to Vicodin, perhaps it wouldn't hurt to look for something else.

Best wishes!

Ever think of that?

If you use Vicodin regularly, you should have a liver ultrasound once a year. Seriously. Especially if you ever combine it with alcohol.

Vicodin contains acetominophen, a powerful liver toxin.

If you mix alcohol with acetominophen on an empty stomach, you can scar your liver permanently. You can leave a lesion in your liver that can eventually turn cancerous.

And I'm not talking about doing this as a bad habit repeatedly in an addictive pattern.

You only have to do that ONCE to leave a lesion.

Vicodin is bad, bad stuff. It's a bad idea to package an opiate with acetominophen.

You should never, ever take more than the recommended dose of acetominophen and never on an empty stomach or after drinking alcohol.

There's a lot of secret liver disease in Hollywood among the Vicodin and champagne set that you don't hear about on TMZ or Gawker.

It's not all Hep C. A lot of liver transplants nowadays are being done because of Vicodin.

And the government freaks out about medical marijuana.

That's the world we live in.

I know a child diagnosed with your same condition. Stress, more than anything else, makes it flare up, and it is definitely a comes and goes thing. Love to read Opus every week.

hairymadnes-

Ask House.

Dear Creator Breathed,

Be well

I know that sounds easy to say.

Vicodin (as you must know by now) causes serious constipation and nervousness and irritability coming down.

When Billy Burroughs was given his conocopic choice amoung a bedspread-ful pharmacopia, he chose DILAUDIN (sp?) without any hesitation.

Morphine is the best, but I think meditation (with a "t") and mudpacks and good jazz and soothing Haydn are the best.

Indica could help with distraction and as a dietary and emotional boost.

Mostly , it is an inside job, as far as focus goes- the true endorphin.

Just try thinking how much better the pictures will turn out after you learn to control the ache and burn and twitch and cramp.

How did you find so much control in the last 2 weeks' frames?

The last square today is remenicent of Wilhelm Busch.

Send out for some Wilhelm Busch cartoons-

Max und Moritz can be easilly found translated into English, but the entire canon is worth knowing.

So, Busch, Morphine, Capsicum (externally and internally) and mudpacks. You will be fine at some point.

Thanks for not just phoning in this week's strip.

We are behind you, great creator!

...exactly, what with my recent posts complaining that Breathed just wasn't doing anything funny anymore, but....this one was pretty good - I laughed, which I haven't done at an Opus cartoon for ages. Kudos.

Now don't get me wrong... other comics have been funny... and I definitely wish a swift recovery to BB... but that was great. Yay for the philosophical conundrums which emerge amidst the pain of existence! As long as they don't last too long!

The pain theme, and the comments are very helpful. A dear friend mentions Epson Salts.

There is a town overseas where Epson Salt is harvested. The pain gets tense with salt.

The salt may make the ache greater, but it's rumored to draw the 'sore' out of you?

I do empathize with people in pain. The pain in the neck~trolls... not very much.

It may be a good idea B.B., to wear a big oak wood barrel and fill it with beer?

I am never sure. But B.B., make sure you honor the pain.... trolls.... no.

It may help to go to a stream and hold some tiny pebbles in your hand.

I love to limp along at a beach all hunched over and watch sand ripples.

I loved how you colorfully drew some of Salons worst critics at the end.