I had my first physical therapy session on my knees this morning, and Jesus, it hurt! :eek: They attached electronic muscle stimulators just above both knee caps, turned 'em on high, and had me lifting weights and doing stairmaster with them on. Then they put me on a table, strapped my legs down and attached the heavy-duty stimulators and told me to tell them when I could just barely stand it. Then they left 'em on while my muscles were alternately stimulated - first right, then left - for 15 minutes. It was really painful, and I could see my muscles jumping and jerking under my skin from the electricity.
I see the logic - they’re trying to teach my muscles to react to electronic impulses so they develop more around my knees. But, jeez, it hurt, and the muscles around my knees feel like jelly.
I’ve heard physical therapists referred to as “Daughters of Satan.” Sons, too, I presume. Cub Hubby still turns pale when I mention physical therapy. It’s not that they mean to cause pain, it is just a by-product of the necessary work.
My brother once considered not going back to therapy when he realized after the fact that his therapist must have had a real good view of his gaping shorts, sans underwear.
Yeah, that’s kind of what people have told me. Even my physical therapist said, “Overly, you might not like me after we do this particular exercise. 'Cause I won’t lie to you. This is not going to feel good. At all.”
Well, he didn’t lie, that’s for sure. It was kind of funny, though, because I’m not normally a whiny person, but I had a ring of physical therapists around me saying, “Okay, don’t hold your breath. Remember to breathe.” And I was thinking man, if minor electric shocks to my knee muscles hurt that much, what am I going to do when it’s time to have a baby?!?
I did PT for 4 months starting 6 weeks after back surgery late last year. It was very painful, and it usually took me a couple of days to get over it (I went twice a week). I’m glad I did it, though- 6 months after my surgery, I was able to start running again, and I’ve recently started taking kickboxing. Stick with it!
I’ve had very good experiences with physical therapy. First with a tweaked knee, then with a broken ankle (after the bone had healed). Not pleasant, but certainly productive.
The case of the ankle highlights the differences between “doctors” and physical therapists. My doctor (orthopedic) was ONLY concerned about the bone healing. He had me in a brace for 3 months, and I could not bear any weight on that leg. After the 3 months, the bone was fine, but my ankle/leg was messed up from both the trauma and then being immobilized for 3 months. So off to physical therapy I went.
As with my first experience with PT, as my ankle improved, so did the intensity level of the sessions. And to start using muscles and soft tissue that had been atrophied for 3 months was quite a workout. And along with the sessions, I had a bunch of exercises and stretches I was to do on my own (which, though not as rigourous, weren’t all that pleasant either).
But 3 months or so, and I was back to walking (with no limp). And a couple months after that I even went on a backpacking trip (lightweight, but still a challenge).
So the difference between doctors and PTs, in my mind, is that doctors “fix” things, but PT’s get you back to where you were before you messed whatever up. This is also a key point - it is important to let your PT know what you like to do. That is, just how “important” that knee is to you. There is a big difference between how they will approach someone who is generally sedentary vs. someone who is into hiking or running. (in retrospect, if you tell them you’re a couch potato, they will probably come up with a lighter program for you
The bottom line is that if you do what the PT has you do, and push yourself when you need to, you will not only get back to where you were (or as close as you can get), but you will also get back there as quickly as possible. A lot of people drop the ball with the exercises they’re to do on their own. And that really slows the progress down.
I went through abut 6 weeks of physical therapy earlier this year when, on my 37th birthday, I slid down the stairs and landed on each and every step with my hands, which snarked up my shoulder something awful.
At first, physical therapy was like torture. I hate every single second of it, and at first, I thought, “If it hurts this much, then surely it’s doing more harm than good.” However, after about week three, although I was sore afterwards, it didn’t hurt. (And when it did, I took Ibuprofen.) Eventually, I stopped going to PT because my shoulder no longer hurt at all. On the rare occasion when it does begin to get stiff again (like when it rains), I simply do the exercises I’d done in PT, and it’s better in a jiffy.
Plus, with the exercises I was doing in PT, I felt BUFF. (Buff, as in well sculpted muscles, not buff, as in naked.)
I’m glad to hear all the positive stories about PT! I’ve been good about sticking with my exercises so far, and my therapist is telling me I can probably even get to where I can do another marathon after I’m done. It’s just that, well, I’ve had this knee problem since high school (I’m 28 now - talk about procrastination!) and I haven’t wanted to do anything about it mainly because I knew I would be told to stop running, and I didn’t want to have to learn to run all over again. But I know it’ll be worth it. I guess I just have to be consistent.
The absolute worst part about the whole thing is the muscle stimulator. I’ve only had to use it twice, but already I hate it with a rare passion. I mean I really, really hate that thing. Really. It’s like having dozens of tiny knives stabbing into the muscles around my knees. But the bone doesn’t hurt, which is a first for me.
I have scoliosis that went undiagnosed and unteated until I was 30. Between about 26 and 30, I had a headache everyday (literally - I wish I was exagerating).
First PT session and the therapist looked at my spine, had me lay on my back and basically pushed/pulled my neck and head, pulling my upper spine straight (they can’t do anything for the lowback, because it’s fused in a curved position).
I got up and left. I got in my car and started to cry, because it was the first time in 4 years that my head didn’t hurt. bliss
Anyhow - now through exercise and a bit of gentle pushing on my part I can usually straighten things out myself, thanks to my PT.
I’ve been in PT 3 times, once for neck and knee injuries after a car accident and twice for arthritis. At no time did any therapist do anything painful. The first time they did use some kind of electrical tingly thing on my knee, but were very careful that it NOT be intense enough to be painful. The magic that therapist worked on my poor neck and shoulders was awesome.
When it comes to exercises, I’ve been told that slight muscle soreness is o.k., but not intense pain, and that the “no pain, no gain” school of thought has been deemed incorrect. If it hurts, there’s damage going on. Of course, I’m not any kind of medical professional, so perhaps there’s a reason for something to hurt in specific cases. Seems fishy to me, though.
Well, it started with some simple kissing and snuggling. Then we moved to sex - and lots of it. That part has tailed off somewhat, but overall it’s been a positive experience. What? I married a physical therapist…
On my shoulder it really didn’t help.
Now I am going for my lower back. They think pinched nerve or something with a disk.
Traction actually felt great! Today is another story.
I was supposed to go for my headaches and I hurt my back and that is my main concern now. Walking again.
I too have headaches everyday and they are mostly migraines. I have a script to see my PT for my migraines but never used it. I think I just might now.
My physical therapy was for a Baker’s cyst in my knee and arthritis, and consisted of mainly a round of leg lift/stretching exercises, time on the exercise bike, balance board, steps, and massage. But the best part was the ice therapy and electrical stimulator. I really loved that thing! Yes, it felt like pins and needles, but the good effects lasted for quite a while afterwards…all tingly!
I broke my ankle and somewhere inthe process of crutches/fiberglass cast or velcro boot. I screwed up my lower back. The doctor did x-rays wnet through 12 weeks of physical therapy, had a cortizone shot in the joint they detemined to be the problem. All to no avail. I then had a series of tests done to see how much I was affected. The end result was I am more flexable and stronger than people half my age. That’s fine but I am in pain!. I can’t walk to the end of the block and back without hurting a lot. Before this I used to walk for miles. My weight is increasing which makes the pain worse.
My regular thereapist was great she was fantastic except for trying to put a pillow under my head when I was laying down (I can’t lay on my back with my head on a pillw causes bad headaches) She was amazed that the muscle stimulator thingy didn’t really bother me even when set on full just felt sort of like sitting on a hay bale in shorts, not comfortable but certainly bearable. The water therapist was great too. I did not like one of the therapists who filled in once when my regular person was not there, she critised every thing I did including breathing. The exercises I was doing like my regular therapist had showed me was wrong, I walked wrong, I never did understand what she was trying to tell me.
The only thing that seemed to help was a chiropractor showed me an exercise that seemed to help after I gave up on PT or rather the doctor gave up on me and said there was nothing orthapedically wrong with my back. I finally settled the lawsuit and live with the pain.
My best physical therapy turned out to be something that I didn’t expect.
I went in for therapy on a recurring impingement in my shoulder. The nurse turned out to be a lady that I had had a brief romatic encounter with when she was a young lady and I was a young man (read: adolescent fooling around).
She put me through the ringer.
But it all ended well. My shoulder came out fine and we finally finished up that encounter after hours…
Physical therapy is good and fine, but it’s a little too symptom-focused for me. I’ve gone through a few rounds of it (none involving electricity, though) for chronic pain and a basketball injury (right shoulder popped out and back in). Things would get a little better, but not enough to justify all the effort.
Then, my osteopath (who specialized in sports medicine) directed me towards a friend of his, a former San Diego State baseball player, who upon suffering his own sports injuries began to study various ways of overcoming them. He eventually developed a method based on yoga, other traditional Eastern therapies, traditional Western PT, and osteopathy whose main premise was to straigthen out one’s posture, with the idea that everything else would naturally work itself out from there. Injuries left untreated (including the wait-til-it-doesn’t-hurt-so-bad-anymore method) or in some cases treated with PT can begin a cycle of injuries; the injured part of your body is out of line, which affects something else connected to it, which gets injured, which causes an injury somewhere else, etc. This is why injuries all-too-often come in bunches in sports.
His treatment was nothing short of a God-given miracle.
Before I began therapy with him, seemingly every muscle in my body was in constant pain. Every activity I could possibly undertake (including walking from one class to another) brought with it incredible pain. My legs often cramped while I sat in class, often both at the same time. I contend that you do not know chronic pain until you go through entire days with two simultaneous leg cramps. Lifting anything was a nearly impossible chore. I couldn’t clean my room because it hurt too much just to move things around. Now that my posture is natural and clean, I live pain-free, haven’t had a leg cramp or an injury in ages and can actually live and function again. There’s nothing like the feeling of that first pain-free day.
Anyone who would like more information is welcome to email me. Be forewarned that if you want to undergo this treatment you’ll have to be willing to get to San Diego every once in a while (he does have out-of-town packages by which he gives longer exercise programs in fewer, more spread out sessions) or settle for someone somewhere else he might recommend.
Oh, and the exercises are very strenuous, and in the immediate short-term some of those exercises gave me truly incredible pain. But when all was said and done I felt like I had an entirely new body.
ACL surgery about 3 years ago. Surgery done on Thursday, spent Friday through Sunday on the passive motion machine and eating Vicodin like M&Ms because I’m a big wimp.
Followup on Monday and first rehab session, where I am introduced to my physical therapist, Harris Torquemada. He explained exactly what we were going to do, why we were going to do it and what the goals are. He then put me on the stationary bike with the goal of completing one forward rotation and left me with the comforting words, “Trust me. Your knee really isn’t going to explode.”
It’s not that they mean to cause pain, it is just a by-product of the necessary work.
