Physical Therapy Questions

Jen, Go to a chiropractor, he will do the same thing and will give you exercises to do at the
office, home, or wherer, and it won't be the end of the world if you miss an appt or two. I have
arthritis in my lower back, and degenerative disc disease, as well as two disk already gone, plus
bone spurs in place of where the disks were. I average 6 to 9 miles a day, with no more than one day
a week off, and have had only one injury in the last 25 years, and that was due to bad (nike) shoes.
My back problems became serious when I stopped going to the chiropractor, and sometimes they are the
only thing that will work on my back troubles, and I'd be crippled (I actually was for 6 months last
year until I went back to a chiro) if not for them. Find a good one. Relief should be immediate, so
if you aren't better real fast find another one until you get relief. Unfortunately there are a lot
of quacks out there.

(shinypenny) said:

I just got back from an appointment with my doctor and she wants me to commit to physical therapy
twice a week. Having laid off completely on running for the last two weeks, I'm fortunately past
the injury stage, but she says I have degenerative arthritis in my lower back, something wrong with
a disc that's pinching a nerve and causing muscle weakness in my toe, and general alignment issues
compounded by inflexibility on one side more than another, which is probably what caused my hip
problem in the first place. And potentially I had had a stress fracture.

I was initially optomistic that PT might finally be the solution to help me get my running program
back on track, and prevent these stupid reoccuring back/hip problems. However, right now I have
lots of challenges working something like that into my schedule, due to a new job. It wouldn't be a
problem if there was a PT office near my workplace, but unfortunately there isn't, so it becomes a
real challenge and I'm afraid my new boss won't be entirely sympathetic. The doctor stressed to me
that success requires a commitment, so don't start it if I can't juggle the appointments.

I don't know much about PT, having never done it before, and have lots of questions that might
help me decide whether this is something I can find time for, and the courage to approach my boss
about this.

Mostly I just don't know what to expect, and am hoping people here can share their experiences and
whether PT helped them achieve their goals, and had lasting effects, or whether there isn't some
way to "do it yourself" if you have access to a health club and resources on the Internet?

She did say I could start running again, but to run no more than 6 miles a week for now. UGH.

jen

In article <[email hidden]>, shinypenny

Quoted message said:

Mostly I just don't know what to expect, and am hoping people here can share their experiences and
whether PT helped them achieve their goals, and had lasting effects, or whether there isn't some
way to "do it yourself" if you have access to a health club and resources on the Internet?

Jen,

I trust my body to a few people who I know from my own experience and the experiences of many others
who have recommended them based on outcome.

I would get recommendations. I'd find out who other PT's, or chiropractors, or doctors would go to
for help and assistance.

I recommend going to abe.comabe.comOpen ↗ and putting in under author, "Mensendieck" and purchase the
book Look Better, Feel Better. It will educate y ou well regarding exercises to do and a way of
looking at balanced standing and sitting postures. It's only a few bucks as it has been out of print
since the late 50's.

In health and on the run, Ozzie Gontang Maintainer - rec.running FAQ Director, San Diego Marathon
Clinic, est. 1975

Mindful Running: mindfulness.commr.aspOpen ↗ faqs.orgrunning faqOpen ↗

Dear Jen,

First, to respond to the previous respondants,
1) a chiropractor at his best may be as good as a physical therapist; I have a skeptical nature,
but chiropractors have given lots of my patients help when no one else could help them; but I
would go the chiropractor route after doing a good effort with Physical Therapy (PT).
2) no, you cannot do this one yourself, not at least at the start, as I will explain.

Physical therapy offers you a few valuable things. First they will do some nice "stuff" to you
(called modalities), such as ultrasonic heat and massage and ice and maybe iontophoresis and who
knows what else. This feels great, but don't know whether this helps in the big picture. I'm
certainly not against it.

The real thing which I believe is valuable is that a skilled PT will do a biomechanical evaluation
of your body and find out what is unique about you. If you have muscles that are too tight, too
loose, naturally short or long dimensions, dysfunctional interactions of one muscle/skeletal group
with another, maladaptive changes after an injury, etc., they will find it. Then they can choose
exercises for you to do to rehab and reshape the mechanics of your body. Not only is this
therapeutic for your current injury to heal, but it is also good for trying to prevent future ones.
If you go online, you may see generic back exercises for most folks who have typical low back pain.
But you have no idea if these generic exercises will work for the particulars of your condition
because you are unique.

Example: my therapist found that I had tight psoas muscles. I never even dreamed that psoas muscles
(one of several benders of the hips) could cause all my back pain. He taught me how to keep these
muscles long and loose so that I wake up in the morning relatively pain free rather than stiff and
aching like I had before. It was an amazing revelation, which only someone well trained in the
mechanics of the body, especially the athlete's body, would know. Most doctors do not have this
level of training -- I sure don't (not because I'm uneducated or don't care, but because subtle
biomechanics is WAY down the long list of things I need to know to practice general family medicine
everyday).

Anyway, I do endorse your doctor's recommendation give physical therapy a good try. Eventually PT
will teach you home exercises that you will do on your own and then no more visits with PT are
necessary. You maintain your own healthy mechanics,which is as it should be. The chiropractor will
see you weekly/monthly for as long as you are willing to hand him money. I'm not saying that's bad,
because some people really do need and benefit from the chiropractor's skilled hands. But you should
probably try PT which evolves into your own home maintenance exercise program first, in my opinion.
Chiropractor next.

Best of luck. -- Josh Steinberg MD, Syracuse

Josh Steinberg said:

Dear Jen,

First, to respond to the previous respondants,
1) a chiropractor at his best may be as good as a physical therapist; I have a skeptical nature,
but chiropractors have given lots of my patients help when no one else could help them; but I
would go the chiropractor route after doing a good effort with Physical Therapy (PT).

Like I said, you need to find a good one to get relief. It is refreshing to see a MD admit Chiros
can help people instead of the usual BS.

bbb said:

Like I said, you need to find a good one to get relief. It is refreshing to see a MD admit Chiros
can help people instead of the usual BS.

But you over generalize everything. If someone gets a headache while running you knee jerk him/her
off to a chiro. Much like blaming running shoes for every injury below the waist. Some day you'll
learn to be specific and not resort to the blunderbuss answer.

--
Doug Freese "Caveat Lector" [email hidden]