The Physical Therapy/Gentle Movement Accountability & Resources Thread

[La Bibliotecaria Feroz]

@Frugal Lizard sorry to hear you are experiencing the pain in a new and more awful way. I hope the changes made by your PT provide improvement quickly.


Not sure if I mentioned in this thread, but the PT declined to schedule another appointment after the last one, saying there wasn't much more he could do, and the personal training I've signed up for would be good for my injury. I was skeptical and fearful of not having that support, but so far things have been turning out as the PT predicted. So a lot of my problem is inflammation, but the root cause is lack of muscle, and probably some poor form during the injury. The training is helping get at the root cause, which I very much appreciate. The increase in strength is helping expand my range of motion, which in turn is motivating to do the PT-assigned stretches, which should also help with the range of motion. At this point, IDK if I still have inflammation, but the range of motion is the biggest symptom, which I would like to eliminate/return to a normal range.

Once again, a scary change in my life leads down the exact path I need to follow.

This is so weird to me.

I've never had a PT who didn't assign strengthening exercises, similar to how a trainer would.

The more I read this thread, the more I'm starting to think that US physical therapy *is* actually somehow different from Canadian physiotherapy.

Maybe it varies by location/provider? I am in the US and my pelvic floor physical therapist has given me basically a whole-body workout! Overhead press, three-point rows, squats, lunges, 3 different band exercises. All I had to add was planks and push-ups and I'm all set!

I was talking to my pelvic floor PT about my iliotibial band injury. I roll it for 5 minutes every day and all those band exercises should be great for it, and I also do stretches on a daily basis, but it still hurts. She suggested looking into either cortisone injections or dry needling.

Has anyone tried or even just looked into cortisone or dry needling for old chronic pain injuries? (I'm 42, and this injury has hurt on and off since I was 21.)

[Metalcat]

@Frugal Lizard sorry to hear you are experiencing the pain in a new and more awful way. I hope the changes made by your PT provide improvement quickly.


Not sure if I mentioned in this thread, but the PT declined to schedule another appointment after the last one, saying there wasn't much more he could do, and the personal training I've signed up for would be good for my injury. I was skeptical and fearful of not having that support, but so far things have been turning out as the PT predicted. So a lot of my problem is inflammation, but the root cause is lack of muscle, and probably some poor form during the injury. The training is helping get at the root cause, which I very much appreciate. The increase in strength is helping expand my range of motion, which in turn is motivating to do the PT-assigned stretches, which should also help with the range of motion. At this point, IDK if I still have inflammation, but the range of motion is the biggest symptom, which I would like to eliminate/return to a normal range.

Once again, a scary change in my life leads down the exact path I need to follow.

This is so weird to me.

I've never had a PT who didn't assign strengthening exercises, similar to how a trainer would.

The more I read this thread, the more I'm starting to think that US physical therapy *is* actually somehow different from Canadian physiotherapy.

I do have PT 2 strengthening exercises, one of which the trainer included in that program. The other was something that even the database of exercises available to the PT did not include, he said he made it up or something...probaby got it from another source rather than the insurance-provided database.

In contrast, I have 6 PT stretches.

Prior rounds of PT for other issues have included a higher ratio of strengthening exercises.

I would be really curious to experience Canandian PT, or see what movements were prescribed for the same issues.

Yeah, insurance plays no part in our PT up here and there is no database.

Our PT just works with us on whatever we need, whether it be strengthening or stretching. She just makes it work. It's like working with a personal trainer who is extremely, extremely knowledgeable.

More than half of my exercises are strengthening, but very gentle. Most of DH's are strengthening and pretty heavy duty involving high level resistance bands.

My hospital rehab for my leg sounds more like the PT you folks in this thread describe. There's a booklet of exercises, and I do the exercises in the booklet. It's the least involved, least customized PT I've ever gotten. At least so far.

[Prairie Gal]

I had to pause PT for a bit. My knee seemed to be getting worse. Very painful and I was having trouble walking. When I say knee, it is actually at the back of my knee. And I have a dvt in that leg, so I started worrying that it was the dvt causing the pain. I have a follow up ultrasound next week, and then I will know better if the clot is gone. It's been six months, so I hope so.

[Serendip]

Still doing my (almost) daily breathwork/yoga. Noticing that if I miss a day or two I now miss it..

Last night I did an online restorative class before bed which incorporated ball-rolling. So wonderful even if my feet felt totally gnarly underfoot due to being squished in ski boots.

[Metalcat]

Went to PT for the first time in 3 weeks thanks to scheduling issues and snow storms. I'm making fantastic progress and have much more range of motion without substantial pain.

My humourless PT actually smiled.

[deborah]

Went to PT for the first time in 3 weeks thanks to scheduling issues and snow storms. I'm making fantastic progress and have much more range of motion without substantial pain.

My humourless PT actually smiled.

Great!

[deborah]

Gym changed the exercises last week. Visited my pt afterwards and he was happy with my progress, but suggested I delay progressing to one of the new exercises.

[La Bibliotecaria Feroz]

I went to the doc about my wrist yesterday and also my ITBS. My wrist is just apparently not going to get better until this child is not only walking but also out of the crib because it's an overuse injury from lifting the child and she is not getting any lighter! Doc said don't do any exercises for it, just rest and brace as much as I can and manage pain with NSAIDs and ice, so I am shopping for a tinier ice pack. I have like doll hands.

For the ITBS I am going to try dry needling because if PT and rolling were going to work, they would have worked by now. I've been doing exercises for it for like 9 months. The injury is 20 years old.

[oneday]

It's been a while; how is everyone doing?

@Frugal Lizard sorry to hear you are experiencing the pain in a new and more awful way. I hope the changes made by your PT provide improvement quickly.


Not sure if I mentioned in this thread, but the PT declined to schedule another appointment after the last one, saying there wasn't much more he could do, and the personal training I've signed up for would be good for my injury. I was skeptical and fearful of not having that support, but so far things have been turning out as the PT predicted. So a lot of my problem is inflammation, but the root cause is lack of muscle, and probably some poor form during the injury. The training is helping get at the root cause, which I very much appreciate. The increase in strength is helping expand my range of motion, which in turn is motivating to do the PT-assigned stretches, which should also help with the range of motion. At this point, IDK if I still have inflammation, but the range of motion is the biggest symptom, which I would like to eliminate/return to a normal range.

Once again, a scary change in my life leads down the exact path I need to follow.

This is so weird to me.

I've never had a PT who didn't assign strengthening exercises, similar to how a trainer would.

The more I read this thread, the more I'm starting to think that US physical therapy *is* actually somehow different from Canadian physiotherapy.

I do have PT 2 strengthening exercises, one of which the trainer included in that program. The other was something that even the database of exercises available to the PT did not include, he said he made it up or something...probaby got it from another source rather than the insurance-provided database.

In contrast, I have 6 PT stretches.

Prior rounds of PT for other issues have included a higher ratio of strengthening exercises.

I would be really curious to experience Canandian PT, or see what movements were prescribed for the same issues.

Yeah, insurance plays no part in our PT up here and there is no database.

Our PT just works with us on whatever we need, whether it be strengthening or stretching. She just makes it work. It's like working with a personal trainer who is extremely, extremely knowledgeable.

More than half of my exercises are strengthening, but very gentle. Most of DH's are strengthening and pretty heavy duty involving high level resistance bands.

My hospital rehab for my leg sounds more like the PT you folks in this thread describe. There's a booklet of exercises, and I do the exercises in the booklet. It's the least involved, least customized PT I've ever gotten. At least so far.

Well 6 weeks later, I've worked on strength with the trainer, but slacked off on stretches assigned by the physio. I got a check in with the physio.

He says that I've effectively worked through all the limitations on range of motion that were in place due to weakness, but still need to work on the limitations imposed by "structural" issues. AKA I need to stretch more! He modified the program to eliminate useless stretches and added one called THE DISLOCATOR*, which should be helpful now that I can actually attempt it.

Exciting to have a new set of moves. The old ones were really boring and most of them didn't feel useful anymore.

Unlike the Canadian system, this HMO seems reluctant to assign more than the most gentle of exercises. Which, if I can extrapolate from this experience, is hobbling patient recovery. But WDIK?


*This is a joke name. The move does not really have a name.

[Frugal Lizard]

I am humming along. Only going to physio appointments every two weeks - and not anxiously waiting for the appointment to come around.

PT has given me a new program in mid February and last week was the first week I could do every element of it with good form. I am now doing 75% of the exercises with the number of sets, reps and holds with good form at a couple of levels above the first step. Still can't do the remaining 25% of movements with good form for all the reps/holds for one complete set. But even with what I am doing - it is a huge amount of progress from mid February.

I have an intake assessment at the end of June with a support group for chronic pelvic pain.  I am really hoping the assessment says: nah, you don't have enough symptoms to make this group worthwhile or pain from a traumatic injury would be better treated with X and they open the X door. ( I suspect I am doing all the stuff that X might be, but it would be nice to have some subsidy for it.)

[Dollar Slice]

It's been a while; how is everyone doing?

Pretty much abandoned my PT exercises for a few months while trying to recover from my mystery illness. In the process of (failed) diagnosis I did discover that my stiff/sore neck and shoulder was probably due to some pretty bad cervical spine issues which I'm going to have to deal with, so maybe I'll be back here with that after I manage to see a specialist :-/  In the meantime I'm just trying not to hurt myself, keep up the daily walks, focus on nutrition and continue sorting out whatever the hell is wrong with me.

[Metalcat]

Just got back from PT.

She's very happy with me because I'm a very good listener and I do exactly what she tells me. I'm also progressing very nicely, my range of motion is getting quite good, and so is my stability.

My psoas is being a PAIN IN THE ASS, not literally, it's actually more of a pain in the crotchal area, but I have some new stretches for that. The surgeon gave them to me originally, but the PT dramatically improved my form, so I think they'll be much more effective now.

[oneday]

I am humming along. Only going to physio appointments every two weeks - and not anxiously waiting for the appointment to come around.

@Frugal Lizard that is fantastic! Woo! 🎉 Hope you get the subsidy.


@Dollar Slice I'm sorry that your situation is so complicated. 🤞that you can find a specialist, get a referral smoothly and see them quickly.


@Metalcat rock on! 🤘

[RetiredAt63]

I'm doing my exercises every day.  If I haven't done them by the time I am getting ready for bed I do them then.  Not the ideal time, but better than not doing them at all.

Knees are slowly getting better, we have upped the strength of the shock-wave therapy again.  I'm doing a bit of bicycle work, and once the last of the snow is melted I will be hitting the local trail again.

[deborah]

Having two weeks off.

[Frugal Lizard]

March 2022 I went to PT appointments 8 times. March 2023- 2 times!

[La Bibliotecaria Feroz]

I missed a whole week of PT workouts to a nasty cold (I suspect RSV) but I'm back in the game! Unfortunately illness revealed that I am definitely not getting to where I want to be WRT sneeze/cough peeing. Boo. I'm getting tired of the time and financial commitment. I mean, I could just buy a bunch of Speax or whatever they are now...

[Dollar Slice]

Does anyone have any experience with staving off a frozen shoulder? I had that about ten years ago and I have a bad feeling that my weird shoulder/upper arm pain is heading in that direction. I'd stopped doing the shoulder stretches I'd been doing in the fall since I started having increasingly bad shoulder pain and was worried about hurting myself. But now it's getting very stiff and the pain never got better with rest or ice or NSAIDs :-( So I figure I may as well try stretches again, but I'm not sure if there are any specific ones to try. Anything forceful and fast is bad for the pain (like trying to catch something unexpected) or anything beside/behind me that's not extremely slow (like laying in bed on my side and reaching behind me to grab a blanket, or flicking on a wall light switch that I've just walked past). Something about that angle is aggravating the mystery injury. So I'd like to work on keeping up range of motion without aggravating that.

The good news is that I've been getting treatments for my best guess at the Magical Mystery Disease, they seem to be working and I feel tons better :-) I should try to get back to my daily exercises. I haven't missed a day of walking the whole time but have bailed on most other stuff.

[oneday]

Does anyone have any experience with staving off a frozen shoulder? I had that about ten years ago and I have a bad feeling that my weird shoulder/upper arm pain is heading in that direction. I'd stopped doing the shoulder stretches I'd been doing in the fall since I started having increasingly bad shoulder pain and was worried about hurting myself. But now it's getting very stiff and the pain never got better with rest or ice or NSAIDs :-( So I figure I may as well try stretches again, but I'm not sure if there are any specific ones to try. Anything forceful and fast is bad for the pain (like trying to catch something unexpected) or anything beside/behind me that's not extremely slow (like laying in bed on my side and reaching behind me to grab a blanket, or flicking on a wall light switch that I've just walked past). Something about that angle is aggravating the mystery injury. So I'd like to work on keeping up range of motion without aggravating that.

The good news is that I've been getting treatments for my best guess at the Magical Mystery Disease, they seem to be working and I feel tons better :-) I should try to get back to my daily exercises. I haven't missed a day of walking the whole time but have bailed on most other stuff.

Glad to hear the MMD treatments are making a difference!

I didn't have frozen shoulder, but did/do have trouble with some of the similar movements to what you describe. For example, when laying in bed, can't use that arm to reach "up" and slightly "back" to turn the lamp next to the bed off. The switch is on the cord and dangles a few inches below the tabletop, which is even with my head/pillow. Hard to describe. Anyway, yeah I would have trouble reaching back to a wall switch I'd just passed, would need to turn the whole body to make it work.

I'll PM you what I was recommended.

[Dollar Slice]

I didn't have frozen shoulder, but did/do have trouble with some of the similar movements to what you describe. For example, when laying in bed, can't use that arm to reach "up" and slightly "back" to turn the lamp next to the bed off. The switch is on the cord and dangles a few inches below the tabletop, which is even with my head/pillow. Hard to describe.

Oh yeah, exact same - I have a deep windowsill behind the bed where I put my phone and kleenex and stuff and most nights it's absolutely impossible to reach back there. Laying on my good side (I'm a side sleeper), I can't reach anything there with my bad arm. And I can't sleep on my bad side at all any more since it hurts so much.

I'll PM you what I was recommended.

Thanks! I appreciate it.

[1FACTORY174!]

Did my glute roll-outs and stretches, rolled my feet and calf stretches.

Glute roll outs?,i roll ny IT-band ,sit on a new hard un-even roller beats typical hard or soft rollers,i roll very low back up to base of my neck ,roll hamstrings,frontal thighs ,get 2 hour deep tissue massages twice a month ,YOU HAVE "ONE"BODY take the best care,i do my rolling in the AM _PM..

Sent from my SM-A426U using Tapatalk

[oneday]

I didn't have frozen shoulder, but did/do have trouble with some of the similar movements to what you describe. For example, when laying in bed, can't use that arm to reach "up" and slightly "back" to turn the lamp next to the bed off. The switch is on the cord and dangles a few inches below the tabletop, which is even with my head/pillow. Hard to describe.

Oh yeah, exact same - I have a deep windowsill behind the bed where I put my phone and kleenex and stuff and most nights it's absolutely impossible to reach back there. Laying on my good side (I'm a side sleeper), I can't reach anything there with my bad arm. And I can't sleep on my bad side at all any more since it hurts so much.

Samesies! After a while, it started to hurt sleeping on the other side, too.

I'll PM you what I was recommended.

Thanks! I appreciate it.
[/quote]

You are welcome!

YOU HAVE "ONE"BODY take the best care

You got that right!

[sonofsven]

I've made dietary changes in the past to try to reduce inflammation, this is to deal with chronic lower back pain due to injury and osteoarthritis.
This last fall my GERD issues got worse, which prompted me to make even more diet changes. I eliminated all potential GERD triggers from my diet, including coffee and other caffeinated beverages, and added a lot of probiotic and fermented foods to improve my gut health.
I noticed after a month or so on my new diet that I had further reduced my lower back inflammation and have a much lower level of chronic pain.
I'm not sure exactly which removed food is the cause of this improvement, but I read recently that ginger has strong anti-inflammatory properties. I replaced my daily coffee in my go cup with a ginger tea: raw ginger, chopped and placed in an infuser, one spoon of honey and a tea bag of rooibos tea, fill with boiling water. It's really satisfying, and it might be what's helping reduce pain.
I basically looked up a list of all GERD triggers and removed all of them. Yes, my diet is boring, but suffering from GERD symptoms is worse. I also lost almost ten pounds and feel great at 6', 168#.
At some point I may start to re- introduce some of the banished foods, or not. Right now I'm focused on improving my gut health.
Sauerkraut is awesome.
I know this doesn't exactly dovetail with the physical therapy focus of the thread, just a reminder to not overlook the potential benefits of dietary changes.

[Frugal Lizard]

way to go @sonofsven  More dietary changes are in my future. I say future because I can only handle so much change at a time and am trying to ramp up physio exercises into plain old exercise.

Physio is going really really well. It is so good to only need 2 appointments a month. I could not do all the exercises that I got mid February. Now I can do them all, all at once, and have increased the repetitions from 3 to 5 to 8 to 10 to 12.

Yesterday I had long stretches of time without any symptoms. And symptoms of late mostly occur when I have been doing something for too long, such as sitting or standing.

[Dollar Slice]

I've been doing a couple of the stretches that @oneday was kind enough to send me - I'm still kind of exploring them and seeing which ones feel like they might be right for my shoulder problem/not too much. (And there was one page you sent that had some stretches that you're not doing, but it included an easy exercise I did for my frozen shoulder 10 years ago that feels really good, so I'm doing that one - thank you for the accidental reminder!)

My back has been kind of tight lately also, so I've been trying to do the two-shorter-walks-a-day regimen that helped a few months ago when my back was bothering me. I managed to do it three times this week.

Going to my parents for a couple of days, which is always a good way to derail, but it's only for a night or two so hopefully it won't be too bad.

[oneday]

Glad you are finding some value in that. Hope that over time you can loosen up and stay that way!

Good luck at your parents. Hopefully you can find a small amount of time to do whichever gentle movements feel right, around their schedule.

[mspym]

I've been laid out with covid for the last fortnight but yesterday I did some gentle stretches and roll-outs and today I'm working on my feet and ankles. [almost certainly to be followed by a nap]

[oneday]

Stretching and napping? Your basically a cat right now, @mspym ☺️

[mspym]

Stretching and napping? Your basically a cat right now, @mspym ☺️

It me

[La Bibliotecaria Feroz]

I graduated from pelvic floor PT! I'm not, like, 100% cured but I've made great progress and the therapist thinks I have good tools for continuing on my own. So happy not to have that expense and time-crunch anymore

The other good news is that I think the cortisone shot I got in my wrist FINALLY started working. I had seen an OT at the week mark. I am doing the stretches she gave me because I don't think the wrist is 100% better and I want to protect it, but I just don't have much pain anymore (mostly while doing my DeQuervain's-specific stretches!). The OT also had a baby over 40 so she really understood the problem and could advise me on when to watch for it coming back (handing things to a toddler in the backseat, LOL). It's good enough that I don't think I need to go back for the follow-up that I had scheduled.

[oneday]

Great news, @La Bibliotecaria Feroz ! Sorry the pelvic floor issue is not 100% improved, but it sounds like you are satisfied with your progress so far.

Awesome that your PT could give you extra-good advice from also being a mom!

[GuitarStv]

I seriously fucked up my left shoulder in Jiu Jitsu last Thursday.  I was standing to pass and got trapped in a kind of De La Riva guard.  Sort of like this:

My legs were trapped, my arm was fully extended and then I was pulled forward and dumped directly on the shoulder with arm extended with all my weight, followed immediately by a 235 lb guy jumping on me and putting his weight down to pin me.  There was very sharp pain and a kind of popping sound.  (It doesn't look dislocated though.)

All Thursday night there was really sharp lancing pain when raising my arm straight in front of me, or when trying to cross my arms and pull up on the bottom of my shirt to take my shirt off.  Keeping my arm as immobile as possible there was some dull pain - enough to keep me from sleeping most of that night.  Friday was still extremely painful, and I kept it immobilized.  Saturday it was painful enough that I couldn't lift my left arm enough to keep it on the steering wheel, but I was able to get a good sleep alternating between my front and right side.

Today where I'm at:
- No pain when the arm is immobilized in a sling
- No pain doing a 5k jog, just kind of numb
- Can raise my left arm straight out to the side up over my head and back down to my waist with no pain
- Can raise my left arm straight out infront of my body up over my head and back down to my waist with a little soreness, but no real pain
- With the left arm perpendicular to the side of my body I can make circles in a counter-clockwise direction with little pain . . . but going in a clockwise direction my shoulder makes a clicking/popping and it's extremely painful
- If I stick my arm out to the side and make a right turn bike signal (straight up hand, bent elbow) and then rotate down and back up there's some moderate level shooting pains in the shoulder

Going off this picture:

I feel a good deal of pain touching over either the coracoacromial ligament or the acromioclavicular joint.  Everything else is just generally sore to the touch, but not shooting pains.

At this point (given the improvement in mobility) I'm guessing this is not a full tear, but a partial one.


I have an appointment to see my doctor on Thursday, but she's a GP and doesn't deal much with sports physio stuff so it will probably be some time before I'm actually able to see someone who specializes in sports injuries who will then have to refer me to someone who knows what to do on the PT side.  I'd like to start doing something as soon as possible.  Anyone have ideas for gentle stretches or movements that would help prevent loss of range of motion and/or could encourage good healing?

[oneday]

I'm not a PT, nor do I play on on TV. I had a shoulder injury, but symptoms have very little overlap with yours, so not sure my experience in that department will help you.

My PT said one thing that might be applicable. If you do a movement 1/day, you will keep that range of motion. Doing something less often is when your range starts to shrink.

Another thing my PT said was if the pain is over about 1 or 2 on a scale of 10, then you are going too hard. Of course, that was applicable in a situation where there is no tear. In your position, I'd try to move in ways that don't hurt much, putting the joint through its max range of motion without going over the pain threshold.

[GuitarStv]

Thanks!  Yeah, that's sort of the approach that I've been taking.  It's just a weird injury because the pain is very inconsistent.  Sometimes doing something just feels stiff, and sometimes doing the same is shooting pain.

[Frugal Lizard]

I have been really doing well until Thursday when for some reason the left glutes up and shrunk. Gentle exercises around and up to that zone, heat and lots of visiualizing while breathing got them to sort of stretch/release by Friday afternoon so I could continue with the planned activities of the day. They don't feel tight now, but like super over-worked bruised.  Only two or three muscles in that really defined area. Enough pain Thursday and Friday to need naproxen.

I was able to start most of the garden jobs I wanted to start, just not do anything for too long and actually finish it. But I feel really good about what my body can do this year over where I was this time last year.

[Metalcat]

I seriously fucked up my left shoulder in Jiu Jitsu last Thursday.  I was standing to pass and got trapped in a kind of De La Riva guard.  Sort of like this:

My legs were trapped, my arm was fully extended and then I was pulled forward and dumped directly on the shoulder with arm extended with all my weight, followed immediately by a 235 lb guy jumping on me and putting his weight down to pin me.  There was very sharp pain and a kind of popping sound.  (It doesn't look dislocated though.)

All Thursday night there was really sharp lancing pain when raising my arm straight in front of me, or when trying to cross my arms and pull up on the bottom of my shirt to take my shirt off.  Keeping my arm as immobile as possible there was some dull pain - enough to keep me from sleeping most of that night.  Friday was still extremely painful, and I kept it immobilized.  Saturday it was painful enough that I couldn't lift my left arm enough to keep it on the steering wheel, but I was able to get a good sleep alternating between my front and right side.

Today where I'm at:
- No pain when the arm is immobilized in a sling
- No pain doing a 5k jog, just kind of numb
- Can raise my left arm straight out to the side up over my head and back down to my waist with no pain
- Can raise my left arm straight out infront of my body up over my head and back down to my waist with a little soreness, but no real pain
- With the left arm perpendicular to the side of my body I can make circles in a counter-clockwise direction with little pain . . . but going in a clockwise direction my shoulder makes a clicking/popping and it's extremely painful
- If I stick my arm out to the side and make a right turn bike signal (straight up hand, bent elbow) and then rotate down and back up there's some moderate level shooting pains in the shoulder

Going off this picture:

I feel a good deal of pain touching over either the coracoacromial ligament or the acromioclavicular joint.  Everything else is just generally sore to the touch, but not shooting pains.

At this point (given the improvement in mobility) I'm guessing this is not a full tear, but a partial one.


I have an appointment to see my doctor on Thursday, but she's a GP and doesn't deal much with sports physio stuff so it will probably be some time before I'm actually able to see someone who specializes in sports injuries who will then have to refer me to someone who knows what to do on the PT side.  I'd like to start doing something as soon as possible.  Anyone have ideas for gentle stretches or movements that would help prevent loss of range of motion and/or could encourage good healing?

You can start with physiotherapy right away, you don't need a referral to start and your MD usually won't have a specific place to refer you to.

Also, even if they don't do much with injuries, they can order an ultrasound, which you can get pretty quickly and the info from that alone can help guide the physio.

By the time you see the specialist, which shouldn't be much of a wait if you look for a sports med doc, then you will already have the imaging and info from the physiotherapist and how well you are responding to exercises.

This is how I've managed all of my injuries, and it's always been so much more helpful to go into the consult with the sports med doc/physiatrist/orthopedic surgeon with all of that information already as opposed to going in with just pain and symptoms and then them having to order imaging and figure out if physiotherapy alone will be sufficient.

[GuitarStv]

Thanks, that's good advice.  I thought that PT and the sports doctor required a referral.  I'll make some calls.

[oneday]

Sorry about the pain earlier in the week. You're not out of the woods yet, but the bold bit below is fantastic! 👏👏👏

I was able to start most of the garden jobs I wanted to start, just not do anything for too long and actually finish it. But I feel really good about what my body can do this year over where I was this time last year.

[Metalcat]

Thanks, that's good advice.  I thought that PT and the sports doctor required a referral.  I'll make some calls.

You may need a referral to claim physio on your insurance, but the referral doesn't need to be from before you started physio typically. As long as you have the note when you submit it's typically fine.

Physiotherapists are primary care providers, anyone can walk in off the street and see a physio the same way you can see a massage therapist or a chiropractor.

[Dicey]

Hello! After a bunch of setbacks, I had a PT appointment yesterday.  We scrapped most of what I was[n't] doing and started over. It'll be interesting to see how it goes...

[Metalcat]

Hello! After a bunch of setbacks, I had a PT appointment yesterday.  We scrapped most of what I was[n't] doing and started over. It'll be interesting to see how it goes...

Lol, hopefully this iteration is more helpful.

I just had all of my old leg PT exercises tossed, thank god, I was really sick of them.

I was secretly already doing the strengthening exercises that were next in the workbook. My PT wouldn't assign them because she didn't have clearance yet from the surgeon and I was like "fuck that."

I followed her rules, I didn't do anything that exceeded a 3/10 in terms of pain or anything that required more than 30 minutes recovery.

She *just* assigned them this week, but I've been doing them for 3 weeks, and thank god I did because I've made major progress in my ability to walk because of it.

But now she's taken away all the useless, dull as dirt range of motion exercises, so my routine is half the length, which is nice.

For months it's just been "move your leg as far as it will go in this direction, hold it for 10 seconds, repeat 20 times per set, 3 sets a day, repeat for each direction, now the same with bent knee."

Liked, once the leg easily and painlessly can go where it needs to go, that feels like a huge fucking waste of time.

[mspym]

All physio exercises done this morning, post walk which felt really good. I’m about to ride my bike for the first time in weeks so that will also help counteract some of the too-much walking movement pain.

[mspym]

Resurrecting this to say wow I am amazed at what a difference a little focused PT does. I've had TMJ basically since I had braces when I was a teenager. It's been on and off again but getting really bad the last few years. I'd dropped my caffeine intake to 1 cup a day, because that was a reliable trigger, and given up on eating burgers because that would lock my jaw out. Basically, it's been a lot of intermittent pain that has made my life worse and which I wasn't really tackling.

I'm on the third day this week of doing some TMJ relief exercises that the YT algorithm fed me and noticable pain relief in one day, feeling my jaw connecting differently after three. It was feeling a little tight this morning and by halfway through the exercises, things are feeling significantly better. I'm also tackling forward head posture this month so thought I'd refresh the thread for anyone who wants to join me.

[Metalcat]

Good TMJ physio is the shit.

It's stupid that more dentists don't think to refer people to physio.

[mspym]

Good TMJ physio is the shit.

It's stupid that more dentists don't think to refer people to physio.

It is seldom that I call something "life-changing" but this absolutely is. My whole face feels lighter.
 
[Also, half the videos I have been watching about this are actually created by dentists, who seem to be keen to have patients who can open their mouth without crying or lockout, I guess]

[FrugalShrew]

Resurrecting this to say wow I am amazed at what a difference a little focused PT does. I've had TMJ basically since I had braces when I was a teenager. It's been on and off again but getting really bad the last few years. I'd dropped my caffeine intake to 1 cup a day, because that was a reliable trigger, and given up on eating burgers because that would lock my jaw out. Basically, it's been a lot of intermittent pain that has made my life worse and which I wasn't really tackling.

I'm on the third day this week of doing some TMJ relief exercises that the YT algorithm fed me and noticable pain relief in one day, feeling my jaw connecting differently after three. It was feeling a little tight this morning and by halfway through the exercises, things are feeling significantly better. I'm also tackling forward head posture this month so thought I'd refresh the thread for anyone who wants to join me.

Good TMJ physio is the shit.

It's stupid that more dentists don't think to refer people to physio.

It is seldom that I call something "life-changing" but this absolutely is. My whole face feels lighter.

Okay, I am here to say that I did mspym's TMJ video, and it is truly amazing.

In the interest of sharing awesome pain relief videos, here is one of my favorites on relieving neck and shoulder tension: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxxNIK0hTtw&t=2s.

[GuitarStv]

After a lot of time consuming and very boring daily rehab/physio, my shoulder feels pretty good again.  I'm starting to be able to lift weights over my head (is causing some soreness, but no sharp pain or weird grating feeling inside the shoulder any more) and there's almost no pain while sleeping anymore.

[FrugalShrew]

How is everyone doing with their gentle movement?

Today I started earlier than normal, and I did an hour, woohoo! I have been struggling to spend enough time on this, so it feels like a big accomplishment. I did a combination of yoga, myofascial release, and stretching. It all felt soooo good that it was hard to stop!

[Frugal Lizard]

I am doing well. I am going to my PT every two weeks. (which is great because one year ago I was going twice a week)

Each time I go, she changes up some of the exercises.
I have one from last week that I still can't do yet, which is OK. When she demonstrated it, I couldn't get into the position to do it. Now I can get into the position, but I have to support most of my weight with my arms.

Functionally - I am so much better. I didn't do much physio the past three days because I spent many hours each day in the garden - walking on loose soil and uneven surfaces, getting down and up, lifting and pulling weeds.  I was a good kind of tired and achy from exertion.

My balance is 60% pre-injury. Strength and endurance are less, but all are improving. Feels like it is taking forever, but I have to keep my eye on the little steps that are noticeable every day. And symptoms are mostly tolerable. 

33 days until I have an assessment for a pelvic pain support group that runs out of the pelvic pain clinic that I am on a wait list for an appointment with the doctor. Past participants have found the support group doesn't cure their pain, however most report that it does help them cope with it and increases their quality of life. The support group is three hours a week with a specialized team of psychologists and pelvic physiotherapists. 

My PT is very hopeful that this team is going to make connections to the area of practice beyond her scope. I am trying not to be too set on this being the thing - as 1) I might not be accepted in to the support group, or worse, have to wait months to start the sessions that the assessors will be helpful.

[oneday]

@FrugalShrew thanks for reviving this thread! I have just recovered from Covid, where I spent a week and a half in bed (some because sick, some because isolation from house mate). I could have pushed to do more physical activity, but my base lazy nature asserted itself.  I'm well now and it is perfect timing to jump back in. I noticed that my shoulder is still at like 90% mobility and would really like to get back to pre-injury state, or as close as possible. I think more is possible, so I vow to do all 5 simple stretches, 1 set per day, for Tues-Fri. Will check in daily.

@Frugal Lizard  that is fantastic progress. I know you still have a journey ahead of you, but you can be proud of what you've done so far. Your dedication is impressive (even though you probably don't feel like you have any other choice).