Hi folks,
Thanks so much for continuing to be here for me and sharing ideas and experiences! I only have internet every few days these days (in large part due to the injury), so sometimes it takes a bit for me to reappear. But, I always return to listen and take more notes!
The last three days have seen remarkable recovery! I'm not at 100% yet, but very close! I'm comfy and happy, while continuing to be gentle and taking care. I'm doing 2-3 sessions per day of stretching and beginner's core work. I've ordered two of Egoscue's books through the library, and in the meantime am working out of a Pilates book for basic stances, using an exercise from an SI joint injury video, adjusting my posture throughout each day, and this morning started through a DVD. All of these resources align with each other and with my intuition. The improvement is wonderful!
Adding to the conversation here...
Flat Feet
I land in the school that says orthotics are not necessary. This is because I eliminated all foot (and upward) pain by changing my diet several years ago. I went from decades of severe pain to none in a very short time. This is why I hadn't been wearing them. However, when I read that flat feet can be a source of misalignment, and that custom orthotics can help resolve that, I put them back on to support the acute healing phase. They provided relief.
I don't plan to use them long term. I plan to repair my whole body alignment through: core strength, stretching, optimal posture as close to 24/7 as I can manage, etc. This pieces are new to me, and where my learning needs to occur. A local Pilates instructor said Pilates increased her ankle, etc, strength such that she is now free of orthotics. So, yep! I absolutely believe we can go another way.
My acupuncturist recommended, for both me and my son, a site called barefoot science. I'll be looking into that, too.
Physio
The appointment was okay. I liked it, and the therapist, but I also came out of it understanding several things:
1. There are a gazillion schools of thought about posture, ideal exercises, etc.
2. No one health practitioner (of any kind) will know up front what one person needs to do. Healing and optimizing the body is about experimentation, a bit hit and miss. That's totally okay by me, and this awareness helps me decide how to invest my time, money, and energy going forward.
3. Separately from any practitioner (i.e., via body intuition, past knowledge, internet, you guys) I have figured out several key pieces.