Monday, January 30, 2017

Things from my (new) PT appointment, and the new thing I'm starting TODAY

Hey, sorry for the lack of updates.  Work got a little bananas -- who knew that teaching 500 children could take up a lot of time?  Also, I've been exhausted lately.  For no good reason, really.

That's a lie.

I have had a tummy bug/issues since Thursday.  Maybe that explains it.:O

ANYWAY

I saw a new Physical Therapist last Thursday, by referral from one of the gang from the running group.  It was seriously one of the coolest sessions I've ever had.


Ed started off by checking me from head-to-toe:  an extremely informative biomechanical evaluation.  VERY basically, he checked each vertebrae and rib (for the most part, anyway), my hips and knees and ankles, to see if they were being pulled off my medial and sagittal planes.  He noted each joint as he went down, and turns out, I'm mostly pulling to the left.  My hips -----> as expected, are kind of jacked, while the left hip is being pushed forward, and my hips in relation to my spine, are rotated to the right.

After checking how I stand in my orthotics (I'm not going to lie -- Dr. Chin, who prescribed the orthotics, didn't do this), Ed gave me the rundown of stuff that could potentially be going on that would affect my foot.  Obviously, I've had what appears to be SEVERAL issues; the plantar fascial tear, and the latest diagnosis from Dr. Chin, bursitis.  Ed suggested something that Dr. Chin mentioned at my last appointment:  nerve entrapment.

"But the pain isn't hot...", said silly Tiffany.

It doesn't need to be for it to be a nerve issue.

(source)

And it also turns out that nerve entrapment is kind of really tricky.



Ed poked, prodded, massaged, triggered, palpated, squeezed, and *thumbed* (that's gotta be something, because he did it) various parts and points of my foot.  He found a spot that, upon being ________ (any of those things I just listed), was very tender.  The pain was about a six, on a scale from one to 10.  He started working on the area, and I'm not even kidding, I felt things move inside of my foot.  It was pretty weird.  The pain eventually went down to a two.

He moved on to my left hip, where he maneuvered the femoral head (of my Femur -- thigh bone), and checked to see which muscle was the culprit of causing the imbalance.  A gluteal muscle was allowing for the "push" (whereas it's really a weakness, lack of pull).  I'm to work on that area for my homework.

While nerve entrapment was one of his strongest mentions, he also mentioned tarsal tunnel syndrome.


(Source)

One thing I loved about my session with Ed was that he was extremely clear, concise, and telling him that I had a degree in Kinesiology seemed to set off both of our nerd meters.  He told me everything in anatomical terms (which I'm sure he wouldn't normally do if you hadn't just told him that you L-O-V-E-D anatomy), which made the visit all the more interesting.  Being able to apply terms that I learned eight+ years ago was so much fun!

We discussed my plan to get back to running:  Seven days of no pain = we can stat talking about it.  I was ecstatic to have a timeline like that; it wasn't the usual vague answer I've received from (two) podiatrists and another PT.  Ed has a very specific plan of movement, adding in varying levels of impact, to see potentially where the problem originally arose.

NEEDLESS TO SAY, I am VERY impressed, hopeful, happy, and excited to see him again (in about a week).

CHICAGOLAND PEEPS:  If you'd like to check him out, here is his information ----
Ed Flaherty - (708) 624-0318
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This post is already kind of long, so I'll keep this short and sweet.  I'm going to start meditating today (I've already done it if I posted this, haha).  I used to meditate often, and got to around 30 minutes of mind-silent, thoughtless bliss.


Meditation to me is like jumping rope...you start off small, and work your way up, to what seems like a pretty magnificent amount of time.  At some point, it becomes effortless.

Starting off with two minutes is the best for me.  I love listening to music and using visualization, which I'll go over in another post very soon.  Y'all have an awesome Monday!

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Do you meditate?


Tell me one fantastic thing about your weekend!


What's your workout for today?



10 comments:

  1. So glad you had a great visit. I told my PT I was am OT so he knows he can drop more anatomy and kinesiology knowledge on me, which ai appreciate.

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  2. Ed sounds fabulous! I love nerdy conversation like that! I hope he finds the magic bullet to get you back on the road!

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  3. Ed sounds like a valuable resource! I'm definitely going to keep his info just in case, and I hope this is just what you need to get you up and running already! 30 minute meditation? You are my hero! I tend to just nod off. ;p

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    Replies
    1. HAHA It's hard to be aware and unaware at the same time! I'm going to post some pointers soon.

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  4. Girl, I really really really really hope this works. LIKE SO BAD

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  5. Yay for a good PT visit! I just wrote about the same thing today. It seriously makes a huge difference knowing that you're with someone who knows what they're doing and cares about getting you back to running! Also, you've just inspired me to try a few minutes of meditation. I can totally do anything for 2 minutes, right?

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    Replies
    1. YES! Meditation Nation! And I totally hear you -- it's a blessing, for sure!

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