Long time no see! Hope everyone is doing well. I've been lurking most of this year so far. Just popping in to share what's been going on with me.
I injured what I thought was my knee at the end of January after a nice streak of workouts and starting regular walks with a friend. Naturally, I was pretty discouraged. I rested for a couple of days, went back to work like normal and then the next morning I could hardly stand up and I had sciatic-like nerve pain shooting up and down my entire right side. I wanted to be stubborn and just look up videos to solve this myself, but after a few days of limping around my apartment, I realized that I needed to see a professional. I was terrified that I was looking at months of recovery time just like the last time I got hurt.
A friend helped me look for a physical therapist, and I was able to get an appointment with a DPT fairly quickly. I'm not the biggest fan of doctors due to my many negative experiences with medical professionals in the past, but the one I went to actually listened as I described what happened and explained my pain. Even better, he didn't dismiss my complaint due to my size and just tell me to lose weight, which has happened to me before and is something I was nervous about. After a lot of attempts at provoking my knee joint, he poked around more and found that the issue was actually an inflamed IT band which was irritating my kneecap and causing pain that felt like sciatica. He mentioned that while the area can be stubborn, the projected recovery time for it was only 4-6 weeks, depending on how quickly my body responded -- far less time than it would be if it was my knee that was the problem. It felt like a weight off my shoulders just hearing that!
We got to work straight away by gently warming up the area, doing some gentle strengthening and mobility work, stretching a bit and then icing it. The relief I felt after that first PT session was incredible - I was able to walk normally without favoring one side, and much of the acute pain disappeared. I was given homework to do each day, and the primary strengthening moves were Pilates-based, which made me happy. Bonus: I could do every move in bed, so I could work on recovery even if I was low on energy.
I'm now nearly halfway through my projected recovery time, and am happy to say that my body has been quite responsive to treatment. I've moved from doing mostly stretching and bodyweight moves to lightly weighted exercises. My muscle memory has kicked in (didn't think I had any to be honest 😂), and my PT complimented me on how well I'm taking to everything. I'm not 100% there yet: my problem knee still gets sore, I have to rest more than usual, and I have to pay extra attention to my posture and how long I'm driving, sitting or standing. But I should be able to get back to walking and a more regular workout routine in a couple of weeks 💃🏿 I'll be prioritizing mobility workouts for a while still I think, just to be on the safe side.
I'm glad I sought help; things feel so much more manageable this time around ☺️
Adventures in Physical Therapy
Long time no see! Hope everyone is doing well. I've been lurking most of this year so far. Just popping in to share what's been going on with me.
I injured what I thought was my knee at the end of January after a nice streak of workouts and starting regular walks with a friend. Naturally, I was pretty discouraged. I rested for a couple of days, went back to work like normal and then the next morning I could hardly stand up and I had sciatic-like nerve pain shooting up and down my entire right side. I wanted to be stubborn and just look up videos to solve this myself, but after a few days of limping around my apartment, I realized that I needed to see a professional. I was terrified that I was looking at months of recovery time just like the last time I got hurt.
A friend helped me look for a physical therapist, and I was able to get an appointment with a DPT fairly quickly. I'm not the biggest fan of doctors due to my many negative experiences with medical professionals in the past, but the one I went to actually listened as I described what happened and explained my pain. Even better, he didn't dismiss my complaint due to my size and just tell me to lose weight, which has happened to me before and is something I was nervous about. After a lot of attempts at provoking my knee joint, he poked around more and found that the issue was actually an inflamed IT band which was irritating my kneecap and causing pain that felt like sciatica. He mentioned that while the area can be stubborn, the projected recovery time for it was only 4-6 weeks, depending on how quickly my body responded -- far less time than it would be if it was my knee that was the problem. It felt like a weight off my shoulders just hearing that!
We got to work straight away by gently warming up the area, doing some gentle strengthening and mobility work, stretching a bit and then icing it. The relief I felt after that first PT session was incredible - I was able to walk normally without favoring one side, and much of the acute pain disappeared. I was given homework to do each day, and the primary strengthening moves were Pilates-based, which made me happy. Bonus: I could do every move in bed, so I could work on recovery even if I was low on energy.
I'm now nearly halfway through my projected recovery time, and am happy to say that my body has been quite responsive to treatment. I've moved from doing mostly stretching and bodyweight moves to lightly weighted exercises. My muscle memory has kicked in (didn't think I had any to be honest 😂), and my PT complimented me on how well I'm taking to everything. I'm not 100% there yet: my problem knee still gets sore, I have to rest more than usual, and I have to pay extra attention to my posture and how long I'm driving, sitting or standing. But I should be able to get back to walking and a more regular workout routine in a couple of weeks 💃🏿 I'll be prioritizing mobility workouts for a while still I think, just to be on the safe side.
I'm glad I sought help; things feel so much more manageable this time around ☺️
Thanks for reading! 💙