Stupid Knee - Time for Physical Therapy
Intro/Disclaimer: I'm feeling a little guilty for constantly bothering the wonderful Knot (who has been very, very helpful) with PM updates about my knee. Because I tend to have a hard time vocalizing/describing physical stuff (mind-body disconnect thing that I've had problems with my whole life), I've found it helpful in the past to write things down. Also, even when I can find the words to describe something, I tend to forget things when asked by a health care professional about what's been going on. And I forget questions I mean to ask. So, I thought I'd record my PT stuff here, so I have a place to reference later. (And doing it here means that I'm no longer bombarding Knot's inbox with updates.)
After an MRI done right before Thanksgiving, my doctor prescribed many weeks of physical therapy (something like 1-2x/week for 16 weeks). So, I started physical therapy today for the knee that has been giving me grief since the summer.
Here's what the physical therapist saw: overpronation, tight hamstrings and ITB, really weak VMO because I've been favoring the knee (a lot--I go up and down stairs one step at a time, if that's any clue), tilted kneecap, inflammation around my knee, and something else with my feet that I don't remember the word for but basically I point my toes pretty far out when I walk (which I already knew).
She explained everything that she was doing and why, but I was feeling a little dazed, so I didn't catch a lot of it. (Fault of my own brain deficiencies, not anything to do with her.) After all of the assessment stuff, there was some massage/manipulation of the ITB. That was uncomfortable, but I expected it would be since any time someone has tried to massage my legs (particularly my quads) I experience something that seems to be somewhere between extreme pain and tickling--to the point that I sometimes scream obscenities, hit and/or laugh and cry (no, I wouldn't subject the PT to that behavior...just the one friend who I sometimes trust to massage my legs when they're really tight).
Then we tried a couple of exercises. First was a leg raise thing--lying on back, right knee bent, left leg straight, raise left leg--that one wasn't a problem. Then we tried something else that was painful enough that I yelped--a stretchy band around my legs above the knees and small side steps--we tried a couple of different bands in different positions before deciding I wasn't going to be able to do that one just yet. After that was a hamstring stretch--lying on the floor with my foot up on a wall.
Then 15 minutes of electro stim and ice. I didn't get the impression that this was a longterm thing, but rather something to deal with the inflammation around my knee right now. After that, she taped my knee. She mentioned a name when she was talking about the tape, but I don't remember it now...um, McConnell, maybe? Anyway, it's just a single strip of tape (well, actually a gauzy looking piece of tape with a brown piece of tape on top of it) across the front of my knee. This is to pull my kneecap into the right place and help it track better, I think. And actually the tape does seem to be helping. I didn't have any pain while getting into my car and driving home (yes, even driving has been awful, because I drive a manual transmission little sporty car that's really low to the ground), and I managed to walk down the stairs to my front door with only a small amount of discomfort instead of the sharp pains and shakiness/instability I was experiencing before.
So, what I'm supposed to do now:
- Get Superfeet insoles
- Hamstring stretch - 2x30sec, twice a day
- Leg raises - 2 sets of 10-15 (1x a day, I think...the paper doesn't say)
- Swim for 30 minutes 2x between now and Tuesday (my next PT appointment)
- Try to go for a 20 minute walk
- Ice nightly
The goals:
- Walk up and down the stairs normally :rolleyes:
- Get back on my bike! :cool:
Sheesh...that was long. :o
