Interesting visit to the PT

[Crankin]

Antimony, I could do that at home, but not when I see my clients in their homes or at school. And definitely not at my office. I've been standing a lot more.

[Kathi]

I have ongoing SI joint issues and am back in PT for it. This time I think getting hit by a ski lift chair because the lift op didn't hold it set everything off. Anyway, 2 of my symptoms are painful sitting and low back pain. Stretching doesn't help at all and Pilates made me more painful. I haven't tried Pilates since my SI Joint issues were discovered although my current PT thinks it's probably ok. The last PT worked with me in getting more mobility in my spine due to a flat back. Now when I exercise my left glute gets very sore and painful. My current PT, and I agree, thinks I have an asymmetry in my hips. Yesterday, he had me doing RNT squats with a band. The way the are performed works individual hips. Yikes! my left side felt strong, confident and also reacted with some muscles soreness. The right side felt like a wet noodle and fatigued very quickly. My left side was still complaining when I got home. I know this sounds dumb, and to remember what I did, I repeated the exercises again on the right. The left side calmed down.
My point is you have to keep searching for answers. My last PT promised that getting more mobility in my spine would solve my problems. A year and half later spinal mobility created more problems and I'm having to continue my journey toward performing my activities without pain. I refuse to accept that being 65 causes my pain. Inappropriate posture, long time SI joint dysfunction, stressing it with activities that I didn't train appropriately for, in other words just living a full, active life contributed more to the issues than age does. As I read certain authors and learn about my body I'm accepting that this is a continuing journey that I will deal with as I age. I see my friends slowing down, stop living their passions, if they were passions, while I continue to learn, grow and thrive at my age. I have a friend who is 75, skis like a 30 year old, biked cross country at age 73, she was a newbie cyclist, and this year climbed Mt Kilajamaro. Who knows where her passions will lead her next and I plan to be just like her in 10 yrs in spite of my SI joint issues. Sorry for my rant but I know too many people, often younger than me, who give up their activities because of pain, back, knee, etc. and blame it on age.

[Crankin]

That will never be me!
I suspect there's a hip imbalance, too. I will address this Thursday. I have been promised nothing, which is why I like my pt.
The trauma of my crash hasn't helped this, either.

[Kathi]

Something I find interesting is how the body loses movement without you even knowing it. For example, when my low back was stiff and flat I automatically sat on the floor on my left side. I never gave it a thought but once I got better movement in my spine one night I sat down on the floor to play with my cat and plopped down on my right side. That's when I realized I had lost the ability to sit on the right side without pain. This time around my PT started me out with side planks. At first I couldn't see how they would help but now when I ski I using my right side (an issue that my instructors had worked with me on 4 yrs ago) and when I pedal my bike there is definitely more power coming from my right side. I'm also standing more on my right leg and my hip doesn't jut to the side as much when I stand on one leg. The plank on the right still needs work. I have to be very careful with squats as they can still irritate my low back. Oh, I also discovered I can do single leg squats. Not low but when I did them for PT a year and a half ago I couldn't do them without a fit ball and it's something I quit doing because they irritated my low back.

[Kathi]

My car seats don't have lumbar support and are often very painful to sit in. I went to REI and bought a Thermarest Lumbar pillow. It inflates so I can easily adjust it to the width I need. I also rolled it up and put it in my purse so I could use it any time I was sitting for a time such as plays or concerts. I also used it under my knees or between my knees for sleeping. I still use it in the car.

[Crankin]

Went for my second visit yesterday. I brought up the hip asymmetry/leg length stuff. I don't have it. I *do* have a mild case of untreated scolisosis, though, that might contribute to my woes. Anyway, I told him that I felt like needed a massage, and he did do quite a bit of that, as well as having me go through my exercises. So, despite going to boot camp before the session, and a day of work, I feel much better today. He gave me one more thing to do, but I am basically doing one whole set in the AM, and then a few of the essentials at night.
A funny story. A few years ago, I related this on the running thread, but it it's worth repeating. So for years, when my son was training, he told us about a "mean guy," who would run by him, as he rode by. The guy never smiled or said hi. Around this time, Bill Rogers moved to my former town, and after talking to others, we deduced this was him. Over the years, DH and I also saw him, and our family had a mission to make him smile. We finally got him to say hi.
OK, so yesterday, we were talking, and I knew Walter lived in Boxborough, so I asked him where. He lives on the street my street was off of, where we always saw the "mean guy," aka Bill Rogers. I looked at him closely, and saw to my dismay, that the mean guy was Walter, my PT, who is a really mild mannered, nice person! To check this out, I asked him if he knew Bill Rogers and he said yes, and told me where he lives, which is on the other side of town. Now, Bill may have been running down Burroughs Rd., but it was definitely Walter we made fun of all of those years.
I am going to tell him this in 2 weeks, when I go back.

[emily_in_nc]

That is a funny story, crankin -- and a very small world!

You'll have to post his reaction when you tell him. It really does show us how first impressions can sometimes be oh so wrong. I remember being so terrified of this big burly bearded guy at work when I first saw him, and he turned out to be the biggest teddy bear you'd ever hope to meet. Looks can be deceiving!

[Crankin]

Yeah, he was just concentrating on his running. We got him to smile around the time he must have been injured, as he was walking for a few months.
DS arrives in the early AM tomorrow and I know he will enjoy this.

[OakLeaf]

Heh. That's funny. I wonder if he'll remember you and your son.