December 28, 2008

• Me in PT

       
      In August, I noticed my left shoulder hurting more, but thought it was arthritis, though it felt a bit different. By Sept. I realized it was something else, since it was getting so stiff & painful, I could hardly move it. Everyday activities became incredibly difficult; dressing, brushing my hair, shampooing, even fastening the seat belt in the car, all caused severe pain when I could even get my arm to work. When I went to the dr., she diagnosed it as rotator cuff syndrome and recommended physical therapy, which I began in Nov. and have been doing twice a week since.It seems like more people than you realize have had PT at some point in their lives, for a variety of reasons. I'd never had it, so it was a learning experience.
      One of the most impressive things is how versatile everything is. The PT room is full of all sorts of equipment, but they have ways of modifying the exercises so you can get the same effect at home using ordinary things such as a jump rope, a towel, an umbrella, etc.They do supply the stretchy banners, which look like bright colored crepe paper, but works like a giant rubber band, which the patient knots & lodges in a closed door to pull on. Each time I go, they give me a xerox of the new exercises I've learned, so I can do them at home. It's takes about a half hour to go through them all. Then I put a bag of frozen veggies on my shoulder to reduce swelling.
      Besides the exercises, the sessions also consist in two things that can't be replicated. The therapist massages & stretches my shoulder muscles until I think she will twist it off. Then they attach electrodes that sends signals to the muscles which is supposed to relax them. I call the electrodes "the creepy-crawlies", because it feels like something is crawling over my skin, which is alternated with the feeling of mice dancing and someone poking me with a pencil. These sensations rotate during the 20 minutes I spend attached to the electrodes. It takes a few sessions to get used to the sensations, which are gradually increased over time. The whole process is very low tech in this age of million dollar machines. The idea that change can be effected by pulling & stretching a part of a person's body repeatedly is very organic and old-fashioned, but in the best sense of the word. Though it is weird to have a stranger manhandling one's body like that, but maybe that's just me. lol
      Apparently all of this is helping, since they took measurements after I'd been attending for about a month & said things had improved either 20 degrees or 20%, I don't recall which. But I'm pleased with any improvement. Monday will be my last session for the year, but they will be consulting the dr. to see if she will prescribe more or try something else, such as corisone shots, because not only do I have the rotator cuff syndrome, but there's some joint freeze as well. Doesn't that sound like I'm a half melted snowman?

  • 3:00 pm
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