Yay.

[rivka]

I had my first physical therapy visit today, as prescribed by the asshole orthopedist. The two experiences were as different as darkness and daylight.

The physical therapist I saw:
(a) has lots of training and experience working with pregnant women.
(b) listened respectfully and intelligently to my description of my symptoms.
(c) examined me carefully and at length.
(d) explained, using an anatomical model, exactly what she thought was happening with my pain and how she intended to treat it.
(e) touched me in ways that made me feel better.
(f) gave me advice very specifically detailed to my situation.

My God, I adore her.

She found two vertebrae that were slightly pulled out of position by muscle tension, and put me through a bizarre but painless set of positions and movements which seems to have corrected the problem. Then she spent a long time massaging the right side of my back and belly, using tiny gentle stretching motions to break up the adhesions which, apparently, are absolutely everywhere if you pay enough attention to feel for them. At times it hurt, but in that "oh God, yeah, that's where the problem is" way that is more of a relief than otherwise.

When I left, she gave me a stack of handouts: posture for back pain in general, common posture problems in pregnancy, and "back pain during pregnancy: self-care and exercises." I'm to go back and see her two or three times a week for the next two months. She also showed me how she moves the skin to ease adhesions, so that I can then show curiousangel and wcg.

"Feel that crackling?" she asked, at one point. "That's adhesions, all through there."
"Then I'm not crazy!" I said.
"Did going to the orthopedist make you feel crazy?" she asked, sounding completely unsurprised. "Because you're not."

I can't wait until Monday, when I get to see her again.

Comments

[eeyorerin]

Hurray for good medical professionals! I am glad that you are getting good care now (although that doesn't negate having to go through an asshole to get it.)

[ailbhe]

I am so, so glad. That's great. I'm so pleased.

Wow, I'm crying. I'm so pleased for you.

[ckd]

Oh, yes. I'm so glad to hear this after your bad orthopedist experience. Hooray for nice, thoughtful, listening physical therapists.

Now, this is the type of care that you deserve, and I'm very happy that you're getting it.

[castiron.livejournal.com]

Oh, good!

[saoba.livejournal.com]

Hell, I adore her too and I haven't even met her.

[ruth-lawrence.livejournal.com]

This is such good news.

[wcg.livejournal.com]

Yay! Oh, this is indeed good news.

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

Sometimes I think it's the MD process that drains all civility from a person.

B

[rivka.livejournal.com]

My sister and my father are, I think, genuinely good and caring MDs. And I've met others. But yeah, I think there's something in the process that does really warp those who don't fight it.

[mittelbar.livejournal.com]

Yay! That sounds wonderful.

I want to make some joke about orthopedists and assholes, but I'm kind of dumb these days; so if you'd be so kind, please insert something clever and comforting here.

[hobbitbabe.livejournal.com]

Oh, thank God. Really.

P's surgical adhesions in her belly were very much helped by something like that.

[rivka.livejournal.com]

It's very encouraging to hear an example of this treatment working, thanks. Did P have surgical adhesions at the time of pregnancy? I'm curious about how similar our cases might be.

[hobbitbabe.livejournal.com]

The ones I'm thinking of were the hysterectomy ones, so no.

[porcinea.livejournal.com]

Huzzah!

[papersky.livejournal.com]

That's really good news.

[therealjae.livejournal.com]

Oh, what a relief. I'm so glad.

-J

[janetmiles.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad for you! I'm sure that some physical therapy must be awful, because I keep hearing PT referred to as Physical Torture, but my experience with it has been very good.

I'm so glad for you! (That's a deliberate repetition, not an editing error.)

[johnpalmer.livejournal.com]

I think that most PT that's referred to as "torture" is the kind that's intended to restore function, and such, after a major injury or other physical problem. What Rivka's going in for is stuff that's intended to support and heal, so the goal and techniques are different.

There can be unpleasant parts; when I had my hip problem, I was doing some exercises that were working muscles that, as the old joke goes, I never knew I had. That caused some aching, and I occasionally worsened my injury until we isolated it a bit better, but I didn't have any real problems.

[ckd]

I have called it "physical torture" (and called a physical therapist a "professional torturer" to her face, jokingly of course). It was painful at times, but definitely worth it; the therapy experience wasn't the awful part, but sometimes you have to work through some pain to heal. As johnpalmer noted, it's more often the restorative work that feels like that...but I have never met a physical therapist who wasn't a caring person.

I'm sure there are some out there who aren't, but the PT students I knew in college and the PTs I've dealt with during treatment for myself or family members have been universally good folks--and I'm glad rivka's found another one.

[rivka.livejournal.com]

I've had PT for two reasons: to restore function after orthopedic surgery, and to soothe pain. The pain-soothing PT has been very pleasant both times. The function-restoring PT has sometimes been very difficult and painful. That's the kind I can see referring to as Physical Torture.

[trinker.livejournal.com]

Oh! I feel like a weight I didn't know I was carrying has been lifted. So very, very glad that this was a good experience.

[annaoj.livejournal.com]

Oh, hooray!

[johnpalmer.livejournal.com]

Hah... I hate to leave an AOL response, but what else is there?

I'm happy for you.

[patgreene.livejournal.com]

Hurray!

[faithwallis.livejournal.com]

Rivka, this gives me hope that the physical therapist I saw last Monday might just have an understanding of what is going on. I do know that I walked (OK, hobbled) into her office and left with no pain in my legs. And she did alot of what you've described here.

And, btw, the gent you saw a week or so ago sounds like the OB/GYN I was stuck with. *eye roll* Twerp is about the nicest I can come up with for him for a nickname.

[guruwench.livejournal.com]

Oo, glad to hear this person is so clueful. :) And the technique sounds like the cross-scar massage I learned in physio after I broke my wrist the first time and had to have surgery (and then 3 months in a cast). Worked wonders, and I still massage it from time to time. I've even done it on my knee, which I whacked into the asphalt a few weeks ago and which has felt a little odd.

[micheinnz.livejournal.com]

Yay for cool physical therapists!

[jinian.livejournal.com]

Oh, that is so great.