Question of the Day, Wednesday, May 31, 2023

[neely]

Good afternoon and Happy Whiskers Wednesday! I've had back pain on and off for awhile now and have usually treated it with Ibuprofen and rest. But it's perplexed me as to what's causing it so I asked the doctor if I could get an x-ray and/or physical therapy. Long story short, I discovered the root of my problem and started P.T. a little over a month ago. It has been a life changer for me and I'd highly recommend it with the right physical therapist. Best of all, physical therapy is non-invasive and I don't need Ibuprofen for my problem anymore!

HAVE YOU EVER HAD ANY TYPE OF PHYSICAL THERAPY, (OR KNOW SOMEONE THAT HAS), AND DID IT HELP?

 

[DreamerRose]

Yes, I had back surgery and physical therapy. It didn't seem to help much and was expensive, even with insurance, so I quit. I did go to the gym afterwards to strengthen my legs, which did help some.

 

[fionasmom]

I have had it for my back, my right hand (thumb joint), and left ankle...not all at the same time. The back issue was an injury sustained when I decided that I could drag a Queen Anne chair down the hallway and it got stuck, so something that probably would respond to therapy. The other two parts of my body were partially resolved. The thumb joint (which is the most used part of the body, in case you did not know that , comes and goes and is related to overuse and arthritis...so no cure. Ankle..so, so.

 

[NY cat man]

Even after my back surgery, the only PT that I had was self- administered, as in walking, riding my bike, and swimming. Nothing else.
My older brother went through post-op PT after his hip replacement last year, but then he was 82 at the time, while I was only 36. He says that the therapist gave up on him; saying, in essence, "What do you need me for?" But then, my brother is a tough old buzzard.

 

[strider rose]

i have had PT for my back and my legs .... as for it helping i cant really say yay or nay about that

 

[susanm9006]

When in my late 40’s I went to physical therapy after seeing a doctor for shoulder pain And stiffness. I had three or four sessions and finally quit because not only didn’t it help but it made my pain worse. At that point the doctor finally ordered an MRI which showed bone overgrowth that was only correctable with surgery. If I wanted I could have had PT after surgery but I preferred to exercise at home and ultimately had a full use pain free shoulder again.

 

[MoochNNoodles]

Yes! I had daily foot pain for about 8 months before I started and WOW. Even with arch supports and good shoes I didn’t get much relief. The physical therapist found I only had enough flexibility left to stand. No wonder working out was harder than it should have been. It helped SO much! (I still wear arch supports!)

PT was hard in some ways because I had to bring 2 kids along several times a week! (They got to play on kindle fires in the waiting area and were very well behaved.) But its also what gave me the confidence and encouragement to actually start exercising regularly. And it taught me that fitness doesn’t have to be running/basketball/etc. I would hire a PT to help me create a total body workout before I’d ever join a gym. The whole environment was extremely positive. There were all kinds of people there from teens with sports injuries to heavy middle aged women and elderly gentleman. It was also covered by insurance. Maybe personal trainers should be too!

 

[Mia6]

yes. i had it before the shoulder surgery that caused the chronic pain prob and afterwards.
it helped somewhat. i can do the exercises at home. it also helped with my leg when i fell
in january

 

[kashmir64]

I have only done self administered P.T.
About 18 months ago I fell and slammed my wrist into a table leg. A very solid table leg. Didn't break anything, but I suffered nerve damage in my thumb. Couldn't even lift it. It just kind of hung there, bent.
But after 18 months of video games, I can now move it and even give the thumbs up sign. Still have trouble holding things using it, but it's much better than before.

 

[Lari]

Not yet, but I did get a referral for pelvic floor PT, so I need to get on that. I've heard it can be life changing after kids.

My sister is a PT. She says how well it works also depends on if you're doing the exercises at home, too.

 

[aliceneko]

I haven't had it myself but my mum is currently undergoing some after foot surgery.

 

[MonaLyssa33]

I've done PT a few times because of having a bad back since high school. I think it would have worked for me better if I actually followed through with the exercises at home. I just struggle a lot with building a routine (ADHD sucks sometimes). I use the stretches though when my back hurts. One time I went to PT and the doctor did something where she pressed somewhere on on my buttocks and it hurt A LOT, but afterwards I felt like a new woman. I was like, I'm going to come here everyday just for that thing (I didn't, but I definitely wanted to ).

 

[allmykitties]

Twice.
Once I had an injured rotator cuff, and my doctor sent me to PT "if you do well with this, you won't have to have surgery". I didn't have to have surgery, so I'd say it was pretty successful.

Second time, I had been struck in a minor car accident (I was sitting at a dead stop in a turn lane, the other driver made a right on red on slushy roads at a too-high speed for conditions (and likely would have been too high for dry conditions--when trying to get the insurance company from the report, I had to enlist help from my insurance agent ... turns out it was one of those agencies that insures the otherwise uninsurable, which may also explain why she was driving a 20+ yo car, but I digress). I had neck strain and a lower back injury. Unfortunately, this wasn't quite as successful, because I'd aggravate the low back when doing the neck exercises and vice versa. Ended up doing a combo of chiropractic and massage therapies to get over that.

 

[neely]

My sister is a PT. She says how well it works also depends on if you're doing the exercises at home, too.

Your sister is absolutely right. I do my exercise routine at the gym in the a.m. and again at home in the p.m. The best part is that the physical therapist gave me several bands to use at home. One of them is like a rope and guess who joined in my exercises??? Carleton loves the rope so much that I asked her for one just for him and she said, yes, as long as I take a video for her.

 

[MoochNNoodles]

Your sister is absolutely right. I do my exercise routine at the gym in the a.m. and again at home in the p.m. The best part is that the physical therapist gave me several bands to use at home. One of them is like a rope and guess who joined in my exercises??? Carleton loves the rope so much that I asked her for one just for him and she said, yes, as long as I take a video for her.

I was able to get home versions of several things I used at PT off Amazon for very reasonable prices! (Some small things were at Walmart too.) I do still use them from time to time. They also sent me home with big rubber band type things. I have versions off Amazon for those too. I just got things a little at a time. And I have a printout of the exercises we did if I need to refer to it. I’ve been able to go back to those exercises during periods where the pain came back a bit. It really felt like they tried to set me up to STAY well.

 

[game misconduct]

yes twice after my stroke in 2013 and this past march(after that abcess healed in my hip joint) one simple thing to remember during pt is this if you cheat yourself on the effort put into therapy your cheating yourself on your recovery basically you get back what you put into your therapy.

 

[denice]

Once for an inflamed rotator cuff. This was a number of years ago, it was when they had the contaminated steroid that they used for shots and they hadn't tracked down the source. I skipped the shots that are normally done for it because of that so it took a number of months to get over it. I only went a few times and then continued doing the exercises at home. There wasn't anything that I couldn't do at home once I learned how.

 

[gilmargl]

Many times over the past 40 years! The first were sport-related: I'm a slightly-built woman who played a lot of tennis and squash. The raquets were wooden and heavy and at about 40 years of age I started feeling the effects of wear and tear in my right shoulder and knee, and additional back problems when I was unable to sit down The physiotherapists always gave me exercises to do at home and I was able to continue my sporting activities for another 15 or so years. A small operation on my knee was followed by PT and the therapist said "Wow, you're fit as a running shoe!". A replacemant hip here in Germany automatically includes PT for the first ca. 8 weeks after the OP. My therapist told me to hop from one leg to the other onto a trampoline and insisted he would catch me if I fell. After putting all my courage into my wobbly hip, I hopped. He laughed and said that most patients would not have even attempted that!

Unfortunately, my more recent experiences have not (yet) been solved satisfactorily. A hip check-up could find no reason for my pain which comes particularly when driving and after work-outs at the gym. I was prescribed PT. The therapist referred me back to the specialists as whenever he "cured" one source of pain, by the next session a different one had appeared. The pain was moving from my hip, to my knee to my lower back. I have temporarily stopped going to the gym, have had an MRT and have an appointment at the end of the month to see the specialist.

PT is certainly helpful, particularly if you are willing to do the exercises at home. A therapist will help you to do them properly as you can do more harm than good if you perhaps forget to keep your back straight or your knees slightly bent and your feet in a Charlie Chaplin position.
But, beware, cats are also no great help when you're lying on the floor waving your feet in the air! They seem to think it's a new game.

 

[Winchester]

I have and it's helped me a lot. But I also did the exercises at home. Many years (30+?) I hurt my back at work and blew a lower disk. Since then, it's been like a zipper with three other disks blown above the original disk. It does stop me from doing a lot, particularly as I get older. But I can walk and I manage to get around OK with chores and projects. PT helped me so much. They don't want to operate and, frankly, I'm OK with that.

I also had PT on both of my knees after meniscus work. Last summer, before I even had the second knee done, I went to PT and it helped with the pain. After I had that knee done, it seized up tightly on me. I went to PT and, honestly, that was what I needed. After my session, my knee felt so much better and it was so much looser. I only needed two sessions, but again, I always did those exercises at home, too. And I think that second session was just for the therapist to check to see if I was doing the exercises. I was and it showed.

I really think that doing the exercises at home, too, is key.

 

[misty8723]

Yes, for my back. No it didn't, but it's my fault because i didn't do the follow up exercises.