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The Physical Therapy / Rehab Thread

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Monique

Monique

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Yesterday doc okayed swimming w/o kick -- but got a call from radiologist this morning and now that is out too. Cycling, walking beyond necessary, and (obviously) running are all out.

Not a member of a gym currently but will have to explore options.

I'm sorry =/
 
Thread Starter
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Monique

Monique

bounceswoosh
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What about walking with crutches? That gets brutal pretty quickly.
 

Ron

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as boring and as mind numbing as recovery can be @Mike King is 100% correct. you can only do so much and over-doing it NEVER helps. I would do some high rep lower weight, weight lifting where you can can get your heart rate up. it might be better on machines than free-weights. Otherwise, I recommend watching American Pickers and Property brothers on demand. :).


FWIW- I would only use Functional Manual Therapists for any PT. this methodology has been the most beneficial by far. I think this is what @Mike King was also advocating.
 
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Monique

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coskigirl

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If you do look into gyms I'd look at rec centers that tend to serve seniors as they are more likely to have hand cycles I think.
 

jmeb

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If you do look into gyms I'd look at rec centers that tend to serve seniors as they are more likely to have hand cycles I think.

Realistically the Y is the best for me as it is across the street from my work. Driving isn't easy as it's a right foot.
 

karlo

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Been in & out of PT since early April for knee injury. I’m quasi-satisfied but not enamored with my PT, and it’s been kinda static for 10 weeks. Nothing new, nothing interesting, just feel like I’ve pissed away the benefit. The PT relationship was very transactional. But I didn’t speak up, I just went along with it. Now on the other hand I’ve maxed out my insurances PT benefits. In a quandary what to do next..

Find a great PT, one with whom the relationship is not transactional.

With my PT, and I’ve seen many, it’s a bit like going to see a shrink. “How does that feel?” And, a lot is precise training of movements and an explanation of the why’s.

I now see my PT once a month, to review how I’m doing, to discuss my discoveries. On a weekly basis, I workout with a trainer that is a former pro ballerina. They know the body, trained to develop flexibility and movements. She has whatever trainer certs. But it’s her personal experience that makes her shine

I also play around with movements myself, and discover limitations myself, then bring them up w my PT. Some of these I find on YouTube. Some, I find by thinking about how to duplicate a movement needed for this or that.
 

karlo

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Recommendations on some way to get cardio in with an ankle that has to be relatively immobilized for 4-ish weeks? Going from 35mpw running to nothing is driving me crazy?

Skinning...with tightly buckled boots in ski mode. There may still be opportunities in South America.

I’m soliciting votes for this one :)
 

EricG

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Find a great PT, one with whom the relationship is not transactional.

With my PT, and I’ve seen many, it’s a bit like going to see a shrink. “How does that feel?” And, a lot is precise training of movements and an explanation of the why’s.

I now see my PT once a month, to review how I’m doing, to discuss my discoveries. On a weekly basis, I workout with a trainer that is a former pro ballerina. They know the body, trained to develop flexibility and movements. She has whatever trainer certs. But it’s her personal experience that makes her shine

I also play around with movements myself, and discover limitations myself, then bring them up w my PT. Some of these I find on YouTube. Some, I find by thinking about how to duplicate a movement needed for this or that.

I am taking a month off from PT while I wait for my next Dr appointment (stem cell) as I've used my benefits for the plan year and need to determine what I really should be doing. There is a really good PT 2hrs south of me that I think I will try to visit this fall to get a 2nd opinion and evaluation. But I need to get my state of mind in the right place before I do that as I don't want to fall into the transactional rut I fell into this last time.

I need a PT that tells me the truth and that I need to do X or Y and holds me accountable, otherwise I know I become passive and just go thru the motions and don't get the results.
 

BC.

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Recommendations on some way to get cardio in with an ankle that has to be relatively immobilized for 4-ish weeks? Going from 35mpw running to nothing is driving me crazy?

Broke my left foot last summer while running (stepped off of side of road into a pothole)....i spent the rest of summer on a recumbent bike....and circuit training lifting. It wasn’t the same as running every day, but it was something to do with a bum foot.
 
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Brian Finch

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Recommendations on some way to get cardio in with an ankle that has to be relatively immobilized for 4-ish weeks? Going from 35mpw running to nothing is driving me crazy?

•Build a Ghetto SkiErg
•One legged jumping jacks to failure with a couch behind ya
•Speed ropes / chains on your knees
•Feet up core twists with the ball & alternate bounce / leave / return
•Med ball twists from knees
•Knee scooter skating
•Upper Body Ergometer
•Anything AB84 posts on Instagram
•Kneeling plyo pushups
•Chop wood
•10# Onnit Steel Mace
•Cable Rows / PNF
•Single leg Cycling
•Kettlebell Halos on seated on a Swiss ball
•Sledge Hammer Slams
•Push up/Clams/SLR for speed 10 reps ea to failure
•Rolling - Yes Rolling
•Speed Bag, Duck n Roll

:)
 
Thread Starter
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Monique

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I am dipping my toe back in PT again. Partly because I want to make sure I don't lose money on my FSA, as things broke down differently than I expected (it's a good problem to have: with a little leg work to find an in-network lab, I was charged $0 instead of $750 for my twice-yearly bloodwork. Quick aside: Omg, for real, charge me an arm and a leg because while I got the bloodwork done at an in-network clinic, they mailed the labs out to an out of network clinic. I should NOT have to know whether blood is tested in-house or not when I get a blood draw! Who would even think of that before they got bit??).

Finally got tired of the inner hip thing that has been going on (to varying degrees) for well over a year now. I found an in-network PT office that also happens to be about 3 miles from my house - score! Apparently my issue is not so unusual, and there are a number of exercises I can do, as well as the more general lifestyle instruction of getting back on my heels more (I'm always on my toes or standing on one leg, which pushes my hip forward). Glute bridges and several exercises involving those big rubber bands. I'm cautiously hopeful. I really like this PT so far - after she figured out what was going on, she pulled out an anatomy book to show me, and she also volunteered to work with my trainer if there were any questions about how tom modify my workouts.

With my current strength levels, the PT quickly realized that I wasn't going to get much out of bodyweight glute bridges - my trainer is going to show me how to add weight with a barbell next session. I've seen people doing those. He assured me I'd be astounded at how much weight I could do this way, and that glute bridges are great because they're a PT exercise that you can never outgrow - just keep adding weight. I'll be doing them in sets of 20, though, therapy-style.

My trainer was also excited about the exercises involving rubber bands. He said he's seen these exercises before, but would never assign them because he doesn't have training in how to teach them and apply them properly. So he wants to see how they work out for me. They involve attaching a rubber band at floor level, then looping it around my bent leg while I'm on the floor.

In other news, my elbow thing has been getting better but never going away. Coincidentally, there's a chiro / multi-modal person at my gym who put up a sign about a special deal she was running on elbow and forearm issues. So I saw her for the first time yesterday. Her eval is cheaper than my PT co-pay, and her follow up sessions are cheaper than that. It seems that my elbow issues are also pretty standard fare. She beat the crap out of my forearms with massage and then a rock blade (which seems identical to getting Graston) and taped me up real good with Rock Tape. Which is a good thing, because the bruising and redness that you can see peeking out of the sides of the tape is pretty extreme - when that stuff comes off, I'm going to look like someone actually beat me.

I'm still stuck with a program of accessories and isolations. I tried to tell my trainer that deadlifts didn't hurt anything, but he wasn't interested. Also that circuits are boring and that I can't work out with my boyfriend when I need all the equipment for the circuit - still not interested. (You should see me setting up for 10 different exercises in a home gym.) I miss my big compound movements =/ It's really hard to motivate for this other stuff. I'm not sure why, because there is nothing easy about box steps or Bulgarians or any of the other things I'm doing.
 

SugarCube

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•Build a Ghetto SkiErg
•One legged jumping jacks to failure with a couch behind ya
•Speed ropes / chains on your knees
•Feet up core twists with the ball & alternate bounce / leave / return
•Med ball twists from knees
•Knee scooter skating
•Upper Body Ergometer
•Anything AB84 posts on Instagram
•Kneeling plyo pushups
•Chop wood
•10# Onnit Steel Mace
•Cable Rows / PNF
•Single leg Cycling
•Kettlebell Halos on seated on a Swiss ball
•Sledge Hammer Slams
•Push up/Clams/SLR for speed 10 reps ea to failure
•Rolling - Yes Rolling
•Speed Bag, Duck n Roll

:)

Great list--wish I'd had this 6 weeks ago when I first started rehabbing my broken ankle. I did a lot of single-leg cycling at the gym, very good cardio. Now that I'm out of my tall boot, I still have to be careful (no running or jumping yet). I'll have to try some of these now. (I'm up for anything involving a sledge hammer!)

And, silly me, never thought to check AB84's Instagram! :doh:
 

Guy in Shorts

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But I need to get my state of mind in the right place before I do that as I don't want to fall into the transactional rut I fell into this last time.
Asked Brian Finich during PT last summer if everyone he sees gets the same high level of engagement and he answered the athletes do. Loved the fact that I was put in the correct category rather than the passive old guy bucket. PT's like treating subjects that will likely fully recover like athletes. Going in with a goal and a timetable will often produce positive results.

A great physical therapist is just as invaluable as a great ski instructor/coach.
 

karlo

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Going in with a goal and a timetable will often produce positive results.

That goal can be small, then move onto the next goal. One goal of mine had been to stand on my left leg while washing my right foot as stably as the other way around. I still do it to check I can do it. (See my avatar? I’m doing really well, aren’t I?)

BTW, I have found it really helpful to compare performance of left vs right in many number of things, using the good right as the target of where I need to be with my left. One that I found this week is the side kick, in the second half of this video,


I had no problem holding position with either leg, which would not have been the case for my left leg early this year. My problem is the movement into position, needing to push through an (obstruction? resistance?) with my left hip, feeling a clunk when I push through. Very interestingly, after doing some PT homework and a couple things I’ve brought home from my workout studio, that obstruction goes away. It’s like, maybe, muscles are now activated and firing in the sequence they should and place my bones where they need to be to accomplish the motion smoothly. (No problem on the right)

So, my point is, find little things that are wrong, no, different with the injured side. Use those as a metric for improvement. Break through one metric, then find another, but keep going back and check earlier metrics.

My next goal is to determine which part(s) of the routine unlocked my hip, to do the sidekick.
 

EricG

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Asked Brian Finich during PT last summer if everyone he sees gets the same high level of engagement and he answered the athletes do. Loved the fact that I was put in the correct category rather than the passive old guy bucket. PT's like treating subjects that will likely fully recover like athletes. Going in with a goal and a timetable will often produce positive results.

A great physical therapist is just as invaluable as a great ski instructor/coach.

Engagement is a 2-way street, I got board with my PT and well we all know how things go when your bored... I'm 2hrs north of @Brian Finch and need to find time to go see him to get a 2nd opinion after my next dr appt.
 

Brian Finch

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Asked Brian Finich during PT last summer if everyone he sees gets the same high level of engagement and he answered the athletes do. Loved the fact that I was put in the correct category rather than the passive old guy bucket. PT's like treating subjects that will likely fully recover like athletes. Going in with a goal and a timetable will often produce positive results.

A great physical therapist is just as invaluable as a great ski instructor/coach.


Need to think on a better reply here, but my 2:52 am thought is that it’s critical to understand ‘bucket the patient places themselves into’ - Skiers/Active folks are often written off as malingering or needy as the 80/20 rule says most just get better.... massive confirmation bias in that narrative as many patients have no complaints after injury / surgery as they tend to be on the more sedentary side of the curve. If your mobility requirements are to get to the bathroom & shop once per week, ya tend not to drive a lot of inflammation or confront range restrictions - and that’s ok if the client chooses this. We also need to provide the road map for individuals who want to boot up on the access road, hike 1/4 mile & ski all day.

:)
 

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