Physical Therapy: Want a side of fries with that?...

It's now 2 weeks later and I've just finished my second session of PT ... I had to postpone the start due to the fact that I "threw out" my lower back last Sunday picking up Noa from her crib. (ouch) ... After 5 days of back spasms and crazy pain, the shot of Voltaren right in my ass/lower back, Ibuprofen pills, and "Happy Pills" (muscle relaxants) things felt just about right .... so off to PT I went. 

Yesterday they started me off with the new routine ... that will last 10 sessions ... they will vary, yet it appears that we will always begin the same way ... when I show up, they lay me on a cot (face down) and give me 3-5 mins of ultrasound right on the spot (apparently they've decided it's the PIRIFORMIS they need to focus on) ... the ultrasound is supposed to reduce inflammation. Good.

Then from there they take me into the next booth where they aim a crazy boom-arm apparatus thing at the same zone (yes, my ass) and say, "This is microwaves ... you'll feel heat, but it won't burn ... relax..."  (I'm uneasy by the "microwave" thing and wonder if I should order a side of fries with my rump roast)... they leave me baking for 8 more minutes ...  not bad ...

From there we move into the stretching/exercise zone ... they walk me through 3 different stretches and leave me on my own to do 15 reps per leg for 10 sec holds of each stretch ... (kind of trying to make up for all those days, weeks or years I neglected stretching ....whoops. )

Then the PT takes me to the massage cot where she starts to twist turn pull dig press and whaterver else to see where the problem is and how to untie the knots ... as she interviews me to collect more info I confess my poor discipline for stretching ... and she replies, "you don't have to tell me, I can feel it ... and you're damn lucky you haven't done more serious damage sooner ... get on the ball with this one, it's not too late..."

She aligns my "sacrum" and tells me to run through the stretching again at night and to return the next day for more .....   that was easy and far less painless than I was hoping ... I feel like I need someone to really dig the knots out with their elbow ...  more tomorrow.  I'll let you know how it goes.

Next Step: Recovery ...

Good news! The ST (Sports Traumatologist) read the test results of my MRI and X-rays and told me that although there is mild compression on my semi-dehydrated disk between L4 and L5 that there is clearly no pinched nerve ... whew! ...
The x-rays show no problems either (except for the fact that he pointed out that my "femur heads" which are normally spherical are more oblong or oval shaped ... which may lead to problems some time down the road  - I guess he added that just so I had something to look forward to when I get old ...)
So, he prescribed 10 sessions of "functional rehabilitation" (I've translated that directly from his presciption ...) i.e. PT (physical therapy) ... massage, etc.

I've got my first visit lined up for Friday on my lunch break ... I'll let you know how it goes ...

I gotta run (soon)-
Ryan