An Exercise in Awkwardness
I had to break up with my physical therapist today. Talk about awkward.
I started PT for my old lady knee (I call her "Edna") about a month ago. I've seen some improvement, but I felt like the therapist was a little ... off. She seemed rushed if I had to leave my 9 a.m. appointment by 10:30. She continued to give me more and more exercises to do at home, while doing little more than ultrasound and some electro-stimulation moves in the office. How did she fill that 90 minutes, you ask? Well, I'm a talker myself, but she took the cake. So much information. So much justification of treatment decisions. So. Much. Talking.
She's a nice woman so I kept it up, but I reached my tipping point on Monday. My knee had started catching weirdly. I'd be walking all confident and normal, and my knee would catch and jerk. I can easily walk it out, but it was new and weird. I thought for sure she could help. After about 20 minutes of watching me walk and talking about hamstrings and AD ductors and whatever else, we did some exercises, but they strained my kneecap a bit. But whatever. OK. I'll play along and be a good patient.
Then I got stuck on the exam table.
(This part is slightly embarrassing.)
For some reason, tables like the kind you'd find in PT offices or massage parlors make my back seize in a really painful way. I basically freeze up and can't move until I force my muscles to relax and do a lot of deep breathing. I'd mentioned to her on a few occasions that my back was freezing up, and she'd say "You're too young for that!" But she wouldn't tell me how to fix it! Or do anything to help it! On Monday, it was so bad that I couldn't move or lift my legs. I lay there, stuck. Like a turtle on its back. I couldn't move anything. She went into the same "You're too young for this!" BS and "I can help you up." Yet she made no move to help me up. Embarrassed, I finally asked her to please leave the room because I needed some privacy.
It took me a good 30 seconds or more to get off the table. When I did, I couldn't stand up straight. After some gentle stretching, I got the ol' back working again and declared my session over. (It was almost 10:30.) I walked out wondering what good PT is if it can't help you with your back, when your back is a known problem. What good are all these exercises I do at home that she says will strengthen my back/quads/hams when my back feels weaker? Why am I paying to feel like a chubby idiot stuck on a table who can't get herself up?
Lucky for me, this all went down at the same time I had to see my orthopedist for a followup. He's super nice, so I told him about how great I had been feeling until my knee started catching and locking, and how my back was doing weird stuff. I talked a bit about the PT and he made a face and quickly recommended I try again with a more sports-medicine oriented person. The dude is so nice that he didn't say anything critical until we got to the checkout desk. "We're going to send her to someone else. She had a weird lady this time around."
All of this meant I needed to tell my PT that I wouldn't be back. She texts me, so I thought I'd just send her a quick note that our last session had been Monday, and hey! Thanks! Let me know what I owe you.
"Sorry, what did the doctor say?" she replied.
The doctor said you're whacko, that's what he said.
No really. I didn't type that. But it took me an hour to come up with something and I felt awful and awkward for that entire hour. I eventually said that he's happy with my progress but that I felt I needed to explore treatment options closer to home or work for my schedule. But geez. What an awkward spot she put me in. Almost as awkward as being stuck on that damn table.
I started PT for my old lady knee (I call her "Edna") about a month ago. I've seen some improvement, but I felt like the therapist was a little ... off. She seemed rushed if I had to leave my 9 a.m. appointment by 10:30. She continued to give me more and more exercises to do at home, while doing little more than ultrasound and some electro-stimulation moves in the office. How did she fill that 90 minutes, you ask? Well, I'm a talker myself, but she took the cake. So much information. So much justification of treatment decisions. So. Much. Talking.
She's a nice woman so I kept it up, but I reached my tipping point on Monday. My knee had started catching weirdly. I'd be walking all confident and normal, and my knee would catch and jerk. I can easily walk it out, but it was new and weird. I thought for sure she could help. After about 20 minutes of watching me walk and talking about hamstrings and AD ductors and whatever else, we did some exercises, but they strained my kneecap a bit. But whatever. OK. I'll play along and be a good patient.
Then I got stuck on the exam table.
(This part is slightly embarrassing.)
For some reason, tables like the kind you'd find in PT offices or massage parlors make my back seize in a really painful way. I basically freeze up and can't move until I force my muscles to relax and do a lot of deep breathing. I'd mentioned to her on a few occasions that my back was freezing up, and she'd say "You're too young for that!" But she wouldn't tell me how to fix it! Or do anything to help it! On Monday, it was so bad that I couldn't move or lift my legs. I lay there, stuck. Like a turtle on its back. I couldn't move anything. She went into the same "You're too young for this!" BS and "I can help you up." Yet she made no move to help me up. Embarrassed, I finally asked her to please leave the room because I needed some privacy.
It took me a good 30 seconds or more to get off the table. When I did, I couldn't stand up straight. After some gentle stretching, I got the ol' back working again and declared my session over. (It was almost 10:30.) I walked out wondering what good PT is if it can't help you with your back, when your back is a known problem. What good are all these exercises I do at home that she says will strengthen my back/quads/hams when my back feels weaker? Why am I paying to feel like a chubby idiot stuck on a table who can't get herself up?
Lucky for me, this all went down at the same time I had to see my orthopedist for a followup. He's super nice, so I told him about how great I had been feeling until my knee started catching and locking, and how my back was doing weird stuff. I talked a bit about the PT and he made a face and quickly recommended I try again with a more sports-medicine oriented person. The dude is so nice that he didn't say anything critical until we got to the checkout desk. "We're going to send her to someone else. She had a weird lady this time around."
All of this meant I needed to tell my PT that I wouldn't be back. She texts me, so I thought I'd just send her a quick note that our last session had been Monday, and hey! Thanks! Let me know what I owe you.
"Sorry, what did the doctor say?" she replied.
The doctor said you're whacko, that's what he said.
No really. I didn't type that. But it took me an hour to come up with something and I felt awful and awkward for that entire hour. I eventually said that he's happy with my progress but that I felt I needed to explore treatment options closer to home or work for my schedule. But geez. What an awkward spot she put me in. Almost as awkward as being stuck on that damn table.
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