Chapter One Closes, Chapter Two Begins – Final Thoughts on Physical Therapy And Next Steps
Apr. 15th marked my final PT appointment for the tendon injury I have been battling. I knew things weren’t healing as well as expected before walking in there, and wasn’t surprised to receive a poor analysis on my situation from the trainer. She recommended I have an MRI done to check for any tears in the tendon, which I was planning on doing regardless of her final thoughts.
Overall, I’m pretty unhappy with the whole physical therapy thing. From the start I had been telling them where the pain was located, what caused the pain and what didn’t, and how things changed from week to week. Just one month after the injury occurred I was starting to believe that perhaps I was suffering from something more than just a strained tendon and muscle. The trainer believed otherwise, and part of me wonders if it was all an attempt to suck as much money out of me as possible before filling out the discharge paperwork.
So tomorrow morning I’m off to the doctor and then hopefully I can schedule the MRI for the same day, as I only have ten days to let Sportrock know if I’m going to be out for another month or not (most likely my RTC date (”Return To Climbing”) will be pushed back yet another month. For a tendon tear, possibly more.
Final thoughts on Physical Therapy - I don’t think I will ever be wasting my time or money again. I know the body can heal and recover naturally from simple injuries and generally being overworked. For potentially more serious injuries, I’ll go straight to the machines that can tell me exactly what is wrong, rather than sit around for two months while some speculates.
Posted in Daily Thoughts
April 21st, 2009 at 1:35 pm
Hey, Derek. That sucks. My fingers (currently resting after a little overuse of my own this weekend, along with my uber tired shoulders) are crossed that you get a helpful diagnosis.
I'm not sold on PT either, but I think it's because I haven't found the right PT yet for my particular situation, not because the whole discipline is bunk. After trying a few different PTs and treatment providers for my knee injuries, I finally found one PT who, in one visit, taught me rehab exercises to do at home, and a taping method that worked fantastically. In one visit, he armed me to rehab my knees and prevent injury in the future. He's a knee guy, and I have yet to find a hand / wrist / elbow / shoulder guy / gal, but I believe he or she is out there. If I had that resource, my first stop would be my friendly neighborhood PT with whom I have a long term relationship. I've been nursing a bicep issue for the last few months that I'm sure could be addressed with two sessions of physical therapy, to learn exercises to better balance my shoulders and arms. But, I just haven't found a PT with experience with climbers, and that's a prerequisite for me.
I think part of it is learning to be a good consumer of medical services. I've had experiences like yours, where the provider just didn't listen, didn't help, and at the end, I was no better (or, was even worse) then when I started. Now, I'm more careful about correcting course early. If the provider isn't listening, I take my very limited time and money elsewhere.
Fingers crossed that you get a helpful diagnosis. Please keep us posted… I learn so much from reading other peoples' injury reports. I keep thinking that I missed my calling… I wish I'd become a physical therapist!