sports medicine physical therapy > ortho physical therapy

today i had the opportunity to visit bob at instep for a physical therapy session.  my insurance doesn't cover any sports medicine physical therapy so seeing bob is coming straight outta of compton... er... i mean my pocket.

initially, i was seeing a sweet little girl named megan over at froedtert, but she wasn't helping.  quite frankly... i don't think she knew what the hell she was talking about.  she tested my range of motion the entire first visit, and i left there with handfuls of handouts with exercises to strengthen my "weak ankles and glute muscles".  i suppose it is needless to say (although i will say it anyway) that i left there less than thrilled, and not feeling very confident in megan's ability to help me.  after all, if i wanted a personal trainer i would have gone to the gym.  *sigh*  so i did the exercises she prescribed and then i went back in two weeks expecting her to follow through with the treatment that my doctor prescribed when sending me to her in the first place.  which was deep tissue massage and electro-therapy.  neither of which she addressed in the first visit.  during the second visit she asked about my running and how i was feeling and then put me on a bosu ball.  she wanted me to do several sets of single leg squats.  i obliged and basically got an insurance paid for work out.  i inquired about the actual therapy that my doctor prescribed and megan informed me that she didn't think that was the route to take as based on my symptoms she believed i just had weak ankles and glutes so no need for that pesky therapy.

um, what?!?

it was at this point that i decided that she knew nothing jon snow!  jesus!  so i cancelled all the remaining appointments and the receptionist actually asked me if megan had released me from care.  as if i have to have her permission to be in charge of my own care!  wtf?!?  i said no and that i was going to find a sports medicine therapist.

fast forward to today.

i go in to see bob and tell him what has been going on.  he does a few simple tests and then i tell him what megan said and he laughed.  he laughed out loud.  i told him what my doctor said and he agreed completely with him.  i liked him right from the start.  bob put his hands on me right away.  felt how my muscles were moving (or not moving as it were) and seemed to know what he was talking about.  he manipulated the muscles in my left glute and hip manually and with tools.  it was pretty painful at times, but i am hopeful that i will see results.  he seemed to think things will be fine in a few months or sooner.  he explained to me that what is going on in my calf has to do with constricted blood flow and that's why the muscle is knotted up and hard in a bunch of spots.  he gave me some exercises to help remedy that as well as did the torturous electro-therapy for 15 minutes.  he manipulated my calf for a long time before the torture which hurt like hell but now (several hours later) it feels pretty damn good.  apparently the hip/glute/calf are all related which i figured but it was nice to have it confirmed.  he isn't worried about the numbness and doesn't think i have sciatica which is also super relieving.  i just have some fucked up muscles that got all tightened up for some reason over the winter and need to be softened up and stretched out and back to normal.

mostly it's just nice to know that i know my body as well as i do and that someone else listened to me.  that damn girl didn't listen to me at all and it was so frustrating.  i assume that it is because she's young and maybe with time and experience she will learn to listen.  either way... i'm glad i'm not in her care anymore because man that was frustrating!

life is good people!  be inspired!