Posts Tagged ‘hip flexor’
8/4/10 – Chiropractor and Massage, Finally
What a banner day! I wake up with my nerve in my right arm raging, my quads screaming at me with every movement, and my ankle feeling fine.
So, I arrive at Dr. Larry’s office EARLY, which I never do. As a matter of fact, I think I’m 20 minutes early! Do ya think I’m really looking forward to this visit?
Anyway, when I get to the room, I launch into the shoulder explanation:
Me: “You need to adjust my shoulder b/c my nerve is shooting pain down to my elbow.”
Dr. Larry: “Let me test it first.”
Me: “You really need to adjust my shoulder….”
Dr. Larry: “Just let me test it. Hmmm. Ok. I’ll adjust your shoulder.”
My Shoulder: “CRACK!”
Me: “Ahhh.”
Dr. Larry: “That’s amazing! Have you thought about becoming a chiropractor?”
Ok, so maybe we said slightly different things, but it was something to that extent. I really think that my chiropractor is awesome. His shoulder adjustments are actually a special move that he kind of invented, which as he has said is a combination of two moves to make one super move – “The Macarena”. This is my favorite shoulder adjustment. It always does the trick.
He also did the standard pulling my leg, adjusting my ankle and of course the L5 for the sciatica.
Next, the massage 🙂
Lynda was back from her awesome bike ride across Ohio (correct me if I’m wrong, I think it is Ohio). So cool! She stayed with people she knew all across the state and ate homemade cookies that a family was simply GIVING away to the bike riders. She slogged through thunderstorms and finished with a family wedding. She is awesome!
Then, on her first day back in the office, she has to deal with me – muwahahahaha!
So, she gets to the right shoulder first. Turns out that b/c I have not been wearing my night guard, I have been clenching my jaw, which is not causing issues with my jaw. Instead, the clenching is completely screwing up my right shoulder! It’s all connected, baby.
So, she works some magic on my shoulder muscles (she’s like the muscle whisperer – they release when she tells them to). Then, down to my oh-so-sore quads. I was so not looking forward to this as I knew it was going to hurt.
And it did, but she was able to get the muscles and tendons to relax, which did quicken the recovery time.
My left foot was really crunchy, too. It did decide to relax a bit. She also released my hip flexors.
Overall, a really wonderful and very needed afternoon.
Physical Therapist, Chiropractor and Massage Therapist – Oh My! 6/2/10
So, the trifecta hits in one day! I must say that I truly do have some of the BEST doctors here in Seattle working for me and my high maintenance body.
This morning I went to Travis Orth, my awesome physical therapist, to report on my exercises. Lo and behold it is NOT my piriformis muscles because all that piriformis work did not do a whole lot. He said that he really thought it was my back, which was fortunate because I had a chiropractor appointment this evening. So, I have a whole new set of exercises to work on the multifidus muscles, which function to move the spine as a whole.
Fun Fact: according to Dr. Larry, my chiropractor, the multifidus muscles are unique in that each section works independently of the other sections both up and down the spine as well as the left and right. This means that the right lower multifidus can fire independently of the upper or left multifidus. Cool, huh!
Back to Travis, since it is my back, I am no longer allowed to do any exercises with flexion (meaning bending over). So, the dead lifts are out; the balancing bends, out; lunges, out (for good measure; biking, out (sitting in flexion); etc. However, I can walk (on treadmill or outside) and use the elliptical machine.I also have to sit in the neutral spine position at all times.
Fun Fact: To find neutral spine, lay on your back with your feet on the floor and knees bent. First lift your lower back in as high of an arch as possible. Then, press your lower back down as much as possible. Neutral spine is the position in between these two positions. Thanks, Travis!
So, I then head over to Dr. Larry’s office where he says that he thought he was my back all along 🙂 Anyway, the L5 adjustment was just the same as my lower back adjustment, but more focused on the specific vertebrae. I also requested a set up on the shoulder, which did the trick, and he pulled my left hip and ankle to pop them both. It was a fantastic adjustment day.
I then head into my massage therapist, Linda this week (“Where’s my jello?”). So, I’m explaining the sciatic and how it’s not piriformis, etc. Somehow I tell her my hip flexor (the ilopsoas) is really tight on my right side. She says that it is connected to the L5 vertebrae, and that she has to go in from the front to get to it since it is a deep muscle. Wow!!! I had never had anything like that done. Plus, if the hip flexor is pulling the vertebrae to the right, then no wonder it is the left sciatic nerve with issues.
This is getting better and better! I’m feeling like we’re about to figure some major stuff out.
Well, this massage was simply wonderful and very needed. I had knots in my right and especially my left quadriceps and my left hamstring was really, really sensitive. Linda said that my IT bands felt way better because they were moving rather than just stuck together! Yay!!! That is awesome because I have been working on them for a very long time, and, finally, I have confirmation of progress! Yippee!!!
Also, she worked on the left and right ankles. Well, that left ankle hurt me and apparently her as well because it was so tight. Then, she moved to the really weird iliopsoas muscles. She basically pushed down through the hip bone to the back where she just kind of pushed on the hip flexor. My left side was super easy, but my right side (the tight one) was incredibly painful.
I also asked Dr. Larry if I needed to sleep a certain way, and he said no. Just sleeping on different sides is good enough, and my husband confirmed that I am definitely sleeping on multiple sides with the fact that I always end up with the covers on my side or wrapped around me as proof. Dr. Larry also said that if my hip flexor was tight he would do some activation on it next time.
So, in summary, no running and no exercises with flexion until I have had a chance to further strengthen my back and get the sciatic inflammation down. Still a work in progress….
Physical Therapy Visit 4/8/10
Wow! It has been four weeks since starting physical therapy! And guess what?! Travis had me push my foot against his hand today, and he said that it was definitely stronger! Hooray! It’s working! I’m not ready to run, yet, but things are looking up. Not to mention, I’m very close to running 🙂
Ok, this visit I was so sore from my personal training session with Melissa, that I was really in sad shape to do much for Travis. He kept it simple, but definitely challenging. First, we started with the bridge with a twist – my feet were on a big ball. However, Melissa had made me hold a bridge on one leg for one minute each leg. It was too good of an exercise, and my sore muscles rebelled.
So, Travis, then moved through a series of exercises. My homework is to do them as close to everyday as possible. I took the weekend off, but I started tonight (Monday) with a bang! I did Melissa’s workout combined with Travis’s! Man, was it ever nice to walk into the gym with a plan.
Also, Travis did have me run in my super stiff running shoes with orthotics for 2 minutes. He told me that I picked my feet up at neutral, which does indicate a tight hip flexor, as Melissa had found. So, he said to continue stretching those. He also said that my right foot looked great, while my left foot continued to fall around the arch/ posterior tibialis. So, more work is needed.
Next time I go in, Travis is going to record me running in my super stiff running shoes and my Vibram’sâ„¢. I cannot wait! He said that I might be able to put it up on the blog. So, stay tuned! You might be lucky enough to witness my feet in motion!
Until next time….