Posts Tagged ‘new exercises’
7/14/10 Physical Therapist – “You are a lot stronger!”
Today I had a Physical Therapy appointment with Travis, and when he did the test for strength on the gluteus medius, I was able to resist quite successfully! This is a far cry from how I did on the test in February. Then, he and I got to talking about how it would have been great if we had had actual measurements in February rather than just pictures.
So, we decided to do the measurements today since I am not done, yet. There is more work to be done and more success to be had 🙂
Travis drew a line on the inside of my foot just above the arch, and he explains it below:
“The test where I drew a line on the inside of your foot is called the Feiss Line and with it I check the degree at which your navicular [the bone basically at the top of your arch] changed from a non-weightbearing to a weightbearing position.  Ideally the navicular should stay very close to this line and if it falls closer to the floor it indicates varying degrees of flat feet.  The distance on your R [right] foot was unchanged and on the left it was 5 mm (virtually unchanged).”
Right Feiss Line
Left Feiss Line
Woohoo! Did you read that?! My left foot arch was virtually unchanged! I’ll bet that in February it would have been quite different. I cannot help but smile at this 🙂
Next, I had to lay down with my feet hanging off the table so Travis could find subtalar neutral on my feet. He then drew a line on the heel of my foot. This is called measuring the “degree of eversion”, and he explains this below:
“Then I also measured the degree of eversion noted at your subtalar joint while weighbearing and it looked great.  There was a minimal amount of eversion noted on the left foot and essentially none on the right foot.”
Right Eversion
Left Eversion
OMG – Are you reading what I’m reading? He just said that my right foot is basically “normal” when I am standing! I am standing in a virtually subtalar neutral stance on the right foot, which is as good as it gets. The left is only off by a tiny amount (2 degrees or something).
Now, this does not take into account when I am running, which still has some falling of the arches. So, more work to be done with strengthening the foot. However, standing still with almost normal stance is AWESOME!!
So, today he gave me 6 exercises with the caveat that I may stop the other exercises unless I have symptoms that the exercises correct. Hooray! Less exercises! Oh, wait, these new exercises are not easy….
First, I isolate the gluteus maximus by laying on my stomach and bending one leg at a 90 degree angle at the knee (where else would it bend at a 90 degree angle – duh!). Then, I lift the leg using the glute 10 times for 3 sets.
Next, I do what he calls the “stork”. I stand on one leg leaning against a workout ball. Then, I do one-legged squats (essentially) keeping my hips aligned (not letting one fall). It is harder than it sounds.
Then, he told me that I would be doing a side plank, and I told him that would be too easy. So, he told me to balance my arm on a Bosuâ„¢, then do the side plank. Once in a side plank, I lift up the top leg for 10 reps and 3 sessions. Yeah, that’ll teach me to talk smack.
Another exercise is an oldie, but goodie. I stand on a step on one foot with that foot angled in. I then lift to standing on the toe and lower to slightly below the top of the step and repeat for 10-15 with 3 sets.
Finally, I balance on a very squishy circle with my eyes open for 30 seconds. Try this at home – it is harder than it sounds. When that becomes easy, I close my eyes and when that is easy I close my eyes and then tilt my head. I’m going to look really hot in the gym when I start tilting my head 🙂
Anyway, a very awesome visit, and I hope to document even more cool changes!
Physical Therapy Visit 5/26/10
It really does take a Village!
Today, I went into Travis after having an increase in the “pulling” sensation in my left hamstring and sometimes my upper calf muscle. I showed him where my problem was, and he said that he did not think it was my hamstring. After several tests, he hypothesized that the sciatic nerve is being irritated by the piriformis muscle (this is a muscle that wraps around your hip bone from the tail bone to the top of the femur or big leg bone).
HA! Once again the symptom is not really anywhere near the problem! The idea is that the sciatic nerve runs under the piriformis. Thus, when the piriformis is tight (mine is), then it places pressure on the sciatic. Pressure on the sciatic equals irritation further down the leg.
So, if this sciatic nerve hypothesis is correct, then it explains why glute exercises irritate it. When I work out my glutes, then I am definitely tightening the piriformis muscle, thereby irritating the sciatic – VOILA! My hamstring feels like it’s “pulling” or doing all the work.
Wow, if this is correct, I am going to advertise for real for my physical therapist!
The exercises:
I am to do a slumped stretch where I slump over as much as possible with my hands completely limp and resting on the chair behind me while I lift my leg just enough to stretch but not irritate the sciatic nerve.
Then, a “press-up” where I lay on my stomach and press up with my arms. This is to help relieve any pressure that might be coming from misalignment in my back (I’ll get back to that as I am now going to call my chiropractor to consult him).
Next, a bridge to specifically use my lower back.
Finally, a stretch for the piriformis.
Oh, I’m also supposed to foam roll the piriformis when I foam roll the IT Band.
So, I have a plan. I have a new diagnosis that is much more plausible. However, this is still a hypothesis.
As for how my chiropractor fits in: Travis said that when folks have sciatic nerve problems a lot of time it starts when the vertebrae put pressure on a disc. So, there could be a possibility of my having a disc out of place or something, but my symptoms are so mild that it is probably not that severe. I am going to call Dr. Larry tomorrow to talk about it.
Anyway, several things fell into place if the sciatic nerve and the piriformis are to blame. First, I have not had problems with the sciatic in a very long time – maybe a year, and that includes all the running I did at the start of this project. The one thing that is true for that point in time is that I was getting a back adjustment and an hour-long therapeutic massage every two weeks. It has been over 5 weeks since my last massage, and I had not had an adjustment in 4 weeks when I saw Dr. Larry last Friday.
Put that all together and my piriformis has had the chance to really get tight, and my back could have gotten all kinds of out of whack. Plus, when you are not getting regular adjustments, your body tends to not hold them as well. I know all this seems to point to the fact that once you start chiropracti you never stop.
Well, I don’t think it’s like fast food where you become addicted, I think it is something that your body actually needs on a regular basis. I also think that everyone should get a massage at least once per month. With our sedentary lifestyles, our bodies do not get the constant movement that they were made to do. So, they get all “stove up” or tight and run down. The chiropracti puts everything back into alignment, while the massage relaxes the muscles and helps the body to hold the correct postion, especially when supplemented further by strengthening and exercise.
However, I must bid you good bye as it is time for me to ice my butt. Have a great evening!