Based on Travis’s recommendation that I come back in before I go on my ski trip so that I get some work done to loosen the tissue around my patella and learn how to tape, I had to make an appointment with a different therapist. At Seattle Physical Therapy, there are only three therapists. So, I have definitely seen all of them at work at some point.

I had a 7am appointment with Jeff, who was very thorough in his investigation. He found that my right VMO (little quad muscle on the inside of the knee) was slightly less firm than the left, which he hypothesized meant it wasn’t firing as effectively. Also, he said that I most likely wasn’t using my pelvic floor muscles (if you’re female, think Kiegle exercise) when lifting or using the leg.

So, he tested these, and sure enough, I had a drop in the right hip when, laying on my back, I simply lifted the right leg straight into the air. Ah, those lazy pelvic floor muscles.

Thus, I ended up with two more exercises (one for the VMO – turn the right foot out and lift the leg straight up with the left leg bent and supplying support – and one to teach me to use the pelvic floor muscles while simply raising one leg at a time straight up in the air.), which both proved to be insanely difficult. Shouldn’t I be able to lift my legs???

Jeff also taught me a different way to tape, which worked as well, and I was off to ski!