Physical Therapy

I have a love/hate relationship with physical therapy. A lot of my dislike revolves around those therapists who show you an exercise to do, tell you to do 30 repetitions of it, and then leave you on your own. When they come back to “check” on you, they give you another exercise. Why do I need them? I could look up the exercises in a book or online and accomplish the same thing.

There are other therapists who at least make sure you are doing the exercise correctly before they disappear.

I have also injured myself while trying to accomplish the contortions that the therapist instructed me to do. I have often left with further disability and pain than when I arrived.

I once had a severely broken finger, the ring finger on my left hand. The repair involved surgery and the placement of pins. Six weeks after surgery, when the cast was removed, I was headed for the physical therapist. Although the bone was healed, I had limited movement in my finger. The therapist was fabulous. Her treatment was a combination of massage and exercise. I didn’t enjoy it, but it worked well. I have no deficit in that finger.

I have been sent for shoulder therapy, lower back therapy and, most recently, toe therapy. Toe therapy?

My son-in-law laughed hard while he envisioned tiny barbells being lifted by my toes.

In reality, things started to help, although I am far from having a normal feeling and functioning big toe. Everything was going great till the therapist had me do leg lifts while lying on my sides on a table. I don’t know what happened, but the pain that ensued lasted for a week. I thought I tore something.

Unfortunately, my therapy was cut short because my husband is having open heart surgery. I didn’t want to be in a place with people walking in and out and Covid on the rise. I opted to wait until he has the all-clear after his operation, and I can commit to being out in the open without fear of contracting something myself. In the meantime, I do the exercises she has shown me ( minus the leg lifts ) and hope to return for additional therapy. The toe still hurts, and although it has more movement, it is limited and driving and walking are still not back to normal.