Thursday, July 5, 2012

first physical therapy appointment for my knees

So the PT came in, poked at me, and made me lay in various positions while bending, lifting, and otherwise manipulating my legs. Then he left the room and came back with a life-size plastic model of the structure of a healthy knee and pointed to a join between the unnaturally blue tendony thing and the plastic bone. "This is the problem" he said "you see this thing? It's right in the middle of the leg bone? Well, on you it's not there, it's all the way over here" and he poked the little bump under my knee. " So, when you bend your knee the tendon isn't moving through this groove above the kneecap, but is grinding against the edge of the bone. So, it's already real susceptible to inflammation. And right now you have a LOT of inflammation going on in here."
And there is that word again.
So, the verdict is that I am put together all wrong (tell me something I don't know!) so when you add in a ton of inflammation you get a ton of pain. He gave me these day-glo rubber tube things and instructed me to do an exercise called "the clam" (No. Really. They thought that was a good name for it). And to ice my knees "aggressively" which means five times a day, both sides. And then we'll see how things are in another month. The thing in my knee that forms a little lump that clunks around when I squish it is the muscle supporting the inner edge of my knee cap going in to "emergency spasms" (or some damn thing) in an effort to deal with the effects of my shitty skeletal structure combined with my shitty auto-immune thing. Well, that explains that, anyway.
While I would dearly love to address the root cause of all this pain, the inflammation, there is very little that Kaiser can do for me besides give me anti-inflammatory drugs. But, hey, at least I *can* take them and haven't had any serious troubles from them yet. I bleed like a stuck pig when I poke myself in the finger at work (constantly) but otherwise I am not experiencing trouble. And it keeps me, at least for now, from having to try disease modifying drugs like TNF inhibitors (which my sister uses because YAY this is genetic and she can't take the anti-inflammatory drugs, but you have to give yourself injections and I am pretty sure that would make me throw up)

The good news is that the PT was very impressed with how strong and flexible my legs are, which is all thanks to ballet. When I was first starting in September my legs positively shuddered during pliƩs. After my first class my teacher spent quite a while with me, sitting on the floor showing me exercises I could use to strengthen my janky thigh muscles to protect my tricky knees. Aside from enjoying dancing I feel better when I think I am doing something positive for myself, being proactive and taking command of my own body. Also, considering I wouldn't have quit anyway even if he'd told me I was just doing myself more damage... I am glad to hear that that is NOT the case.

8 comments:

  1. Girl, you and I have the same problem. I just haven't been doing my clams, because... in all honestly it's hard work. I had to alter my clam work out to on my back, with my torso in the air and my neck and arms against the floor supporting me, and then my feet flexed up AND THEN I clam it up. I haven't seen my PT guy in over a month... he's going to hate me.

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    1. UGH! CLAM! Sorry, I feel a lot of hate toward the clam right now! My bum hurts and I am not a happy camper. Sometimes it's hard to imagine how causing my booty that much pain and suffering is going to make my knees feel better.
      I am trying to visualize your clam adjustment, and everything I am seeing in my mind is just crazy! I salute you and your mad clam skillz, my friend.

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  2. Hey, Rheumatic Princess! It’s not only your legs that are strong and flexible, but also your personality as well. It radiates exuberance, and I can even see that while reading your detailed post. While PT procedure improves the quality of your life, it also helps you to adapt to your physical limitations.

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    1. Thanks, I am trying! A month in to this whole thing and I feel like I haven't progressed very far. But, I know it's a long and ongoing process and (as my ballet teacher likes to remind us) Rome wasn't built in a day.

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  3. Doing a side leg lift physical therapy exercise for the knees is a great way to build strength back.

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  4. How long have you been suffering from rheumatoid arthritis, girl? I strongly agree with Sienna. Physical therapy can absolutely help you exceed beyond your limits. :) I hope your treatment regiment involves at least some medicating.

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    1. It started in my wrists and hands (I sew for a living) about 8 years ago. It has only started progressing beyond that in the last few years, the last twelve months being the absolute worst of my life. As it hasn't been properly diagnosed yet (I have a really shitty HMO which is renowned for it's inability to diagnose) it isn't being well controlled (I use an NSAID daily, but it certainly isn't enough), which has made physical therapy basically useless. It is certainly something I will be willing to do in the future, however, if the underlying problem ever improves at all.

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  5. “I know it's a long and ongoing process…”---- Indeed! Before you get a great result, you really need to invest some dedication and hard work order for you to achieve it. So how was it? I’m sure you allotted time and effort in your therapy. I hope that it turned out wonderfully!

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