I Love My PT

Here's a good pic of my gal pals in Master's swim class. From left, Sarah, me, Marsha, and Natalie. They're a lot of fun (and they're very fast) and Master's swim wouldn't be nearly as fun without them.

They guys are great too but they weren't interested in getting their picture taken.

We don't actually have master's swim class this week - it runs in 5 week sessions and the next one starts next week (hence, why I brought my camera to the pool). Good time to take a photo.

But my big news of the day is my appt with Todd Smith, PT extraordinnaire at Proactive Physical Therapy and Sportsmedicine here in Greeley. I've been to Todd before and was so impressed that I went back.

Todd was actually a dietetics student way back when I was at CSU getting my doctorate. I worked as a supervisor of dietetics students at the student health center and he was one of my students who I trained when I was there. Not longer after that, he decided to change majors and pursue physical therapy. Wa-la, here he is and we're working together again!

He did a thorough exam and pinpointed the pain fairly easily (and pinpointed is an understatement - he pretty much nabbed it).  Its the insertion of the tensor fascia lata muscle into the iliac crest bone. Just what I thought (ha ha).

He worked the area for awhile moving my leg in more ways than I knew it could be moved, pressing his thumb into the area where it hurt to confirm the diagnosis and well, it REALLY hurt. But I was just glad to have it figured out and to hopefully, be put on a treatment plan.

But all the while I was bracing myself for the possibility that he might say "no running forever". Ok, I exaggerate, I knew he wouldn't say that but I was worried that he would say "no running for 3 months" or something like that.

Todd could see the look on my face and he said "you runners are crazy...no, you Ironman people are crazy!". Then he told me about two treatment options that he felt would really help. The first one was what he calls "ultrasound" which is heat probe that he would apply to the area for 10 mins (what he had done for my lower back a year ago, that really worked). He also told me about a new "needle therapy" that used acupuncture needles, but was not acupuncture, that he had used with some success in other patients.

But he would not do the needle therapy without talking to "my doctor" (aka, Kurt) first.  He said that not running would be ideal, but that he knows better to tell a runner not to run and that slow running on soft surfaces twice/week might be ok. He encouraged me to do more biking and swimming and lay off the running for awhile, except maybe a few slow runs each week. He also said to run only on flat surfaces - not the side of the road where its curved.

This was good news!  His assistant did the ultrasound and it felt great afterwards. I left the office with absolutely no pain but noticed after I drove less than a mile, that it hurt again when I got out of my car. However, it went away soon after that and tonight, it feels fine.

So, I go back twice next week and between now and then, I will do the slow, easy, short runs on soft surfaces and bike and swim more. I forgot to mention that I did run today - 40 mins on the grass at UNC and although I had pain the first 20 mins, it went away (such a weird injury - it comes and goes all the time!).

But I'm really encouraged and happy that its not worse. And I don't mind biking more, its just that biking takes so much more time!  Next week I have a crazy-busy week and it will be hard to fit it in. But I'll do it.

So, that's it for now. I need to focus on the positive and not get down about not doing the long runs on the weekends. Hopefully, I'll be back at it soon.

I love my PT!