#pt anon

Let’s call my PT M. M has helped me so much over the past however long I’ve seen her. (A year? It feels like longer.) Like, she’s the reason I’ve improved so much, I swear. So my first note is PT is worth it. Goodness, it’s worth it. I’m so happy I went. Pain makes your muscles TENSE. Mine were so locked up and tense. M has been amazing helping me recover from the past three years.

My second note: M is very understanding and worked to make sure I was comfortable. Until I went to PT, I didn’t fully realize… I do not like being touched from behind where I can’t see you, and I did not like her checking my front pelvic joint. I… NOPE. I’d cry after the appointment in the car (and probably messed up whatever M had just fixed). So, my mom (cuz I was a minor when I first went to PT) let M know I was gonna talk at our next appoint before we started the actual therapy. I told M what I was uncomfortable with. She understood this and we made some changes. Instead of my laying on her stomach so she can work on my back, I’d lay on my side. Instead of her checking my pelvic joint, she showed me how to. Whomever ends up helping you, Anon, your PT should be accommodating. You should feel safe. Your PT should listen. Alright? This also goes for if something is too physically painful for you. Tell them, “That hurts too much, I can’t do that.” They should listen to you and do something else instead.

My third note: I do exercises! But not the kind most think of. The exercises I do are to stretch out and loosen muscles, and move certain joints back into place if need be. The exercises that move joints around, I do with my PT. She moves them by using muscles, and it’s actually really cool to talk to her about it. (I like learning and knowing things, so I asked a lot of questions when I first started PT.) The exercises I do to stretch out and loosen my muscles, I do those by myself! The ones I have are to help my upper back, shoulders, neck, jaw, torso, lower back, upper thighs, and hips specifically. (Which is… most of my body, yike s.) Some of them, it’s as simple as laying down flat, lifting only my head up for ten seconds, then lowering it. Some of them I tie a stretchy, rubber strip of whatever and tie it around a doorknob, stand a yard away from it, and just pull it back. For some of them, I lay down on a foam roller and balance on it, or roll back and forth slightly on it. (The original foam roller I got hurt, and my PT found out about one made specifically for people with fibro/chronic pain. It’s a MELT FOAM ROLLER. It’s not cheap, but it’s something you can look into if a normal foam roller hurts too much.)

My fourth note: I normally see my PT once a week, but if I have a flare up or something gets bad, I go twice. No matter how many times I go during the week, if I’m in a flare up or something is really bad, I told my PT. Communicate with your PT. It makes things so much better.

My fifth note: My insurance covers my PT, so yay for that! They approve a select number of visits, and when I hit the max, my PT seconds in a request for more, because I need it. So far, they haven’t turned us down. They’ve been slow, once or twice, when it came to approving, but they haven’t turned anything down.

My sixth note: It probably won’t be painless. I have fibro. You have fibro. Fibro is rude. Some things you do in PT may not be painless. If you can stand the pain or it’s not bad, tough it out, cuz it means whatever area you’re working on needs it. If it hurts too much, like I said earlier, STOP. Do something else. Go back to the area of pain later.