Last go-around at physical therapy, part of my regimen included "therapeutic massage." I was very excited when she told me that it would part of my treatment - I love realllllly hard kneading in massages and figured that even PT, medical massage would be delightful.
WRONG.
This time around, I am being stretched. Even with a partner, you just can't target the small muscles and ligaments that an expert knows how to pinpoint. And once the target is acquired, no mercy is shown!!!!! Being stretched is NOT the the gentle muscle encouragement that I'd imagined - twist this way, pulling, pulling, bend here, and yank that leg over there!!!
YOWZA. OWIE.
I do love heat and stimulation, though. Electrical treatment didn't sound nice (they describe the sensation as "angry bees" or "ants marching"), but it's actually quite blissful. You crank up the voltage a leeeettle higher than is comfortable and settle back into the heating pad. You quickly become accustomed to the tiny shocks, and it modulates into a pleasant tingling. 15 minute of that and you're complacent and relaxed, ready to face the world again - or take a long nap.
Still, since I had to go through the torture and a bunch of strengthening exercises to get to the heat and stim ("back candy") I wasn't too sad to bid this round of PT adieu.
Until I realized that now, I will have to do stretching and strengthening without ending on a treat.
WAH.
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2 comments:
This made me laugh out loud (might be the hysterical laughing of jet-lag though...) I remember the stretching and I too thought the electrical stimulations at the end were pretty relaxing. :o) Though, my back still hurts - probably because I didn't contort myself unless the PT person was there to force me - no home stretching here. Lesson: do it!
Hmmm, I'll keep that in mind. Bit it's always to so hard to Just Do It on your own. Hence the need for coaches, PTs, personal trainers...
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