I QUIT!!!

My physical therapist sucked. I say sucked (past tense) because I QUIT physical therapy!

YAY!!!!

My therapist sucking wasn't the main reason I quit. It just affirmed my decision. The main reason I quit was because everything I did at therapy, I could do at home. And I will do it at home. For free. While watching Dr. Phil. With my kitty cats staring at me, curiously wondering what the heck I am doing.

Pysical Therapy is a scam, I tell ya! They don't think you know how to stretch all by yourself!


But let's talk more about my therapist...

She was not very good at building rapport or communicating. She didn't set any goals for me or tell me what I could expect from doing physical therapy. I only went four times, but that was enough to get a feel for her lack of communication skills. Here's how our relationship went down...

 Last Friday she did my evaluation and sort of explained what was going on with my knee.

On Monday she taught me the exercises I should be doing to strengthen my glutes and loosen up my hip flexors. 

On Wednesday, her assistants told me what to do and she checked in on me once. 

Yesterday (Friday) she didn't even say hi to me. She walked by me at least 20 times, but did not acknowledge my presence. She didn't even ask how my knee was doing. (This was the one day it was actually aching from sitting at the ballet all morning.)

Then there were the exercises...

Every exercise and stretch they had me do, except for one, I can do at home. And they're not any sort of secret/special exercises or anything. In fact, when I googled "hip flexor exercises" and "IT Band stretches", images of the exact exercises she had me doing popped up. It's not rocket science.

I will give her props for doing a good job evaluating what was going on with me mechanically. However, she didn't exactly explain it to me correctly. On Friday, her assistant explained it better to me while he was massaging my IT Band. He actually enjoyed talking and answering my questions.

Isn't it amazing that the assistant was able and willing to explain my problem to me in a way that was direct and that I could understand? He he didn't act like it was a chore to answer my questions. My therapist acted like me being there  and asking specific questions was a chore for her. Hurumph.

One of the stretches they had me doing was for my IT band. When I did that stretch, I felt that ache-y feeling in my knee. So it's not really my knee at all that hurts, it's my IT band! Her assistant confirmed that. I told him I didn't understand why my glutes weren't strong and they weren't "activating" like my therapist told me. I do squats and lunges out the wazoo at the gym. He explained that it wasn't that my glutes weren't strong- they are probably very strong- but my quads are A LOT stronger. So when my glutes fatigue, my quads take over. That puts strain on my IT band, which starts to ache around my knee.

It's fascinating how it's all connected!!!!

Apparently I'm not the only one who thinks physical therapy is a waste of time and money. Check out this interesting read...

So all in all, I am very thankful to find out exactly what is going on with my knee/IT band/glutes/hip flexors, and I'm glad to have learned some things to correct my problems. I am excited to design a stretching/strengthening plan for myself t home. I love making plans!!

**I am sure you have noticed I have never once mentioned where I went to physical therapy. If you are curious and want to private message me, I will tell you so you can stay away from it.


Have you ever gone to PT? Did you find it effective?
Do you think I gave PT enough of a chance?