Back Pain - Physical Therapy

Sean made the snowman by himself because my back hurt. And watching the snow was fun for me, but I had no desire to touch it.

I think I'm getting better. My last appointment with my PT, Matt, was last Wednesday. My next is this Wednesday. And on Wednesday last he gave me a schedule to try running.

I am not sure what I expected from physical therapy. It was a bit of a shock to me when I complained about the stretches hurting and Sean pointed out to me that Matt never said it would be easy or painless.

Each appointment I start out with a hot pack on my lower back for 8 to 10 minutes. That feels great. Then Matt does ultrasound on my lower back while I am sitting on my heels. 8 minutes. Then I lay on my stomach while he pushes on my back here and there. Then I do part of the "home routine" stretches I have. A few times Matt contorted me in a specific way and pushed my hip to make my sacroiliac joint go through its full range of motion. The last couple of times he's put a belt across my hips to hold my pelvis back while I bend forward in a sitting position.

Sometimes I am sore for awhile after the appointment. Usually I feel much better a few hours after it. Last Wednesday I felt really good. I was excited about trying the run. And I felt good enough Wednesday evening to believe I could do it on Thursday.

Thursday Holly ran with me. I was elated that she was the one wanting to know if it was time to walk yet, and I was the one pushing her to keep going. We did 3 minutes walking 2 minutes running for 20 minutes.

I felt great afterward.

Friday I woke up a little sore. I think that maybe should be expected. I was supposed to take the day off and do the next step on the schedule Saturday.

But I spent most of Friday in a car in the snow. My 3 hour trip back from Georgia turned into more than 6 hours, and sitting causes the most pain for me. So I tried to recuperate Saturday. Last night I didn't sleep well because of the pain in my back and leg. This morning hasn't been much better... although I did take a hot shower and can say I feel some relief now.

I'm not sure if the setback was caused from the stress I put on my joints from running and then not letting it rest by being in the car, or if just the run itself set me back. I'm going to blame the car ride. And I get to do that again tomorrow. So I'm not going to try the next run today. Even if I start feeling great.