Below are my treatment updates and progress.

April 25, 2008 - I'm back to work full time!

Like I said last week, every week I think I'm almost better. I have reached a point where I will probably go to PT only if I have a se back. Otherwise, I've got my stamina back and I'm able to see a full load of clients on a daily basis. The big news is that I'm taking a horseback riding lesson this weekend, my first since my fall. I feel that I'm ready to start pushing myself and I'm starting to get back into shape. Today I did a short jog and actually worked up a little sweat. The issues I'm dealing with at this point seem to be better addressed with massage. So, as far as I'm concerned, I'm better!

April 15, 2008 - Week 7 of PT Recap

Every week I think I'm almost 100%, but there is just some tweaky little problem that I'm dealing with. At this point it's my rotators, these muscles are located deep in the pelvic floor and are not reachable with massage. Today my PT did some traction on my hip joint and was able to get better range of motion out of them. We are hoping that the traction will solve my problem once and for all. Regardless of my rotators, I'm able to work almost full time and I'm able to ride the horse, but only at the walk. I've also started a modified pilates workout.

April 5, 2008 - Week 6 of PT Recap

I got busy and forgot to do an update last week. Even though I'm working part time, I am quite busy with clients and going to PT twice a week. Work is going well, but I often have some kind of tweeky pain while I'm working. The main issue right now is that I am not getting rotation in my right leg and my hip flexor/psoas seems to be part of the problem. My therapist massaged it and my psoas yesterday and now it's swollen. Next week is my last week for going to PT twice, then I start once a week for a few weeks. I'm making progress, but sometimes it feels slow.

March 23, 2008 - Week 4 of PT Recap

This was my last week going 3x's a week to PT. My lower lumbar is finally moving and my SI joint is also moving. They started me on the ellipse machine and we are now more focused on strengthening. I was given permission to start doing massages on a part time basis. They also said I could participate in my dog's agility class which means I am aloud to run short distances. Still no horseback riding though. I have 3 weeks left before they turn me loose, I think I should be fully recovered by then!

March 19, 2008 - Study Results on Pain after a Traumatic Accident

I happened to see this article yesterday. They say that 60% of people who experience a traumatic accident are more likely to suffer from chronic pain up to a year afterwards.

Pain lasts long after traumatic injury: study

March 16, 2008 - Week 3 of PT Recap

The good news is that my hips have stabilized and I will be doing a trial run massage at PT next week. If all goes well, I have the go ahead to start seeing clients next weekend. The only setback I seem to have is that the muscles in my right quad/hamstring keep pulling.

March 7, 2008 - Week 2 of PT Recap

I did my PT exercises over the weekend and unfortunately, they caused my hips to move out of place. My PT told me to stop the exercises immediately. I felt like she really listened to me, unlike other therapists I've seen in the past who didn't seem to take me seriously. She gave me a belt to support my hips and I dicussed with her the possibility that my walk could be causing the instability in my hips. She said my walk is not that bad, but agreed that my quads are atrophied on the right leg, and gave me an exercise to help strengthen them. She spent the rest of the week mobilizing my spine and although I'm sore, I am beginning to feel like my old self. Yay!

If you ever need a physical therapist, I highly recommend Complete PT. I first went there a few years ago to treat a shoulder injury and I was very impressed with how knowledgeable and nice the therapists and staff are. When I needed physical therapy this time, I knew where to go. Complete PT is located in West LA off Motor and National at 3283 Motor Avenue. You can reach them at (310) 845-9690.

February 29, 2008 - Week 1 of PT Recap

I had 2 sessions in the pool and I didn't feel like much was happening, my hip flared up and I had a lot of pain in my back from my bones being out of place. On Wednesday, they worked on me on 'land' and they manipulated my hips, sacrum and lumbar spine. I responded well with only 2 sessions of treatment. My pain levels have dropped a lot, amazing how much havoc a misplaced bone can cause!

February 24, 2008 - Massage Today

I saw my massage therapist today and as per my PT's instructions, she worked my glutes, low back and psoas. The psoas is in the back of the abdomen, it's a difficult muscle to reach, but can be responsible for back pain and other issues. My psoas is very tight on the right side, probably not helping with the alignment of my hips. I did my exercises today, iced 4x and walked the dog for 15 minutes. I'm still very sore, so I'm taking it easy and lying around as much as possible.

February 23, 2008 - Pool Therapy

Today was my first session in the pool. I did a lot of exercises and they did traction at the end using ankle weights with floaties to keep me floating. Before I left they did e-stim on my low back and glutes while I layed on ice. I iced 4x today. I'm very sore, sitting or standing for too long makes me uncomfortable, but I can tell that there has been some change in my body. They warned me I'd be sore at first.

February 22, 2008 - Physical Therapy Begins

I went in for my evaluation today. The PT told me that my hips are out, my left leg is locked up, my lower lumbar are locked up and my sacrum is tilted. She adjusted my hips using muscle resistance. She told me to ice, ice, ice, 100x ice, and she gave me a couple exercises to do to stregnthen my core. We are going to do a combination of pool and 'land' therapy. I iced 3x before bed and took and epsom salt bath. My PT said that I should be back to work in a month.

February 20, 2008

After working for a week and a half, I had a bad relapse. I had to quit working again, went to see my Sports MD and started physical therapy.

February 8, 2008 - Trying To Work

I gave my husband a massage on Wednesday night an it went pretty well. I had a lot of achiness in my back the next day, but I feel that I can start to work again. I'm starting out slow, just taking a couple clients next week.

January 27, 2008 - It's Been 6 Weeks

I wasn't able to see the doctor last week because my car broke down. Luckily I am continuing to improve. I was frustrated because I was having so many muscle spasms in my right leg and it seemed like they could potetially turn into a chronic situation. Fortunately, between the trigger point work I did and from massage therapy, the spasms have resolved and now I feel like I'm on the home stretch to complete recovery. It will be 6 weeks tomorrow, and I'm beginning to believe I may be able to work within the next couple of weeks.

January 21, 2008 - It's hard to take it slow

As my mobility improves I'm realizing that I need to be mindful of my body mechanics. I'm able to walk, but because my muscles around my hip, leg and low back are still guarding my SI joint, I am not walking properly. If I walk too much or if I bend from my waist I flare up my injuries. It's difficult to know when I've done too much, so I'll have days where I feel like I'm almost better and then the next day I'm back on the couch with my ice/heat and trigger point tools. I've decided to only bend from my knees at this point because I think the muscles around my hip are torn and the less I use them the quicker they'll heal. I see the doctor on Thursday.

January 16, 2008 - Moving on the the SI Joint and Glutes

I had another massage on Monday and I can tell I'm starting to improve. It was a lot less painful to lie on my table then the first couple of times. My therapist was able to give more pressure too, which is a sign that my inflammation is diminishing. Later that night I was working on trigger points in my low back and fell asleep on my tennis ball. This flared up my back spasm, so I spent Tuesday doing ice/heat rotations with no trigger point work. By the evening it had subsided and I was feeling so good, I was able to walk my dog. I was also able to walk further than I had been able to a couple weeks ago.

Now that my back is under control I'm focusing on the pain in my SI joint and glutes. The SI joint is near the sacrum where I landed and now that the majority of my injury has healed (as in most of the referred pain) this is one of the last areas to heal. My SI joint refers some pain into my right and my left hip, the right being the worst and had the sharp pain at the beginning. Now that I'm almost better I am more aware of the referral to both hips.

I had a lot of energy today and was able to run a couple of errands. When I was done, I was very aware of my right glute muscles, but I didn't have any sciatic pain which is a good sign. I spent the rest of the afternoon doing ice/heat rotations on my SI joint and glute. Hopefully, I will see some positive results tomorrow. I plan to get another massage at the end of the week and if everything continues to improve, maybe, just maybe I can think about getting back to work next week.

On a side note, I have been hearing from some of my clients, they have been calling to check in and see how I'm doing. I know they are anxious for me to get back to work, but I really appreciate their genuine concern for me. It really helps my state of mind knowing that they care and makes me feel very lucky to work with such wonderful people. It also shows me that I've created relationships that will be able to sustain my (hopefully short) break from practice and I feel that is a great testament to the work I do. I hope to see them all very soon!

January 12, 2008 - Now the Abs

This morning I found a whole slew of trigger points in my abs. They start near my hip flexor in the transverse abdominus, and go right up the rectus abdominus muscles. My hamstrings are sore from the therapy yesterday, but they are no longer pulling on my low back muscles and groin. I feel more mobile today and was able to vacuum and move around a lot more. I'm so glad because I couldn't face another day of sitting on the couch with trigger point tools and ice/heat packs. I even had the energy to update my blog.

January 11, 2008 - Time for Hamstring Spasms

As I'm healing, I have new muscles kicking in to compensate. This is a good sign and also annoying at the same time. Last night I noticed that my hamstrings are very tight. It feels like the muscle has been replaced by a steel rod. Today is all about relieving the spasm. I started out using moist heat to loosen it up and then worked on the trigger points. After that I did a few rounds of ice/heat.

I'm finding that if I ice right before I go to sleep, I don't wake up with pain. I also think that I'm turning the corner and that is also contributing to the fact that I'm sleeping better.

January 10, 2008

I had my massage today and I'm pretty tired from it. It is still uncomfortable to lie on my massage table, but already, after my first massage, the muscle spasm in my back is beginning to go away. I iced and took a nap afterwards.

January 9, 2008 - It's Been 3 Weeks

As of last Monday, the 7th, it's been 3 weeks since my fall. I had a massage Monday evening, and on Tuesday morning when I got up, I was very sore. I am not surprised, it's to be expected, but it was a reality check for sure. I thought I was further along in my healing process, but I can see that it's going to take as long as it takes. I'm having another massage on Thursday.

I spent yesterday working on my back spasm. I did ice then followed it with moist heat and repeated the process several times. By the late afternoon I felt great! Unfortunately, when I went to sleep, I did wake up from the pain. That has been happening the last few nights in fact. I quit taking motrin before bed because it doesn't make any difference when it comes to waking up with pain. I'm a little better today, I was very stiff and achy when I first got up.

I'm going to continue with the ice/moist heat routine today, but this time I'm going to focus on my glute and hip.

January 6, 2008

I'm sooooooooo sore. My pain levels are down, but I am aware of my muscles. Still can't touch my toes, putting on shoes and socks is a challenge.

Finally got some MSM, I took 5,000 mg 2x's today. Still being diligent about the ice. I did some light cleaning and walked the dog. I was very very sore after the walk, but I spent the rest of the day and evening resting. I make sure to spend some time doing deep breathing everyday because I know it helps to oxygenate my muscles. I also visualize myself running and riding Chloe. I have moments of total frustrations that I can't work or have a normal life right now, but then I remind myself of how far I've come since my fall and how this situation is just temporary.

January 5, 2008

Today is all about ice (every 2-3 hours) and working out the spasms in my back. I started my day working out the trigger points in my back, then I iced and took an epsom salt bath. I have very little groin pain today, yay! I seem to be walking faster too.

January 4, 2008 - Now for Sciatic Pain

I spent too much time sitting this morning and now I have sciatic pain. My groin pain is also bad so I'm walking more slowly and deliberately which seems to alleviate it. I worked on the trigger points in my back this morning. When the sciatic pain was bothering me, I used my tennis ball to work out the sciatic point in my glute and massaged out a point in my leg. That really did the job. I worked on my trigger points in my back again before I went to sleep. Didn't take motrin till bedtime. I'm going to have my husband get me some MSM tomorrow. Was able to do laundry, but I carried very small loads.

January 3, 2008 - Went To The Sports Medicine Doctor

It's been exactly 2 1/2 weeks since the accident and I'm able to walk, but I still have a lot of pain.

I can put on my own socks now, but I still cannot touch my toes, so I have to be creative with my balance. At least I can balance on both legs! Going from sitting to standing is less painful, but I must be mindful about using my quads to make the movement.

I've been resting, icing and taking epsom salt baths and motrin and arnica for pain. I've also been massaging my quads, groin, glutes, psoas and obliques, but have been unable to work the trigger points in my back until this morning. The bruising is all on the front of my leg, which is weird since I hit the ground with my low back.

I went to see a Sports Medicine doctor to make sure there wasn't something else wrong with me. They told me that 2 1/2 weeks is nothing for an injury of this magnitude and that it could be several weeks before I'm fully recovered. They checked for nerve and structural problems and everything looked good. They basically told me to keep doing what I'm doing. I was hoping they had some kind of treatment that I didn't know about since I'm anxious to get back to work. Looks like my dad was right and now it's up to me to continue to do all the things I tell my clients to do to get out of pain.

I came home, took some motrin and called my massage therapist to set up some appointments, then took my dog for a short walk. After the walk I massaged my leg/adductor, iced and rested.

December 18, 2007 - Soft Tissue Injuries

My dad looked up soft tissue injury in his medical book (he's a radiologist) and e-mailed me this:

"I thought you might like to know that the Medical Profession doesn't know any more about this than you do."

At this point not only can I not walk without crutches, but I cannot bend forward. I feel like I tore muscles that wrap around my hip. Going from sitting to standing is excruciating. I can't even think about touching my toes.

December 17, 2007 - I fell off the horse

I fell off Chloe today and landed on my sacrum. The pain was so terrible that I couldn't get up. All the muscles in my right hip, groin, glutes and low back locked up making it impossible to walk. I went to the emergency room and they x-rayed my pelvis. Luckily, there were no fractures. They diagnosed me with a deep contusion and sent me home on crutches.

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