Tuesday, November 5, 2019

Therapy

I've been doing physical therapy for my neck issues (cervical spondylosis). It's going well. I thought at first that I would be creeped out by a stranger touching me, but Kristen, my physical therapist, seems uniquely skilled to deal with me. I'm not sure what it is, but she puts me completely at ease, even though she sometimes causes me pain.

It was kind of a trick. She started out easy and then slowly ramped up the exercises. I have equipment for home use; a yoga strap, two tennis balls velcroed together and a couple of rubber strips. These are all used in my homework exercises. It's amazing how muscles I never knew I had are waking up and feeling sore. It's all designed to force other muscles in my body to take some of the load off my neck. It seems to be working. 

She also applies pressure with her hands and fingers to certain points on both sides of my neck. At my last two appointments, I received ultra-sound treatments to my neck and shoulder muscles. This is my favorite thing. It feels kind of warm and slippery and I can feel the heat deep in the tissue of my neck and shoulders.

I wonder if I should consider some other forms of therapy like maybe some counseling. Not joking here. It couldn't hurt right? We will see.