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Friday, August 17, 2012

A discovery!

I went in to the PT Tuesday and we made a shocking discovery!

I have scoliosis!
Oh wait. I already knew that. I just forgot to tell my doctor(s) or PT. I just totally forgot about it. I get the idea that this could have been sort of important information for my docs to know. 

I was lying flat on my back on the table and the PT noticed that one hip bone jutted higher than the other. Then he saw that one rib cage was concave instead of convex and asked me about scoliosis. Well, lots of people have mild spinal curvature, so I never thought much about it, but the shifted pelvis is causing muscle shortening and pain - initially from overuse and not enough strengthening exercises, now exacerbated by chronic inflammation. 
This is good news and bad news.
Yet another set of PT exercises...

The bad new, of course, is that the root cause is something I cannot do anything about. The good news is that I've run without pain before, so I should be able to do so again - and now we know for sure where to target. For example, my quads always appeared to be very loose and healthy, but now my PT is having me stretch the right quad since it has been incrementally shortening.
I woke up the day after my first day on the new exercises and was so sore and stiff I couldn't walk. That's not good, but maybe it means I'm hitting the right areas!
I'm going back to PT next week so I will keep you updated on any progress! 

9 comments:

  1. I'm not sure of the appropriate response, here. Being excited about your scoliosis feels, somehow, "off"...
    Keeping my fingers crossed that you and your doc are finally on the right track! (haha. running reference)

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  2. If only my doctors could use the info I provided them... Haha. I hope this is the key to getting better and running pain-free again!

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  3. I'm sure it plays a big role and I'm glad the PT is on it now. Keep on moving forward...

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  4. Yay for a breakthrough!!! I hope these exercises work for you! :)

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  5. That definitely does seem like really pertinent info for the PT to know, hopefully this helps them to narrow down things. Maybe this is why you aren't as even on both sides of your hips?

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  6. oh...maybe you guys are on to something and on the road where the light is at the end of the tunnel!

    no bridges..? I find those help now.

    I got a new sets of exercises today
    I will post them on my blog. They are "dynamic stretches"

    I have the bottom one on the left page on my plan I do it with a fitness ball and it helps a lot

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  7. Hooray for a break through! I hope that this new approach makes a difference and you can return to pain-free running soon!!

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  8. I am glad you figured it out! Now you can work on fixing it! Man, I remember getting tested in 7th or 8th grade for scoliosis. It seems so long ago. I can see why you forgot to mention it!

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  9. A condition like this should not be ignored. It's great that you are taking steps to alleviate the pain and improve the condition. The exercises can be tedious, but they definitely help.

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