A Therapy Confession

I have to make a confession.  I need to get something off my chest, so to say.  I am a huge Sarah Palin fan.  I really hope she gets back on the ticket.  Just kidding.  Sorry that's not even a good joke because it is not even remotely believable.  Actually, here goes: "Call Me Maybe" might be my favorite song of 2012.  Okay, kind of true, but I am procrastinating here.  Procrastinating is kind of fun.  Especially when it it involves small, harmless fibs.

In truth, here is my confession: I never received any traditional physical therapy after my hip fracture. 

I did get a little immediately following the surgery to basically make sure I was mobile enough to get up from a seated position, use the crutches to move around, make it to the bathroom, get in and out of a car, go up and down steps - you get the picture.  But after I was done with crutches and I was cleared to begin strengthening and rehabilitating, I was never prescribed nor did I ever participate in traditional PT. 

I did, however, ask for it.  I asked for it right after I got off crutches and then I asked for it again 2 months later.  The first time the surgeon told me it wasn't going to help someone like me - I was already versed in exercise.  He said just start working out and biking and I will get better.  So I started working one on one with a Pilates instructor and I started making progress.  The second time I asked because I was concerned with my leg length difference and wanted a gait specialist.  The surgeon pretty much replied with the same answer and said to keep working with the Pilates instructor.  So I did until October when I recovered enough that I wanted to focus on strength training. 

To me this has always been one of the great mysteries of my recovery.  I don't quite understand why.  I also recently had a physical and asked my internal medicine doctor why.   He replied by saying he thinks many don't often make a lot of progress with physical therapists.  To me this feels like quite a generalization but I suppose the theory applies to me.  I told him what I had done to recover and he said that was the right thing.  He also said long term to get a personal trainer and focus on keeping my mid section strong.  To be honest, I don't take a lot of stock in getting fitness advice from MDs but I think his approach is the right one.

Therefore, what I can theorize is that doctors seem to be somewhat unknowingly pushing patients away from PT and towards full body exercise such as strength training and Pilates.  The question still remains as to why and I suppose I have only two thoughts.  One, they don't like PTs.  PTs and MDs tend to have a long standing dislike of each other and some philosophical disagreements.  I think this has some truth but disregarding PT altogether seems like it could in the end  be bad for the MDs so it seems odd to dismiss it completely. 

That leads to my other thought.  And that is, they don't believe that PT works because the traditional approach it usually takes to recovery is flawed, outdated, or simply doesn't help the patient get progressively better.  Now I know there are some great, foward-thinking PTs out there but as a whole it seems that PT is very singular in its focus.  You hurt your elbow, lets do some elbow exercises.  Maybe some shoulder stuff could help because it is all connected but that's not what you are here for; you are here for the elbow.  Conversely, with Pilates, you are going to work the whole body and focus on full body alignment, strength, and posture.  Same is true for kettlebells.

Again, I am not here to disparage PTs.  I think they have a very, very important role in recovery and healthcare in general.  Nonetheless, the fact that the surgeon never recommended it to me and to some extent encouraged me not to do it has always been something that weighed on my mind.  So much so that is has been awkward when people ask about how my physical therapy is going because I never did any in the sense that most people think of it.  It has been in some ways difficult for others to understand given the magnitude of my accident.  It always took a little bit of explanation.  Instead of saying, "It is going well," I have had to say, "Well, I have never had any.  I have been doing Pilates..."  I guess I am used to it by now and from here I can just forward people to the blog.

All in all, my situation aside, it will be interesting to see where and how PT fits into the picture in the future.  I suppose all we can do for now is sit back and wait.  And get our own trainers to work with. 

Now that I have confessed, I can move on and not worry about it.  I can get back to listening to "Call Me Maybe" and hoping for a future President of the United States from Alaska...

Thanks for reading...