Weird stuff found at the myofascial therapy center

[cjsmith]

Second appointment at the Myofascial Therapy Center yesterday. This one was markedly different than the first, probably because a) different practitioner, b) not an evaluation.

If I rub the base of my foot (either one) I can feel it's a little... crunchy inside. Like there are Rice Krispies in it. I showed this to the nice lady and she said oh yes, those are adhesions. She proceeded to find a huge colony of them where I'd found just one or two. They've taken over the whole medial half of my plantar arch. Getting those unstuck will take a while and feels icky.

There's a tight muscle (psoas) running just inside the bump of the pelvic bone. It's right near where I've had annoying pain for 25 years. Hmmmmmmm. I will be very, very good about doing my "homework" to stretch this out.

Hey kimatha: I have tight piriformis muscles! I've heard of those somewhere before. :)

Comments

[lkeele.livejournal.com]

Ouch, I can just imagine rice krispies in your foot. Ouch!

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

They don't hurt by themselves, only when I try to crunch them. :) Occasionally I can feel them when I walk around -- it feels sort of like I left a Band-aid stuck to my foot and forgot about it, and then get reminded by that tiny little tug.

[quasigeostrophy.livejournal.com]

*snap, crackle, pop* isn't something I'd want associated with my plantar fascia. The fasciitis I had/still have a little bit was bad enough.

Good luck with all the stretching.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Fortunately, I've never had the pain associated with plantar fasciitis. Rob has, and it's a doozy. Yikes. I feel for you.

[just-cyd.livejournal.com]

wow! sounds like this place is a keeper, at least for a while. i'm so glad they seem to be helpful.

(and i never knew one could have Rice Krispies anywhere else but the knees!)

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Rice Krispies are EVERYWHERE. You will be assimilated! :-)

[quasigeostrophy.livejournal.com]

Ironically, Toni and I bought a huge box of individually-wrapped Rice Krispies Treats at Costco yesterday afternoon. Including Chocolate ones!

Health food, yes. ;-)

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

One of my flight instructors would choose destination airports based on whether or not they had Rice Krispies Treats in the vending machine. :)

[quasigeostrophy.livejournal.com]

Heh. Waaaaay back when I had a flight instructor, he would ask me where I wanted to go and then veto my choice or not depending on if we could pick up anything good to eat while we were there. I ended up seeing more small-town central Indiana/Illinois/Ohio/Michigan airports than I care to remember. :-)

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

*chuckle* ...sounds about right! :-)

[genderfur.livejournal.com]

The psoas muscle is a good one. I remember a yoga teacher who was obsessed with stretching this muscle. Adhesions.... I believe that's a fancy word for "scar tissue".

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Cool! How did the yoga teacher stretch it? Apparently it's hugely key in proper operation of the hip.

Scar tissue that is stuck to something, yeah. It has to be broken up and then re-scar in a way that's not stuck to something... that'll be so *fun*.

[genderfur.livejournal.com]

That particular yoga teacher could spend a whole class doing Downward Dog, just reminding us of different things to pay attention to. So it was something in that. I know there's lots of adaptive yoga around; I don't know if you can do an actual DownDog without putting weight on your feet but it's worth having the conversation with someone.

As to adhesions - just thank your lucky stars you're not a boy, dealing with adhesions in the foreskin. (That's actually the first place I heard of such a thing.)

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Hmm. I never could do Downward Dog without annoying my yoga teacher by allowing the skin on my wrists to wrinkle. Maybe I can find someone who knows what's up with all that.

I'd trade zero sex life (plus trouble going to the bathroom) for being able to walk, hike, backpack, run, bike, and square dance in a hot second. *wistful sigh* That said, I do see that that could be supremely annoying to deal with given how sensitive the area is. Since a spot like that is very easy to reach, is there any surgical technique that could un-adhere it? I wonder what would cause scarring there in the first place. That, too, probably sucked.

[genderfur.livejournal.com]

Um? The teacher wanted you to do a position that involves bending your wrists - without letting the skin wrinkle? That's weird. New teacher time, methinks.

As to the foreskin adhesions, it's something that happens to baby boys. I don't think it's as much a scar as a not-developed-right, but I am so not a doctor. The technique to fix it is pretty simple: pull the foreskin back gently a whole lot. I guess if you don't get it during infancy, they'll get it when they hit puberty [g]. (*cackle* I suspect that sometimes it's more of a problem than others.) And no, I haven't got a clue how circumcision affects this.

Mmmm. Now you've got me thinking all yoga-y thoughts.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I couldn't figure that one out either. I hadn't been going to that class long so I just gave it up. Easier than figuring out how to bypass basic physics given explanations like "lengthen your hand". :-)

I suppose working it apart gradually is the simplest approach -- I hope it doesn't hurt like blazes.

Mmm, yoga thoughts!

[sunnydale47.livejournal.com]

Do you see a random practitioner (i.e., whoever is free next) each time you go to the MTC, or will there be some consistency? Is it just that the one does evaluations and this will be your therapist?

Tell us about the exercises you get. I still have the stretches I was given by my PT years ago, but ... .

I hope you start feeling much better real fast!

Have you thought of soaking your feet in milk? That usually gets rid of the crunchiness pretty quickly. =grins, ducks, runs away=

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Almost random. The first one does evaluations; as for therapy I stick with one person for a little while, then they switch me. Apparently I am supposed to get a good balance this way. At least this one had obviously read the notes left by the last one, so that's good.

Exercise 1 (from eval person): Lie down on my back with two rolled-up towels placed under my butt. On the right, one towel goes smack under the biggest part of my butt; on the left, the other towel goes between that spot and my waist. As I settle in, it twists my pelvis. I am supposed to "know when I need" this, but I don't. I've done it a grand total of twice. I think the towels I am using are too small, but it's those or the beach towel I use in the shower.

Exercise 2 (psoas): Lie down on my front on top of two tennis balls, with the balls wedged into my belly right at the point where I get twitchy if she touches me. (It's almost like a deep tickling sensation.) I do not own tennis balls. Why does every physical therapist in the world think I own tennis balls? I can barely WALK, people, I'm certainly not playing tennis! So far I am using mushy little juggling balls and it's better than nothing.

Exercise 3 (piriformis): Lie down on my back. Bring one knee way up and grab it with the opposite hand. Pull it toward that hand's armpit. Repeat with the other side.

Exercise 4 (Rice Krispies): Roll my feet really hard back and forth on a tennis ball.

Exercise 5 (neck): Lie down with the top of my neck, right under the bumps at the base of the skull, resting on two tennis balls tied into a sock to keep them together. Because I am so small, she suggested I find racquetballs instead. Naturally, the supply of racquetballs in my house is rivaled only by the supply of tennis balls. I will refrain from telling her that any sock of mine could barely go around one tennis ball anyway. I think I'd shatter her world view.

BWAHAHAHAAA (milk)! :-)

[quasigeostrophy.livejournal.com]

One of my PF exercises from the physical therapist was to dump a cup of marbles on the floor and pick them up, however many I wanted/could at a time, and place them back in the cup, all with my toes.

I didn't get a tennis ball exercise, but when I'd start the PT appointment, the therapist would take these metal bars and do some extremely (bordering on painful but not quite) serious deep-tissue massage to the PF.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Last year my PTst told me to pick up a washcloth with my toes. It was a lot harder than I thought it would be.

You needed it stretched, eh? I was supposed to do something similar with my iliotibial band a few years back, and lemme tell you that HURT. That was the only thing that worked, though.

[quasigeostrophy.livejournal.com]

I was supposed to do something similar with my iliotibial band

OW! Not even the fun kind of pain. ;-)

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Oh, no kidding. I called that cylinder my torture device. But I got back down off Half Dome after a whole bunch of that torture. (My knees hurt but didn't collapse -- I counted that a success.)

Do you still have to do the marble thing?

[quasigeostrophy.livejournal.com]

I probably should be, but I haven't kept up on the regular exercises since my PT sessions ended last fall. The PF hasn't been very bad, though, either, although it is still present. Something else that I just dropped when I started working suckyjob that I need to get back into doing regularly, I guess...

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Taking care of oneself = Good. Lately I've been told this repeatedly by multiple friends, so it must be true!

I just attempted this exercise with the caps from a couple of whiteboard markers. Then, thinking there was some logic behind getting assigned a washcloth instead of marbles, I tried it with my sock. Whiteboard markers are WAY easier than a sock. I've got a long way to go. *sigh*

Do you sleep with one of those stretch-it-all-out braces?

[quasigeostrophy.livejournal.com]

Taking care of oneself = Good. Lately I've been told this repeatedly by multiple friends, so it must be true!

Yes, and as much as I don't put stock in specific dates/numbers, as I approach changing the tens digit in my age later this year, I'm paying more attention to that. :-) I was good a few years ago. Riding the century bike ride and all that. What happened? Life, I suppose.

Do you sleep with one of those stretch-it-all-out braces?

No, they're not my type. *rim-shot* ;-)

Seriously, though, I had an Aircast ankle stirrup (http://www.aircast.com/products/product.htm?pid=6&pgid=5C897292-C6B8-4E3E-8E9F-AAF2D867E1F7&rnd=167078266) before I went to PT for the first time, and one of the first things the therapist told me was to stop using it.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

I was good a few years ago. Riding the century bike ride and all that. What happened? Life, I suppose.

Yeah, and in my case, weird nerve disorders. It's incredible how unhealthy I am after a year-and-change of basically not moving. Scary. I hope you can get back out there.

I had an Aircast ankle stirrup before I went to PT for the first time, and one of the first things the therapist told me was to stop using it.

I was thinking something designed to keep the foot flexed, like these. Was the Aircast able to do that? If so I'm surprised the PT told you to stop it. Doctors out here seem to love the stretch-it-out-at-night approach. Rob had one of those night splints for gosh, must've been two years. (Didn't work.)

[quasigeostrophy.livejournal.com]

No, the Aircast stirrup was more of a restrictor, which I think is why the PT said to quit using it. I'm surprised, looking at the link you posted, that she didn't recommend something like that. Maybe it was a question of severity and she didn't think mine would require one? Or maybe she figured that it would have the same effect Rob's did?

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Or maybe she figured that was the doc's territory. I think it was a podiatrist who told Rob to use that.

Some people get relief after using one of those things for a while, and others just... don't. It's annoying enough to wear (especially if you ever roll over at night) that I'm glad for your sake you're not wearing one. :) Unless it would have helped in which case I wish you had. That parses, doesn't it?

[quasigeostrophy.livejournal.com]

It does. :-)

I never saw a podiatrist. GP referred me to PT.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Ah. Maybe if you make some noise (hey! PT isn't working!) you might wind up at a podiatrist. I dunno. My podiatrist (Dr. A) sent me to PT and seemed not very surprised that it didn't work. My latest podiatrist (Dr. O) seems more into the whole PT idea.

[quasigeostrophy.livejournal.com]

I'm all for PT - it blew away my chondromalacia patellae completely many years ago. For the plantar fasciitis, in my case I think the PT did work quite a bit, but it just didn't make it go away completely. The PT's opinion at the end of the sessions was it was a problem I may have to "deal with" and do the exercises (which, as I mentioned, I've not been doing properly for a while) "for the rest of my life". It's not what I'd call serious pain, which I would describe some of what you've talked about as from my outside perspective. I will be getting back into the regular stretching, though, now that I have the mental cycles to deal with life again. :-)

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Wow - glad to hear it blew that away. My iliotibial band stuff came with chondromalacia patellae, but apparently most of my pain was the ITB. PT didn't blow that away but it did reduce it to the point where the joints were usable.

If the exercises aren't too onerous, maybe dealing with them forever isn't too too bad. Exercises seem like a healthy way of approaching something, anyway.

[quasigeostrophy.livejournal.com]

They're pretty simple - it's a sign of either how lazy I got, or how much my job was draining me, or both, that I quit doing them last fall. I also tend to turn into a slug as the weather gets colder. I'm opening up both from quitting the lousy job and from the spring weather I think.