RE: Physical Therapy - kind of OFF TOPIC

[Guest guest]

Hi Daphne,

A strap is used to help extend usually your legs for a better stretch. Try laying down on your back and you can either extend your leg straight up in the air and use the strap to draw your leg closer to your head. Like you mentioned, you can feel this stretch your hamstring witch is the muscle behind your thigh. Another great stretch while your on your back is to take your band and lift your legs one at a time out to your side, this will target your inner thigh muscles. Some people use a strap to stretch other muscles, but I'm not familiar with this.

From: gateswill@... [mailto:gateswill@...] Sent: Thursday, November 04, 2004 9:35 AMlow dose naltrexone Subject: [low dose naltrexone] Physical Therapy - kind of OFF TOPIC

I'm just catching up now on 3 days of posts...so happy to see all this talk about physical therapy. Kathy, my sis has another autoimmune disease (liver) that really wipes her out. She started at Curves a year ago. She says it wiped her out for the rest of the day for 2 weeks (she would only go 3 days a week) and then she seemed to come into her own and it got much better. She says if she misses a time or two, the "wiped-out" feeling comes back, but doesn't last as long. She's definitely healthier and more physically tuned up. She also really believes in massage...says it helps de-toxify her. Now that I'm on LDN I'm working myself up to go to Curves myself....and maybe some day I'll even work up the courage to use that massage my husband gave me last Christmas! For some reason, the idea just intimidates the heck out of me.

, you asked about how I do the hamstring stretches. I can stand so I do it against a wall or hanging on to kitchen counter. Most important thing is to keep feet STRAIGHT and parallel to each other. One foot goes back farther (I think mine is maybe 6-8" back) then you lean forward, keeping back leg straight, front leg bends. Hold 5-15 seconds, relax and do again. I only do 5 - 10 of these. Then I do other leg.

Next I do it with back leg bending as well as front leg bending. That seems to stretch in a different way. 5 times or so and then switch and reverse leg positions. Keep checking your feet to make sure they are straight.

I also stretch in bed or sitting just by stretching my legs out straight and just pulling my toes up towards my leg as much as I can. That will relieve stiffness & spasms too but not as much as the against the wall thing. I just tried and I actually think you could do it from a sitting position if you needed to. Just get a chair with room between the legs for your leg to go back. You can feel it pull along the back of your leg. Of course, this would be the one with both knees bending. You asked about a strap--I don't know about that. I can envision that it would work. Could someone describe that?

Daphne

on Tue, 02 Nov 2004 Kathy Huget writes

>>I go to physio tomorrow for the 3rd time and it feels so good to get a real stretch for my muscles! It is very exhausting though and am usually done for the day.<<