Stiffness, PT

[Guest guest]

For those of you who wonder why you are stiff after a bout of PLMD, this is

when you need to see a video of yourself in action. I usually wake myself

up when I have severe PLMD but if I don't, I always know because I hurt the

next day. PLMD means movement - lots and lots of crazy twitching, bending,

twisting, flexing and extending frantically movement. My legs are going

all night. If you worked out with a regular exercise program that hard

you would hurt from that too. You are probably experiencing overuse

stiffness and some overstretching. I don't know what to do about it except

keep up regular exercise and stretching to keep fit and flexible and to

work out the stiffness the next day.

As for knees and physical therapist. As a physical therapist I am totally

discouraged about the profession. Because of the insurance situation, we

can no longer treat properly. Far too often, we are expected to see 4

patients an hour for 4 or maybe 6 visits which, if we are super organized

means 15 minutes per patient spread over a month. I have a very hard time

treating anyone properly in that short time. But we have to make that

profit. Unfortunately, because proper treatment takes time and we don't

have any, doctors are getting very discouraged with sending people to PT.

Why should they bother if we are going to just do fake and bake - you can

do that on your own. Are you getting the correct treatment - it's not what

I would do if I had you in my care privately, but it may be the best you

are going to get, sad to say. Ask your friend just what they did for her

and talk to your doctor about it. Just what does your insurance cover, do

you have to do to a specific group? Call them and ask for their patient

ratio and what they would do for you. It really just sounds like your

doctor is fed up and discouraged with PT and I wouldn't blame him.

The most important thing is to get the swelling down - try over the counter

anti-imflamatories if they don't conflict with anything else you are taking

and ice. Use lots of ice on it esp after exercise. But warm it up gently

before exercise. Gentle stretching, even possibly some heat - don't burn

yourself- a hot shower works. The non-weight bearing exercise like biking

and swimming get the knee moving without, hopefully, imflaming it more.

Then put ice on it after. Don't foget to elevate it when possible. And

talk to your doctor. Pin him down about his expections. As for cortisone

shots - as a professional, it is very risky of me to be giving you advice

at all. But personally, I would try everything else first and would have

to really trust my doctor before I would have it done. Try the ice and

exercise first.

Lee, PT

[Guest guest]

Thank you for your helpful suggestions on the stiffness resulting

from PLMD. My neurologist said basically the same thing, although his

tack is to control PLMD through medication.

You expressed beautifully the frustration a lot of us feel with the

current state of health care. I have been whizzed in and out of

neurologist's office to the tune of $200 for 15 minutes. It is sad the

way the insurance system has resulted in an assembly line approach to

practicing medicine. It is no wonder many of us are skeptical to bitter

and are seeking alternative approaches to our problem. And the sad

thing is...many in the alternative health care world know this and are

waiting with open arms and open palms for the flocking desperate!

The point is, it behooves us all to take some responsibility for our own

health. We have vast resources of information on the internet, and in

each other. We must not merely blindly give ourselves over to a system

that may or may not have our best interests at heart. We may use

whatever resources God and man have made available to us, but for

heaven's sake, *WE* are the ones responsible ultimately for our own

health.

[sERMON MODE OFF]

Jeff P. 45 in sunny, cold Co. Spgs.

wrote:

>

>

>

> For those of you who wonder why you are stiff after a bout of PLMD, this is

> when you need to see a video of yourself in action. I usually wake myself

> up when I have severe PLMD but if I don't, I always know because I hurt the

> next day. PLMD means movement - lots and lots of crazy twitching, bending,

> twisting, flexing and extending frantically movement. My legs are going

> all night. If you worked out with a regular exercise program that hard

> you would hurt from that too. You are probably experiencing overuse

> stiffness and some overstretching. I don't know what to do about it except

> keep up regular exercise and stretching to keep fit and flexible and to

> work out the stiffness the next day.

>