Hey,yes I have gone to physical therapy for my IT band,and the back of my knee where I had a cyst removed. They did ultra sound and electrode ibuprofen treatments, and she taught my lots of stretches and exercises to strengthen my left leg. I am a runner and thought I was stretching good, but there is always more to learn. Good luck with it, I am sure it will help!

I pretty much grew up in PT! Been going for the past 6 years thanks to gymnastics. The latest has been for back injuries…joy! I got electric shock therapy once…now THAT was a good time…EEK! Kidding. Hopefully your experience will not include EST. =) Hope it goes well!

The cookie looks so good – perfect with a hot tea on a Monday.

I've been to physical therapy for the same shoulder problem for YEARS! I've had three shoulder surgeries (on the same shoulder, same problem), so I've had my fair share of rehab. I don't want to say it didn't work, because it was quite helpful, but the physical therapy was never enough on it's own for me- hence why I needed those three surgeries.

It's been 2 years or so since I've been and I kind of want to go back. My shoulder has started to act up again when running, and I can't run for longer than 3 miles without pain! Yikes.

Good luck! The sessions I had were always so informative and I am sure you will get lots of help 🙂

Hooray for PT! 🙂 Can't wait to hear how it goes tomorrow.

haha and I had to laugh about the yogurt – I've done the exact same thing myself. Happens to the best of us. 🙂

I have done physical therapy twice in the past, both times for knee pain. I think there is some merit to it, but it rather failed for me because we weren't dealing with the root cause of the injury (my hips!) and I was also being a TERRIBLE injured runner and just running too much through recovery. Chatting with the therapists was usually fun, but my $40 copay was not!

I've been twice- once for a stress fracture on my hip, and another time for an annoying bout of achilles tendonitis. The latter time for my achilles I felt was rather useless, but the PT for my stress fracture was amazing. It worked wonders- I was up and running faster than I'd expected. Good luck!:)

Congrats on your metric century girl!

I went to PT twice- first for LPCS (lateral patellar compression syndrome)- which was when my hammies were so strong they would pull my kneecaps tot he side- sounds like yours. PT helped so much. The second was for ITBS (T-band syntrome)- helped again. I LOVE PT it works miracles- just be patient 🙂

I went to PT when I banged up my Achilles tendon. I learned not to run a 10k PR (36:16) and then run 20 miles the day. Live and learn right? I could barely walk for a week, but once I got to PT it made all the difference. They healed me up pretty quick!

Good luck tomorrow!

Hey –

I don't post often (mostly a lurker) but this stuck home so I figured I'd put in my two cents.
I just finished up 3 months of physical for my ankle which I broke this winter (It was horrible and I was getting ready to do the disney princess 1/2 marathon at the time)
BUT, on the positive, my physical therapists were amazing! They had an underwater treadmill, which I highly recommend if they have any in your area! But thanks so them (and a great surgeon) I have rehabbed incredibly fast, and am already back up to running 5 miles for my long run.
I think that the physical therapy will be great for you! and just do all the exercises they give you as often as they tell you too!

I've had a LOT of PT. Both times after my knee surgeries, and it was amazing how much it helped. Then I also went back to the same PT when I had some piriformis problems and they fixed that right up too! Yay!

PT saved my knee! Or I should say is still in the process of saving it. post acl-meniscus surgery I went to PT 2x per week for about 8 weeks. Now i go once every 2 weeks. I couldnt even walk on crutches when I started and now I'm almost back to normal. I love my PT(physical therapist) and love that I keep getting stronger! Good luck tomorrow

luckily, I've never had to do PT, but I hear it can be a really great thing. They can help a ton with strengthening muscles that you otherwise might not have known how to strengthen.

Good luck with that!

Keri
http://hopskipleap.wordpress.com

Good luck with PT tomorrow!! I can't wait to hear how it goes!

Also, congrats a MILLION times on the Metric Century, what a huge accomplishment!

I am actually in my second year of PT school right now so I can't wait to hear what your PT has to say!

Never been to PT but your yogurt story happen with me except with a huge thing of dog treats. I had to fight off my dogs while I was cleaning it up! Cookies and tea make Mondays so much better!

I have not been to physical therapy, but my orthopedist said that it may benefit me if my orthotics don't fix my ankle and shin issues. I can't wait to hear about everything you learn! Have fun!

I've gone for plantar fasciitis, and it helped enormously. I could barely put pressure on my foot and now it's a lot better. The important thing is to keep doing your exercises and stretching after they release you. I tend to backslide and then my foot starts hurting again. You have heard PT stands for Pain & Torture, right? It can be painful but at the end they ice you down and it feels SO good.

Ahhh! Caitlin, I'm so sorry I'm behind! I just caught up on your race and am probably the millionth person to say this, but you're truly amazing. I am just in awe.

I've never gone through PT. I hope I can avoid that, but then again it's impossible. I just went to the chiropractor a ton in high school when I was dancing and cheerleading. My neck and back were a mess!

Good luck tomorrow and have fun (if that's possible there, which you could totally make it that way)!

oooo yay i am so glad everyone had such good experiences with PT!!! i promise to do all my PT homework LOL.

lauren – i first noticed the "popping" in my knees in january 2008 (two years after i started to run, approx). i was doing squats at the gym. i asked a trainer what it was and he said it was no big deal LOL i should've know better than to ask some LA fitness meathead! anyway, it got really bad this past september but i continued to run through the sometimes excruiating pain. i ran two halfs with these shitty knees!! my advice to you is that if you feel any sort of discomfort, take a few days off and see if it helps. then, make sure you assess your stretching routinue, your sneakers (should be replaced every 4 months or so), and if it's neither of those things, consider seeing a doctor if it doesn't improve with rest. it's a LOT easier to nip a problem in the bud than recoop from an injury. i know it sounds lame, but its true.

Do you have gloves for your bike?

Jason (boyfriend) says they make all the difference!

Physical therapy can be quite helpful for you. Often times, in female runners, the main issue causing symptoms happens to be the movement patterns used during running. There is probably a high likelihood the hip musculature is not keeping the lower leg alignment in a position that is good for the knee.

If I were you, I would choose a physical therapist who specializes in sports physical therapy or orthopedics. In other words, when you search for a physical therapist, you will probably be more satisfied with a physical therapist who has additional qualifications such as board certification in sports or board certification in orthopaedics or a physical therapist who is also a certified athletic trainer.

You can search here:
http://www.apta.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Find_a_PT&Template=/APTAAPPS/FindAPT/findaptsearch.cfm

When you search, you may find physical therapists with all sorts of letters behind their names. This PDF will be helpful in clarifying the letters:
http://www.apta.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Choosing_a_PT&TEMPLATE=/CM/ContentDisplay.cfm&CONTENTID=44754

Happy running!

My PT experience is a little embarassing because I broke my PINKY FINGER in high school playing powder puff football. I had to have surgery and had 3 pins put into my finger. I went to PT to rehab my finger and it reaaallly helped. I remember crying and being so frustrated that I couldn't do my assigned "exercises" at first. If you put the time in though, it will pay off!!

I love falafel so much. Had seom yesterday. 🙂

Your yogurt picture cracked me up. You're a lot stronger than you thought!

Good luck on the PT. I've never been, knock on wood.

amon – hmm interesting. i was basing my estimate on my friend's kelly's garmin. she weighs the same as me and says that 40 cal/mile is her average.

haha, lol on the yougurt. my first tri i didn't wear bike gloves and it killed my hands. didn't have the callouses then.

mmm . . . carbs! I have done PT before for my upper hammie, right in the butt and also my Achilles tendon. Most of it was done on pilates reformers and it was amazing and helped out tremendously. Now if only I could get my crappy insurance now to pay for pilates . . . (sigh). Glad you're doing good!
-kristen