physical therapy

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I'm starting physical therapy tomorrow morning for a knee injury. Should I log it in my exercise diary? If so, what would I put it under?

Also, has anyone done PT before? I'm kindof nervous and not sure what to expect.

Replies

  • RDTaylor13
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    it's nothing to be afraid of, they will just have you go through different stretches, and flexing, to assess the condition and severity of your injury. and then help you to do exercises to help make your knee feel better.
  • Dlpike
    Dlpike Posts: 1
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    I work in a physical therapy office. It's nothing to be worried about although I don't know what kind of knee injury you have. Like Ronny said, they will just stretch you and show you some strengthening exercises. You should log these because it's a good amount of exercise depending on what kind of office you go to. They may tell you the names but it will be a lot of quad/hamstring exercises among other things. They may also put you on a bike to warm you up that you can count as cardio.
  • Chillem
    Chillem Posts: 40
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    My physical therapist is more a manual therapist. He gives me excellent massages ;)

    If it is for an injured knee, the effort would not be very high, so I think you should not add it to your exercise track. But if you find out that you have to do other things, maybe walking on the treadmill or cycling, than you can add that.

    I'm not sure how the physical therapist works in the US. Here (the Netherlands) you can also go to the physical therapist if your doctor thinks that you should work out.

    Edited: things stated above makes sense, especially because it;s from someone in the field.
  • amymeenieminymo
    amymeenieminymo Posts: 2,394 Member
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    I did PT for my back (I blew a disc) three times a week for 5 weeks in the fall. I was nervous too but it was no big deal.....my routine was when I first got there they did a funky little massage thing....they stuck these pads on my back and it felt like tiny little fingers massaging me all over with heat....sometimes it was a little too intense, but for the most part it felt good and I usually napped during this (it was about 25 minutes and I went right after work so it was a needed nap, lol). Then the tech would come in and give me an ultrasound for about 10-15 mins (not like the kind to see stuff, but the ultrasonic waves or whatever helped my back) and then the therapist would come in and do a deep tissue massage, which sometimes hurt depending on how hard he worked on me, but sometimes felt good, but the pain was never horrible.

    After that I had to do exercises....they started me off slow, but once I got going I did about 10 minutes on the stationary bike, 20 minutes walked on the treadmill and some stretching exercises. I logged the bike and the treadmill because it DID get my heart rate up and it was the only exercise I could get at the time. I only burned about 90 calories per session, but it was better than nothing.

    I usually had the same tech each time and going in three times a week for 5 weeks, I got to know everybody. I was so happy to be done so I could go back to having a life after work, but it was a little sad on my last day to leave everyone, lol.
  • T0RIEELIZABETH
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    Thanks guys. I am definitely no where near as nervous as I was! I guess I will base whether or not I log it on what they have me do.
  • aprilf
    aprilf Posts: 34 Member
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    I love going to physical therapy. I also had the TEMS (funky massage with electodes, it never felt worse than me sticking myself with a sewing needle) for a bulging disk, a series of stretching and strengthening exercises and yes, generally a 25 min afternoon nap during my treatment. I also had PT for a sprained ankles and again was assigned exercises to strengthen my ankle at home. I was having to do up to 2 sets of 30 reps for most of my strengthening exercises, so if I could have found them listed in the strength training, I would have logged it. I never could figure out how to do it otherwise... Though, I do have a heart rate monitor and could use that to figure out calories burned. hmmm... maybe I should do them now!
  • kiuney
    kiuney Posts: 68
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    Don't be nervous - it'll be okay. I also would not log it. Just remember... if they give you exercises to do at home to supplement your PT, DO THEM! PT is critical for healing injured tissues and restoring range of motion. It's also expensive so take everything they say to heart so that you get the most out of it. Good luck!