Amy Thomas, LMBT, CNMT     912.617.0065
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Monday, January 28, 2013

The time has come to practice what I preach.

True Confession time: In the 10 (going on 11) years I've been practicing Massage Therapy, I haven't always practiced what I preached. Don't be shocked, I'm not alone. Most of us health care providers turn into total idiots when it comes to our own bodies. We have a knack for forgetting to follow the same advice that we so readily provide to others. Up until a few years ago, I for one didn't take the best care of myself. I've always done a fairly decent job of keeping myself healthy but I haven't always stretched like I should or (*gasp*) gotten regular massage therapy for myself. I've improved my stretching routine and I could stand to do more yoga and last year I made a goal to receive regular massage & since January of 2012, I have been diligent in keeping that goal so I'm getting better.....

That being said let me explain a little bit about why I'm writing this blog post. About 3+ years ago I started having knee pain. Not just the normal aches but pretty bad knee pain. At that time I understood what Nancy Kerrigan must have felt when Tonya Harding had her whacked in the knee before a competition! Over time, I had developed some knee pain and my knees always sounded like a bag of potato chips rustling when I moved (it's a great party trick!) but never anything too unbearable. When it started getting worse I started getting worried and that's when I sought help. I'm extremely fortunate that I work with some really awesome individuals who know just what to do to fix someone and it was time that I needed fixing too. My first stop, obviously was Dr. Nicole in my own office. She did some adjustments and sent me over to our super awesome athletic trainer Angela. Angela referred me on down the line to the magnificent Dr. Barron. Dr. Barron ordered up my first MRI and I got to learn some new vocabulary. I had heard the words, Chondromalacia, Patellofemoral Syndrome, and Runner's knee before but never in relation to my own body. My first option was therapy which I immediately jumped on. I always advise my own patients/clients to consider surgery as a last resort and I certainly wasn't going to do it myself if I didn't have to! Angela worked her magic on me over the course of a few months & I was back to running and working out without such severe pain. Since my initial therapy sessions, I began doing CrossFit and really putting my body through the wringer. I love CrossFit and I've really gotten into great shape doing it, however my knee and I had a disagreement sometime last year and it hasn't forgiven me since. I started having severe knee pain again and in late Fall, my knee got so aggravated that I could barely walk. I finally had to do the same thing I've advised many of my own people to do: REST. Not an easy task for me to do but I knew that if I wanted to get better, I had to take better care of my knee this time around. After a few therapy sessions, some ultrasound, a few chiropractic adjustments we got my knee feeling better but it still wasn't 100%. I began my 2013 going back to Dr. Barron to see what we needed to do now. Another MRI showed the same amount of damage so now my only option is surgery. Yikes!

Next Tuesday, I'll be having knee surgery to relieve my knee pain and then the real work begins. I'm already itching to get moving as soon as possible (and as soon as Dr. B gives me the OK) to begin rehab. My first goal I've set for myself is to have some kick @$$ quads and an even cuter backside by the end of summer this year. I'm going to take a few weeks off from working so I'll have some free time to chronicle this new adventure here in my blog. I'll definitely be detailing the type of rehab work I'm doing and blogging about it will keep me more accountable to keep up the good work on myself! Your questions/comments are always welcome and if you get a chance, throw some well wishes my way next week!

Amy


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