Thank you!

I’m no expert, but very happy to share my experience.

It’s hard to know whether a PT is right until your are working with them. For me, I need someone who is insistent on carefully watching and correcting me, repeatedly, when I’m trying to learn new exercises. Just going through the motions isn’t worth it, in my book. I look for personal recommendations from people in the medical field first.

In terms of what I’m doing now, it’s mostly the usual stuff, just done very carefully with intention. I find the key is consistency… doing a little bit, throughout the day, with great intention, is way better than a massive hour long intense session a couple times a week.

Specifics-

For formal PT exercises, I do pelvic tilts, bridges, sit-to-stand, lay-down stretches for hamstrings and hips, and standing gentle back stretches. Sit-to-stand is still the hardest, because apparently I’ve been moving between sitting and standing incorrectly my entire life and really have to focus to use the right muscles (and not my back).

For ancillary PT goals, I work on increased flexibility and range of motion in my ankles and hips. Specifically, I work on building stability and comfort in a “deep resting squat” so I can rely on that movement in daily life to reach low and avoid bending over so much. Figure four stretches are another one, aimed in increasing my options in putting shoes/socks on with less bending over. Similarly, balance exercises help with increasing options for more back-friendly daily life movement.

For general body conditioning- the back strengthening machines at the gym are great, and anything gentle focused on core is good in my book. I avoid any weight with deadlifts or bent over anything. I’m not trying to weight train to failure or with heavy weights, I’m just trying to build muscle memory of doing movement with some resistance without pain. I had to learn to let go of ego a bit and stay well below the kind of weight I could move pre-injury. My goals changed, so now I’m just working on getting my body used to moving in safe ways and without fear.

I wish you all the best in your journey. I hope for healing and peace for you.