Well..maybe that last post seemed like I was out to try to 'prove' my theory on trigger points. And while in a way I was, I think I merely proved that I like the scientific method in most every part of my life. If I'm not sure about something...i do a little experiment. I found Nitsirk's comment about placebo effects right up my alley. And the truth of my experiment is that all it *really* proves is my own personal insanity on the fact I do an experiment on most things in my life. I knew Nitsirk speaks scientist...so I thought she might enjoy my experiment.
At the end of any experiment in science everyone still has the choice to believe or not believe the results. The number of times i've read scientific papers and thought "that's a lot of hooey"...there are too many to count. Anywho...I was merely posting my 'results' from my experiments. Anyone is welcome to still believe its a placebo effect or a lot of hooey...i'm cool with that...that's how experiments go. But if you are a believer from my experience...buy the book. Its a good 20 dollars spent.
That being said...I made a new friend today. His name is ART. ART stands for Active Release Technique. It's sorta like PT mixed with trigger point therapy mixed with massage therapy mixed with stretching. It sorta hurts...sorta like PT makes you wonder why you are paying someone to voluntarily inflict so much pain on you. But the most amazing part about it was the change in my range in motion.
The guy doing the ART on me, checked my hip flexors, double checked to make sure it was a muscle injury and not an injury in the joint, looked at my range of motion and then went to work. It was a weird experience in one way because he's having me stretch while he's pushing on different points on my hip and Psoas. I'm mainly thinking "owch...this sorta sucks"...but dealing with it anyway because that's how PT can be. And then its over.
I'm thinking "what exactly did you do?"
He has me do some stretching again...this this time my range of motion in my hip has increased by about a foot. I'm pretty awestruck at this point, mainly because I'm thinking...what did you just do? At the beginning of all this I wasn't able to pull my leg very far back (during the point of the stride where I am pushing off and my leg is behind me) due to my hip flexors which would translate into loss of power in a stride. But by the end of the visit, I had gained back a lot of my range of motion and my pain had diminished some. CRAZY.
I'm sure I'll be conducting an experiment with this, because that's how I roll.
3 comments:
Ok, I am starting to be more convinced. For the record when it comes to injuries I don't really care about *why* it goes away just so long as it does go away. I am glad it is working for you. I am really not as negative as these posts make me out to be...really. I'm just trained to question the data. By the way, you only have n=1. ;)
Thanks for the happy treadmill vibes. Another 5 inches of snow fell today on top of the 22 we already had with NO MELTING in between. I think I am going to be spending a lot of time on the stupid treadmill this winter.
Gosh, you've been conducting experiments in every PT, massage therapist, orthopedist, acupuncturist, acupressurist, holistic healer, and shrink in San Diego county. I want your health insurance! I don't speak science, how about Spanish?
I speak Finance. I speak Risk too...lots of Risk. Sometimes I find myself asking "What's the value proposition of (insert menial daily task here)?"
I'm a nerd, I know.
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