Thursday, February 12, 2009

First Active Release Therapy Session

So, today I had my first appointment with active release therapy. My impressions so far are very favorable. A big effort was made to find the cause of the problem, not just treat the inflamed plantar fascia. Very, very in depth. That didn't really happen at the traditional sports medicine office I went to last December. But here, I was contorted this way and that, probed here and there, stretched, bent, twisted, folded and manipulated in ways that I wasn't even aware that my body could bend... and all the while being asked questions on what I was feeling and given explanations as to what the specialist was looking for.

I was also videotaped while running on a treadmill, and the doctor performed a gate analysis. I was very impressed with the time and effort the doctor was making at gathering information.

So, the short of it: My left leg (my left foot has the PF) is about .15" longer than the right, which is a possible contributor to the cause. That's not a lot, and it's pretty normal to have one leg slightly longer than the other, but still, makes sense how it could at least be a contributor. But... there is also a LOT of muscle tightness in the left leg. All up and down it, in fact. From the gluts down to the foot itself. All that tightness is putting more stress on the plantar fascia ligament.

Next steps: I go back in on Monday and ART treatment begins on those tight areas and the plantar fascia.

I'm optimistic this will all help, but only time will tell. But for now, I'm just impressed that more problems were identified, and along with them potential solutions.

5 comments:

Sparkplug said...

Sounds like a good step in the right direction! Glad it went well.

Thomas said...

Sounds like ART could be the thing. Let's hope it us!

mindy said...

This sounds really, really positive! Must be a relief just having someone be so thorough and attentive to what's been such a problem. Maybe we need to hire a professional Trail Monster masseuse who just rotates from home to home...

pathfinder said...

I agree with the others...it must be a huge relief to feel someone cares enough to put the effort they did. That it the best way to solve the cause of the problem..

Damon said...

Jamie,

One other thought after my post earlier in the week. Have you looked into Platelet Rich Plasma treatment as an option? I know that PF is one of the issues where it seems to be helpful.


Damon