Physio 5

I have been so busy last week what with my courses from Mon-Thur totally threw my schedule off course, that I just didn't have time to go for my physio session. Since some of the marathoners predicted that they would be pai kah post SCSM and planned to take leave/off on Monday, I decided to follow suit and arranged to go for my physio on Monday.

The arrangement to go for my physio on Monday wasn't without its difficulties too. I called up several times to reach my physio, had to ask her for alternate arrangement as I was in pain and didn't think it wise to go without physio for 2 long weeks (since I was busy whole of last week, and she would be away the following). I guessed my desperation permeated through the analog cables and she agreed to get someone else to see me. However, she failed to call me back and I had to repeatedly call her to check on the status. She was actually unable to secure me a slot with her boss nor any of her peers and hence told me to come "before 8:30am on Monday morning" so that one of her colleagues who were available then could see me first thing in the morning. Mine wasn't an appointment and hence it wasn't recorded in the system and I guessed I basically had to try my luck. She reassured me though that she had informed the counter staff and her colleagues to expect me on Monday morning.

So dutifully I reached CGH 5 mins before the clinic opened and politely explained to the counter staff that I was there to see a physio. Blank stare ... "XXX is on leave whole of this week" she said. Again I tried. Explained to her that she had told me to come early to see another physio, whoever is available. She came back minutes later, to tell me that NONE of her physio is available. They would only be in at 9am -_-" hmmm ... mis-communication again ? Anyway, beggars can't be choosers I suppose ? I was told by sources that the physiotherapist actually need not do me the favour to make alternative arrangements to see another physio, and that she could have just easily said No to my request to see someone else. So putting all these factors in, I am just glad she helped me to secure a session with one of her colleagues. :)

So anyhow, I started my warm-up while waiting for my appointment. My sports doc happened to be at the gym and was kind and concerned enough to stop by and asked how I was doing. Updated him my condition, he sat me down, and went through once again where the pain locales were. He found it atypical that I didn't feel the pain at the areas where (it used to hurt) it hurts when I run, but I felt the pain further up my shin. Anyhow, summary of the conversation was that if I feel the pain even when I walk, it is likely due to some stress injury and he suggested I lay off running completely for about 3 months. What choice do I have anyway, could just nod. Doctors are doctors, they really have excellent memory! He remembered that I was actually planning for the KL pacesetters in Jan and he said it would not be wise to take part, especially when it would be too fast a jump in distance. Anyway, I told him I'm already not counting on that and I understood that I wouldn't be running. Awww well, what to do rite ?

Then I went to see the physio (Derek). I had to rewind the whole story and told him the history right from the very beginning. Its funny why everyone will ask me the reason why I run (or train). I'm always baffled. Eh, I run coz I like lor ? To them, they always assumed the answer is "marathon". I always had to correct them and say "nope, I'm only doing half". Think they must be thinking "this gal siao, doing half only run so much for wat ??" -_-" Anyway, Derek made me do one-leg stand on alternate legs REPEATEDLY for a VERY LONG time. He couldn't find anything particularly wrong (he said my balancing is "ok leh!"). The only difference he finally found was that my left toes tend to clamp up while my right toes were typically more relaxed. He suspected that might contributed to the pain as well. For the session, he went back to the basics and prescribed me some stationary lunges and balancing on the trampoline. Key focus for me was to ensure I re-wired my brain to not clamp up my left toes when I do one-leg stand, and for this habit to be applied even for running. It was tough going, doing 30 repetitions per exercise, each of 10s duration. My ankle was almost giving way from all the wobbling (i had weak ankles). I like this physio though. He is more hands-on, he makes the effort to come by periodically to check on my progress, what I was doing, to ensure I was doing the right thing! This is a far cry from my original physio who seldom comes out to check on me, and many times I was left wondering whether I was even doing the right thing!!! And he oso made the effort to explain to me WHY i was asked to do the various sets of exercises. Most importantly, he told me he wants to find out WHY i was having the pain!! YES!!! EXACTLY!!! As of now no one has been able to tell me WHY i was injured, just a few fluffy ideas / reasons but no root cause determined yet. So I was almost crying out "YES YES!!!" when he said he was trying to find out WHY. Also, he made the effort to look at the shoes I was wearing, and he was the ONLY one that found out I had some orthotics put into my cumulus. I also told him that I bought a pair of kayanos, and he wanted me to bring BOTH pairs of shoes in my next session, so that he could take a look at them (together with my original physio). If the first session is anything to go by, I would really much prefer this physio to my original one. I see that he is at least more determined to help me solve my problem. Let's see how ... if I have a chance to assess him again, and he proved to be a better physio (in my opinion only), I will request for a switch. Not sure whether CGH will allow though, I think it would not be fair ? And CGH also would not want to entertain such requests ? Well, lets see how ...

Derek also wanted to assess my running gait and so put me on the treadmill. Unfortunately I was in pain and hence could not run for long, he requested for a short run of 2 mins for him to observe my gait. We ended with a deep friction massage by this trainer. He was very candid, asking me whether I ran the marathon the day before (DUH!!!! -_-") and was asking me about my previous mileage and the frequency of my runs. He said I must have sufficient rest breaks in between (say taking a week off every month etc.) and that I have to cross train! Ok ok ... anyway, his message is the same as everyone else. Lay off for now. Do something else to maintain the cardio ... yes yes ... I hear it ...

Total time spent in the gym : 2hrs 30+mins ...

What a long session ... thankfully I'm on leave, else it will be such a rush ...