It's Thursday and my traps are still swollen from the HPCs on Sunday. Definitely not doing anything until it recovers completely.
Yesterday, I had an interesting argument with my PT. I was doing an exercise where I stood on my left leg and I bent and pointed directions with my right leg. They're called vectors and they're supposed to help my stability throughout the leg and they're supposed to help my hip muscles get stronger. I felt a bit of soreness on the outside of my leg, near the ankle and I asked the PT if I was supposed to feel it there.
Instead of saying something like, concentrate on working your knee/hip or whatever, he said "I think you need more supportive shoes". I was wearing my Puma K-streets.
At first, I didn't think anything of it but it was his tone that really bothered me. Don't get me wrong, I really like my PT and he's fixing my hip but he went on to say that he's read "all the books" on barefoot running and pose running and he doesn't believe any of it and claims people get hurt more from it. Well, I'm sure the people that go to him that get hurt might not be easing into barefoot/pose running properly or they're not listening to their own body but I did not appreciate the way he passed judgment on me.
I tried to have an intelligent discussion with him as to why and things that he's read but he throws out a challenge at me to find studies for him to read. I haven't read and don't have access to studies with hard evidence (requires payment) but I have read plenty of anecdoctal articles that doesn't say barefoot running is bad for you.
Anyway, he doesn't have to agree with me but I feel like he judged unfairly. His compromise, interestingly enough, was for me to do the exercises barefoot. I don't understand as the reason he cited for my pain was lack of arch support. So how exactly does doing exercises barefoot help his cause?
It doesn't matter. If he wants me to wear regular running shoes, that's fine. I'm there to fix my hip. I can run in my Pumas after I'm all better.
Short version of what I've been eating over the last few days:
Breakfast: meatballs, eggs, spinach, peppers in some form or another
Lunch: Protein Bar Chicken Parm bowl (I had a coupon), Market Creations buffet lunch (fish, chicken, broccoli, bok choy... other than sauces, as good as paleo as I can be).
Dinner: salads with salmon burger, pureed turnip and celeriac, ground elk with tomato sauce.
I'd love to hear what his "All the books" on barefoot running is since there really isn't a whole lot of them besides the Pose Method books and "Born to Run". Everything else supporting will be in studies in the next 10 years. If it were me...(and I'm a bit confrontational when people have such close minds) I'd ask to see what it the structural difference in a flat arch versus a healthy strong arch? Oh wait there's nothing you can see...so your telling me it's muscular??? But I should get something to stand on to support my "lazy" arch? So it can never get stronger and I can keep on buying orthopedic supporters. GRRRR!
ReplyDeleteI think it's even more irritating because it sounds like you really do have a well educated therapist. His compromise is to let you do them barefoot to not bring confrontation and have you compliant or is it really to have you try to increase strength in the arch and build proprioceptive muscles in the feet? I'm not going to judge that one.
PT's make tons of money, and the sad thing is many of them are not worth a damn. They should be able to explain in full detail (even to a person that knows nothing about anatomy and physiology) what they are doing and why they are doing it. I don't care if they have to take 10 minutes to teach you about sensory receptors. Your education should be a part of your therapy program.
Okay, I could gripe about this forever. I'm done.
I was pretty fired up about this in the first 30 minutes after the discussion. He threw out a bunch of anatomy terms at me and I wasn't 100% of what he's referring to. I even said that I'm not trying to say he's wrong, I want to learn for myself why he thinks it's wrong.
ReplyDeleteHe said if I could get him studies to read, he would but probably knowing that the studies are coming as opposed to already existing.
I read on some profile somewhere that the guy trains for marathons so I must have struck a cord when the issue came up. I feel like he let his own emotions interfere with his professionalism because of the way he talked to me. I think at the end (we were running out of time), he threw his hands up and said that it's all preference b/c I want you to succeed...
Your comments made me feel better. Damn straight my education should be a part of my therapy program! :)
Oh yeah, and by putting the onus on me to find him studies to read... I agree but I hope he does a little digging himself to ensure that he is well educated on the matter.
ReplyDeleteDonna I'm with you too. I'm constantly that girl who asks the doctor, the lawyer, the coach, too many questions. Too many people just do what they're told instead of understand why things happen, how to prevent them, how to work through them, etc. Stay strong girl, and stick to your guns.
ReplyDeleteYou may not have a bunch of research studies to back what you believe but I bet you could find some if you just searched on google, or checked out the books Rudy suggested. You also have experience behind you, so listen to your body - you'll figure out what works for you. If your running well on your shoes without pain you probably don't need to go out and buy fancy running shoes.
Seriously, why would you ever want a shoe that not only allows you to run with bad form (such as keel striking) but is designed specifically to reduce injuries you get because of bad form instead of correcting it?? Same thing with arch support - it is there so that your foot doesn't need to develop the muscles on its' own.
I can't imagine having to fight on the other side of this argument... "No no, it's better not to develop muscles and train with good form. Trust me."