Strengthen in Physical Therapy is bad? Why?

[Coop42]

Some of the things I do are probably OCD as well. LOL

I look in a mirror sometimes when I'm doing mobility exercises. It's just easier to see what's moving. I also like to put my free hand on a muscle to see if it's moving, sometimes it isn't. Then I know I need to work on that area. I don't have a therapist so it helps me figure things out.

I've been doing joint mobility exercises for almost 2 1/2 years now and still not doing any strengthening yet. I'm not going to until I have full range of motion in all my joints, and hopefully, no pain.

[bean0]

I know exactly what you mean. I was doing pretty well with PT until I started using weights. At first I had problems doing tricep strengthening with a whopping 2lb weight. I think I may have been gripping the weight to tight or something. I tried again and focused on not gripping so tight I have been doing ok with it ever since with that exercise. But, recently I started doing some internal/external rotation with weights that flared my shoulder blade pain up to were it was before therapy started. I'm probably going to only do half the reps and see if I can tolerate that. Hoping that with time it will get easier. Which exercises flare you up?

[mspennyloafer]

anyone else feel like their arm pits just get glued shut all the time?

i do think mobility is important. i used to have no t-spine mobility. i think its part of the reason why i couldnt exercise

[Coop42]

Yep. Armpits are one of my worst areas. I work on those everyday.

[mspennyloafer]

me too

i wonder if the armpit being really tight can refer pain up to your neck.

[Coop42]

I think it can. My upper back muscles were super tight and once I got those to start moving my neck loosened up a lot. I also get really tight where the rotator cuff and the upper part of the triceps tie together. I've been working on that area a lot.

[fclegg]

Originally Posted by heybro

I have heard before that "strength" stuff is bad in physical therapy.

My physical therapy has been going ok (not hurting me like most have in the past).

Until.....he just gave me strengthen exercises.

i flared up after these.

so what is the reasoning behind it all?

I had TOS surgery in June. Dr Donahue stated flatly "no PT". He showed me 5 stretches to do, 3x/day, for next YEAR. In his opinion, most Ph therapists are over-eager and the exercises very often delay/hinder recovery. Internal swelling can linger for many MONTHS, so you don't want to build up muscles and cause compression on your nerves/blood vessels unwittingly. He told me to listen to my body, begin exercises very slowly and start with simple stuff like yoga (which I am doing).

[Jo*mar]

I think often PT places are expected to "fix" the problem , or at least show a good rate of improvement, in 6-8 sessions or 2 sets of sessions.
For TOS or chronic RSIs, that is just not enough time. In that senario they do tend to press forward too quickly, causing problems for us.

Often those injuries took many years to build up to the extreme/chronic symptoms, those symptoms cannot be reversed in a month or 2.

I do think often some sort of skilled manual or "hands on" therapy is needed. Self stretching alone often doesn't do all that we need. But each case of TOS is different.

[mspennyloafer]

my health ins wont cover my pt anymore because it shouldve cleared by now

yeah right!! this took YEARS. its not gonna heal overnight.

[Coop42]

That's one reason I don't go to a therapist, can't afford it. Insurance usually only pays for several visits. That, and the fact that I've never found one who's been any help anyway.