I'm definitely a proud sponsor of PT and OT's. Just not when I can mostly walk into their office the first day... Kind of crawl into their office the next appt... Ready to cry the following and by the fourth or fifth appt I'm incapable of walking and can barely move while maintaining consciousness for the pain.

Do you get pain with PT, yep! and most of the time in all the wrong places, but it's not suppose to be to that degree and you aren't suppose to leave with more injuries than you went in with. It just comes down to the manifestation of my MS. The signal that tells the brain to "relax" contracted muscles... isn't really there. So when the PT's kind of ignore me, or try to "strengthen" other muscles to help with that, my body just becomes a hot mess of Charlie horses and contracted muscles that won't let go no matter how many relaxants I'm taking to try and force it.

And all of that leads to more fraying and tearing of ligaments and tendons. And more pressure on bones (occasionally fracturing them despite an excellent bone density) and yeah, a physical therapist can pretty much have me laid up in bed for about 3 months after only two weeks of seeing them.

I just happen to be one of those weirdos who thinks an ancient torture chamber looks more like a spa resort... A nice stretch on the rack, followed by a bit of acupuncture in the iron maiden, get that nice deep back stretch while you hang upside down with comfy stocks around your ankles. It's even like the dugeons were made for MS'ers nice and cold stone walls with anti-skid and fall safe dirt floors.

Now I am hopeful that as I heal up some more with the AFO, that I'll be able to see a PT, already know the PT I want to see, and hopefully instead of a "strengthening" regimen I'll be given a nice stretching one. But hey they go by what they're trained, and it can be really hard, at least in this area, to find a PT who has much if any knowledge of MS. Let alone finding one that has any experience with such stubbornly spastic muscles.

But I have had enough experience in the past (been in and out of PT since I was 6 years old) to know the benefits it can have. Of course it also told me what to expect and what is sooooo not right, when it came to my body's reaction to the exercises.