my physical therapist is clueless about MS
 

I don't normally complain when an exercise hurts, unless it is extremely painful. And I am not one who easily backs down from a challenge. I have had to modiy his routine to accomodate a few ms balance challenges.

But there are 2 exercises he keeps pushing that I am just not able to do! And it annoys me that the man is clueless as to why I can't do these. One requires laying on a styrofoam board that goes down you back and you lift one leg and the opposite arm (to work on balance). Aside from the excrutiating pain as this board is digging into already broken vertebrae... balance is an issue.

He has already determined I favor my left side and I have muscle loss in my right leg and hip. So I understand the theory in the side step thing. However... This requires a rubber band that goes around my legs while I side step with one leg and follow with a half step on the other so that I do not lose tension in the band. The man is clueless why i keep falling over while trying to do this. HELLO?? I have MS!! I have a hard enough time walking on my own much less to the side while there is something tied around my legs!

Oh, PS-> if you ever want to see a physical trainer freak out, try pulling your shoulder out of socket while trying to do lateral pulls.

You would think someone in PT would understand your limitations. But no, he's just like everyone else - doesn't understand MS unless they have it! It's just wrong that your PT will not listen to what you are saying. I have heard this complaint before, even by non MSers, why don't people listen to what others are saying and try to understand?

Does he forget about the broken vertebrae ??:confused:

One of your drs should/could clarify to the PT on that part of it.

Legz - for starters Id ask location to buy a $20 single bed size 1" foam topper.
I used them on my bed until i descovered 3" memory foam :)
Can be hard on lower back though if you sink in too much. Great for side sleepers.
The ballance thing is up to you. You know if you need it more then he.

I lucked out on having a PT guy who understood MS. I was one of the few allowed to bring a water bottle on the floor in case I overheated from exercise. He was still a drill sargent when it came to the exercises :p, but he also understood that there were limits to what I could do. We started with simple balance exercises before they had me increase slowly. One strength exercise I tried a couple of times, but they realized I couldn't do it unless I was sitting down, and they accomadated me.

When I started out in the pool, which was very warm - they knew they had to help me out of it. Both for the bum knee and because of overheating and muscle fatigue. Ask for a consult with him the next time you go in. A good PT guy will take the time to figure out what's going on without judging you. :hug::hug:

I belong to the Y and absolutely none of the trainers know anything about MS. They think they can put a goal of 45 minutes on a treadmill or bike and you can do it!

Leggs,
Every PT has to write up reports on your success and failures (no offense). They have to submit them to the head of the PT dept. I would ask to speak to that person and get you opinions/complaints heard.

I have found the same thing at PT. For certain problems like after my back surgery or knee surgery they did know their stuff and gave me the head PT to work with me. But when I had MS stuff to work on, I just said , sorry I can't do that I have MS.

Even with my back I let them know if it hurt or if I could only do 2 instead of 10 reps. of an exercise. They need to know. Shout it out.

Their report is looked at by the head PT and then sent to your doctor who ordered the PT. I usually have my doctor write "gentle PT" at first, until I can get more with it.

Don't fall and hurt yourself anymore than you are hurt now please. Tell them the board hurts. They should be helping you not hindering you.

You know more what you can and can't do. After more PT you can probably take on more training, but don't push yourself for their sake.

I hope you feel better and rest up between PT. Do they put the hot pads on your back first before treatment? Then some ice pads after, or a rub down or the tens machine in between?

No we don't do the hot pads, it causes the creepy crawly skin to act up. We did do the ice pads at the end of the last session because i demanded them after the worlds worst accupressure massage. He decided to try to loosen the muscles running up my spine, which felt more like jabbing his thumbs under the sides of my vertebrae, which I made him stop after a few minutes because the pain kept getting worse. I believe it was at this point that I had to threaten bodily harm to the man.