The Osteopath Visit

I met with my osteopath yesterday.  Not unexpectedly, there was no immediate lifting of all pain.  (Darn.)  He did find some alignment problems.  He was able to fix a couple (I heard some things pop, anyway), he was definitely unable to fix a couple more in that one session.  He doesn't do a lot of drawn out "come back and see me once a week" kind of things (thankfully -- that's not what I was looking for).  He did give me a series of exercises to do -- mostly to loosen up my hip cradle.  It's all screwed up.

He did say with the family history of osteoarthritis, there wouldn't be much he could do there.  He also bluntly said in closing, he couldn't do too much until I lost weight, because the extra weight causes me to be out of alignment. 

I begin the exercise session on a heating pad on the floor with my feet up in a chair for fifteen minutes -- a self-traction sort of thing, and I'll tell you, that was uncomfortable. Everything felt like it wanted to spasm.  Then I pull one knee at a time up to my chest and hold it (at some point, maybe I'll be able to reach my chest with it; for now, I'm stretching as far as I can) then release.  I alternate this three times.  Then I repeat with both knees at the same time.

Now, I sit in the chair and lift my foot and lay my ankle across my opposite knee with the leg flat and lean forward.  Of course, I cannot do this, so I do the best I can and hope to get the hip flexors stretched enough at some point to do this a little closer.  I have a rubber strap I use to pull my foot up and hold it in position.  I do this three times on each side.

Then I put my knees together and hold them with my hands while trying to spread them apart for three repetitions.  Next, I place my forearm between the knees -- one elbow on one knee, my hand on the other and hold the knees apart while I try to press them together for three repetitions.

The last exercise is to stand in a doorway and try to press my arms through the doorjamb for three repetitions.  He says I can also do an "Angry Cat' if I want, and I think he mentioned wall climbers, but they dropped out when I was writing down the instructions.  I'll need to look those two up, because I think they're going to help with my shoulders. 

After all that, I ice for fifteen minutes.  I go back in a month for a followup visit.  I hope he can accomplish a couple more manipulations on my neck and hips.  After that, it will probably be up to me to keep up with the exercises and the weight loss.

Oh, yes, I also need to ride the stationary bike for 20 minutes a day at no resistance.  He says the repetitive motion will cause the rough areas on my knees to smooth out and will help them a little.  I think that motion will also help loosen up the muscles and tendons in the leg, even though he didn't mention that.

In an aside, a new pillow I ordered from Amazon came yesterday, and I think it may do the trick. I used it last night, and my neck felt supported and comfortable in both the side and back positions throughout the night.  That's a first.