Do Your PT!

I am really bad about doing my PT!

I saw Dr. Annest on December 28th--he was pretty dissapointed at my lack of flexibility.  I hate dissapointing my doctors!  So, I resolved to be good and do my exercises. 

Sleeping through my alarm and missing my second PT appointment was really not the start I wanted...

I don't see my therapist for another week, so I have to get busy. 

PT for the TOS surgery really isn't that bad.  I just talked to my friend who had shoulder surgery 7 weeks ago; it sounds like her PT is really painful--she's been swearing a lot more.

It seems like a big goal of the therapy is to prevent scar tissue from forming and producing nerve compression.

So far, all I have to do is work on gentle stretching of the chest muscles.  Dr. Annest explaned that there is a "good" stretch and a "bad" stretch.  The "good" one feels, well, kind of good, like a stretch first thing in the morning.  The "bad" stretch causes tingling, numbness, cold sensations, burning, or a lot of pain.  The bad stretch is to be avoided.

There is also a lot of focus on breathing exercies.  Deep breathing, abdominal breating, and focused breathing.  Correct breathing technique helps move the ribs and chest muscles.

I know Dr. Annest wants me to work on my posture as well, but since I have only seen my therapist once, I haven't got that far.

Oh, my whole point in this post is that PT is pretty important as I am learning the hard way.  This is the first week I have had increased pain in my chest, and some pain down my arm into my hand...and I hate to say that I had some tingling today.  

I guess that's how recovery goes.