Interesting stuff.....
I've been going to Physical Therapy 2x a week since the end of August for my back. I've made incredible improvements. In August, I could hardly move. Certainly, by the end of the day I would be immobile. Now, I'm back to most normal activities and can manage the pain, irritation, or stiffness that remains with ibuprofen, ice, and other conservative therapies for the most part. Everytime we've tried to move the muscles forward with strengthening, though, to get to the next step of recovery, they have rebelled and I've had a bit of set back. We've gone to the point of really basic muscle recruitment with no gravity to just move the specific muscles and they still have irritation -- and in strange and unexpected places.

My PT thinks I may have a bit of a pinched nerve or moving disk. It certainly would be a more minor pinch -- if it had been a big one that made no improvement, it would have been discovered more quickly and needed surgery. But it changes the therapy routine and explains why I have made the 95% progress, but can't seem to get that final 5%. Luckily, the work we've been doing has still been good even if the diagnosis is different and we still may be able to get that final 5% of recovery with the same conservative stretching. Or I may need to get an injection or two to help that nerve improve down the road.

This experience has been fascinating -- to see how the symptoms I think are strange make sense to a well-educated physical therapist, and to see how complex God made these bodies of ours. My goal -- to improve to the point where my PT allows me to go to Pilates Boot Camp. Seriously -- anybody in Anchorage can join me. It should help my back tremendously and they promise that in the 2 week period, on average, people trim 2.5 inches from their middle section. It's on my Christmas list.