Kickas.org Forums Ankylosing Spondylitis General Discussion #1 AS Web Support Group Does PT help?

Will Physical Therapy help AS? I have a lot of lower back pain and the rheumy is sending me for PT three times a week. Just curious. I'm desperate to get some relief. Any possibility it will take away all the pain?

I think it probably affects people differently. I feel so good with the massage, the heat packs and the electrodes. The exercises even feel very good but I have never felt it helped me much. Not nearly as much as just going to a nice warm pool and gently working out myself. It may help you a lot. The last time my PT told me to not come back that he was calling my dr. because I was spending a lot of money and he didn't think it was helping me any.

Possi

Physical Therapy helped me, I still do many of the excersizes. I would suspect that PT is one of those things where if you get the right physical therapist it helps, but the wrong one could hurt. My rheumatologist is not big on physical therapy although he does encourage excersize. He told me you can do the excesizes on your own.

PT was very helpful to me the first time. I was just a few steps towards a wheel chair and it got me going in the other direction. I had an incredible therapist who really under stood the disease and taylored my therapy accordingly. (Several years ago) I joined the local gym just to keep up with the program. Since then I have bought most of the equipment that I used at the gym to do it at home. A good semi-recumbant bike and a universal type setup, though in hind sight just the bike, a few different free weight sets and one of those big inflatable excercise balls will do it. Now keep in mind I'm talking about building endurance and strength not body mass. The key is to get the blood moving daily (hence the bike 10-15 minutes a day...easy) Then ease into light musle work for all parts of your body. Upper arm shoulder. back, lower back, and legs. I cannot stress how important this is. You wil be amazed at the progress and the positive difference it makes. And you just work at the level you can. No big deal, just do something. It will take a good month of the correct excerise to see the effect. After that if you stop a few days you will notice the difference because you will feel like crap. Believe it or not, when I wake up I can't wait to excercise as I know I will I feel much better after it. I recommend trying PT. It was a huge benefit to me. Good luck.

A problem I have with PT, in fact all exercise (aside from swimming which i can't do and i know i should learn) is that I suffer with almost constant sciatica and exercise either brings it on much worse or its already so bad I can't exercise in the first place because the pain is horrendous, or if i push through the pain barrier (couldn't do this in a room of other people mind, the swearing, naughty!) my affected leg just gives out under me, has anyone had experience of exercising when you have sciatica?

Physical therapy only made things worse for me.
Besides that the last PT I went to was a little wacked....she said she could feel the spinal fluid flowing through my back . I got out of there real quick.
Dan

My rheummy sent me to PT a year ago. I was there for ten treatments. The only thing that was good for me was the massage and ultrasound. The actual exercise, although very light, put me into a flare. I've found that swimming and the hot tub at my local fitness center gives me the best relief. I try and go every other day.

Although I am fairly new being diagnosed with as, I have been going to a massage therapist regularily for severe neck pain from a former injury. When I started having severe pain in my sacriiliac area, she worked that as well. She does deep tissue massage and it has helped me a lot. It could be worth a try. My rheumatologist also recommended certain stretching as well as other excercises to keep the muscle strong especially in the weak areas. A pt can be of some help if they are familiar with this disease.

Bill

I'm in my third round of PT. The only reason I say it helped me is that I learned how to stretch my back when I'm in a flare to relieve pain. The two stretches that work was one for my neck that I only do when I am in pain. I don't dare do it if I'm not. I lay on my bed on my back and scoot off the edge until the edge is just below my shoulder blades. I then lower to the floor and then let my arms dangle over my head and hold for a few seconds. I will scoot all along my spine. This generally helps me when I have a horrendous headache. I was skeptical at first but the first time I tried it relieved the pressure behind my neck and my headache eased just enough that I could get to sleep. I don't have any fusion in my neck or back so I wouldn't try this if you do.

The other thing I learned to do was pop my SI joint. While I was laying down with my knees bent and my feet on the table, the therapist pushed out from the inside of my legs by my knees while I pushed in. Then she pushed in from the outside while I pushed out. I experimented with this myself. I bent my knees and put my feet on the floor. I then slowly moved my legs towards the floor still bent at the knees as far as I could go. I then raised my legs back towards the position I started and then pushed my knees together as hard as I could. I can usually pop my SI that way. I now do it a different way. I put my leg on the bed. To me it's about a 90 degree angle. I slowly turn my body away from the bed so my leg is straight behind me on the bed. That usually pops it but sometimes I have bend my knee a bit to get myself a little lower. Again, I don't have any fusion so don't do this if you do. It's only temporary relief though, it seems to come back. I haven't tried it during a major flare either. It might hurt like heck.

The exercise made things worse. Especially my SI joint. When PT was over I started feeling so much better. Also like Possi, my PT called my doc to let him know that I am just wasting my money. She's tried everything. I told my doc I didn't want to go but he said this time would be different. There wouldn't be any manipulation. But if there is no manipulation just heat and tens like he wanted, my insurance won't pay. There has to be some exercise. So she went ahead and did my Tens unit referral and I am authorized for two months. I will only go back to PT to learn how to use it.

Another thing that helped me in therapy was deep massage and of course heat. But you can use heat at home. No sense in spending all that money for heat.

Sharon

Hello,

The PT I like the best is water therapy. Exercising in warm/hot water makes me feel great.

All The Best,
Gary