Benefits of Physical Therapy

I often think about being grateful for the smallest, ordinary, daily activities in life, like walking. Unfortunately, this did not come without cost. I was previously never consciously aware of what the privileges of walking, standing, sitting, breathing, and living a pain-free life were. This was until December 20^th, 2020, when I woke up to start my typical daily routine, but ended up not being able to walk by myself for months. Two lumbar compression fractures and a hematoma pressing on your spinal canal will do that to a person.

A perfect storm of incidents that day led me to falling off of my horse, where I laid for what felt like forever waiting for the ambulance to come pick me up off of the dirt floor. I remember thinking to myself that there was no way that this level of pain was able to be real considering how unimaginably excruciating it was. Yes, the full day between hospitals and doctors and tests and emergency surgery was exhausting both mentally and physically, but the months following were arguably more challenging.

As an athlete, I have learned to push myself even when mentally I believe I physically cannot go any farther, or physically I feel as though I mentally cannot. This situation was something I was unable to push. I had to take steps even smaller than baby steps to be where I am now.

My physical therapist came to my bed every other day to work alongside me to recover and simply learn how to live with my injury. I will never forget when she told me “You’ll be doing a plank in no time.” I didn’t believe her. I couldn’t see past the day I was living in. It was so jarringly different from the life I was used to—breakfast, driving to get a coffee, horseback-riding, going for runs, doing school work, etc.––compared to laying in bed all day, having my family or friends flip me over in bed to change positions, adjust my pillows, bring me food and drink, and work with my physical therapist to flex my feet, quads, or pelvic floor as exercises to “keep me strong.”

As someone who typically is independent and loves to help others, it was strange and frustrating being in a position of desperate helplessness. Physically not being able to do anything but pick up and drink a glass of water that was brought to me, or lay and look at a screen or read to occupy my day was not necessarily encouraging or enriching.

Once I began practicing standing up out of bed and walking with the help of a hand, back brace, and cane, a glimmer of hope entered me, just to be taken away with the news of re-doing my surgery. My thoughts flooded with despair, hopelessness, and exhaustion. All the work I had done to simply stand up from bed and take 10 steps to get to the bathroom would reset after this second surgery.

According to my physical therapist, this was not the case. I then learned about preoperative physical therapy, where you build up your muscles in preparation for the forthcoming loss, and preemptively reduce the rehabilitation time. Now, the second surgery did not come without complications, but with the reassurance of this new, solid, correct, structure within my body, some of the fear of pain that came with movement that I had, diminished.

Small steps in physical therapy when dealing with any injury can be frustrating. I get it––all you want to do is get back to your passion, any exercise you want to do, or even just walk down the hallway by yourself. Injury can restrict your physical freedom.

Time went on and I was able to walk downstairs by myself finally and we began doing more intense exercises, like dead bugs. What felt like forever passed when one day, after doing some bird-dogs, my physical therapist instructed me to do a plank. I looked at her with disbelief. I said, “Do you remember in those first weeks that you said I would be doing a plank in no time? I didn’t actually believe the day would come, and now it is here.” That plank changed my entire mindset. Progress was happening. I was so caught up in my head that my life was changed forever, that time was moving so slowly, and that I may never be able to move the way I wanted to again that I didn’t notice how much progress my body had made in healing itself. It is a beautiful thing—that our bodies are capable of repairing even the toughest of injuries––that it can go from immobilization to getting back on the horse (literally) and riding without pain years later.

As frustrating as those small steps were sometimes, I have no doubts about the benefits of physical therapy that can treat symptoms of pain and prevent future medical problems. Physical therapy aims to increase mobility, strengthen muscles, and educate patients to improve their health on their own. It can be specifically or broadly targeted to improve the functioning of the body or mobility, improve metabolism and blood circulation, relieve pain, improve coordination and strength, compensate for disability, and prevent chronic problems. Physical therapists incorporate numerous treatments including massage work, cold or heat therapy, electrotherapy, and much more to address patients’ needs.

I found that lying in bed nearly 24 hours a day for weeks and months made me feel unmotivated, hopeless, exhausted, sad, and limited. It made me grateful, eventually, for all of the smaller things I was able to accomplish, like stepping outside to look at the snow, or feel the sun on the first days of spring on my skin. Movement has always been important to me, but not in the way I knew it to be. It is an addition to my wellbeing and positive mental health in a way I didn’t know was possible until it was taken away from me. Although I found other ways to keep my motivation, encouragement, and spirits up during this incredibly difficult time, I will always reflect on the benefits that even small movements and steps, like flexing my quads or taking one step forwards, backwards, or sideways, has on my body and mental well being. Injury is not something to skim past. Your body deserves so much love and care because it works so hard for you to be moving and happy. I didn’t realize it as it was happening, but every small inch of my physical therapy journey guided me to be where I am both physically and mentally where I am today, and I’m happy to have the scars to prove it.