A couple of weeks ago I tweeted that I was finally putting my hand in my pocket and paying for some private physio. I went to the Cotswold Physiotherapy which is close to where I live. I used them a few years ago when i had hamstring problems - I was impressed then and as I can walk to them it made sense.
What I was looking for was a clarified diagnosis of my right knee problem. I did it in November and while it does feel better it feels a long way from fine. My worry was that it needed surgery (I thought it might be a meniscus) and I had wasted 6 months doing pretty much nothing.
After some manipulation I was relieved to hear that there was nothing wrong with the knee joint that would need surgery. The problem I have is now probably a compensatory issue from the original injury in November last year. The hamstring is inflexible and the tendons are very rigid. In short the remedy is stretching, more stretching and foam roller. Also as the injury is muscular it means that I should try to train through it. So that means I can start to run a bit and so long as I don't overdo it I won't be doing more damage.
So what's the point of this blog? Well I wanted to describe the difference in physiotherapy experience you get from the hospital and from a private clinic. This is not me bashing the NHS - far from it - as a diabetic I receive incredible care and support from the NHS and would never criticise them.
Funnily enough the main difference is that the private physio experience is a more hands on one. So I have had the knee mechanics checked out thoroughly which was the same in both clinics. However beyond that the NHS physio did no physical manipulation or massage of the injury at all. At the private clinic I have had massage of the area, a laser treatment, taping and support in terms of educating me how to really get in and stretch the issue area. Now there might be an easy explanation for this which is time. The NHS clinic time per patient might be a lot less. Also the NHS clinic might be a sausage factory with many more patients in the day meaning that if they manipulated each patient they would not be able to withstand the physical demand that would place on them. I remember years back when i was seeing a chiropractor being told that she had to have chiropractor treatments herself such was the wear and tear on her body.
Whatever the differences, i am currently in an improving place. I have done a couple of 5km runs on gym treadmills since being treated by the physio and today, the first time since November, ran to and from work. It's just over 2.5 miles which is a nice distance as i can just take it easy and it not take too long. The run in was fine, felt the knee about a mile in then it just went as the movement continued. Then all day today no issues at all. Coming home it was a little sore most of the way then did settle with about a mile to go. I actually don't care - i ran 5 miles today something that seemed a long way off until only recently.
This week i also bought myself some new running shoes. Some Brooks Defyance from the local Up and Running store. One thing i had noticed when on the treadmill was that my Brooks Pure Project shoes are not that cushioned and that to preserve my knee on the comeback i could do with some. They are a lovely shoe to run in and i think cement my loyalty to Brooks. I can now literally just put any pair of them on and they feel great. Like they were made for me.
