People often ask me how I got into physical therapy. Well, that is a very loaded question. I think it really all started back in junior high and high school track. I always loved to run or sprint playing games as a kid, constantly running to one place or another, to one friend’s house to another’s. In 1987, I got to join a track team for the very first time and we had gigantic Nike Air shoes. The irony is those shoes are back! I have some biomechanical beef with them. We’ll get into that in a later post…Ha!
OK, so I was learning how to race but really we didn’t have any training except I remember my coach yelling at us to “HEEL STRIKE and ROLL THROUGH!!!” Ummm, if you are a runner and have done any reading in the last 10 years, you know that is ridiculous! Also, the faster you run, the more naturally you go up on your forefoot. I remember as a little girl, I ran on my forefoot. I remember talking about it and comparing how we landed on our feet with my two friends Jill and Rachel (who I’m still friends with today!). That’s how I could run fast, be up on my toes. So I basically just sprinted around everywhere, which now I know was the best thing for this hypermobile body. I could lock up my mobile foot and transmit force through by going faster. Also, by going faster, made my glutes work, which helped control my excessive mobility and add speed. So really I think joining a team made my form crap (and probably going through puberty)!
In 6th grade was the first time I had knee pain. In the orthopedic world, we call this pain/injury patellofemoral pain syndrome, which is pain behind the knee caps. I basically have had knee cap pain since I was 12 and now it’s osteoarthritic so I no longer can run. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Back to the past…then in 7th grade, the knee pain was so bad my mom gave me little Nuprin pills to bring to school without the teachers or nurses knowing. It did help. Remember that commercial? “Little, yellow, different…Nuprin.” Well, that wasn’t really a good way to handle patellofemoral pain. What I needed was glute strength, neuromuscular control training of my pelvis and femur, some deep, low abdominal training, posture training, real running gait training, and foot mobilizations plus foot instrinsic work. Well, now that I’m middle-aged, I’ve been able to do all of that…it keeps me upright but the degenerative changes are there.
Again back to the past…in high school, I loved running hurdles and the 400 meter dash, plus the 4x400, that was probably my favorite. I wasn’t super good but I was decent. I now think if I could have seen someone like myself or my colleagues, I could’ve been fast and injury-free! So that was the problem, every time I tried to train a little harder, something always broke down. Knee pain. Shin splints. Stress fracture in a metatarsal (bone in foot), mononucleosis, hip pain. Oh how I always had hip pain. Guess what most of the docs in town know me for…hip pain! LOL.
I was a smart, studious kid trying to be an athlete. I loved sports but just always had weird body things. I remember doing step aerobics (this was 1991, folks) with my friend Sarah. She was short, tight-jointed, strong and fast! I remember watching Sarah in front of me on her step, and thinking that I must look like her when I’m doing the step aerobics. Super efficient movements, solid, controlled… Then I looked in the mirror. I was horrified!!! I looked like Phoebe in “Friends” running through Central Park. Remember that episode? My limbs and joints were flailing all over the place. I now know this is called dynamic genu valgus or increased lower extremity pronation. Whoa!!! It was terrible!!! How embarrassing!
Another little tidbit, I was really flexible as a child but so was my older sister and my mom. And come to think about it, many, many cousins. We were “W” sitters. By the way, do NOT let your children sit this way! It is very bad for the development of your hips, knees, etc. It causes a lot of femoral anteversion. I was “double-jointed” as they say. I had all kinds of “party tricks.”
So I hit college, and I was really into the biomechanics of the human body, exercise, bones, and muscles. I loved (and still love) anatomy! And really…I was trying to figure out WHY I was constantly injured. My friends could all run without getting injured. What was WRONG with my body??? (So unfair!) At that time, I also started having lot of neck and thoracic (upper back) pain. Ultimately, I think this body that I live in brought me to become a physical therapist.
I continued to run through college and got more into distance running. I ended up training, running and completing Grandma’s Marathon 2000 in Duluth, MN. I was in Physical Therapy School at that point, and I thought I knew what I was doing. I had the worst case of bilateral (both sides) Achilles tenindosis/itis, and had no business running that marathon. I was a runner though and loved it so much. Plus, I had put in so much training at that point! So I rested 2 weeks before the race. I was able to run the first half completely pain-free but the last half was so painful. But I pushed through, and I did complete a sub-four hour marathon. It was my one and done experience (unfortunately). This experience taught me a lot and really helps me understand the mindset of many athletes (especially runners). I know people can’t be told no if they’ve been training so hard (unless there is a stress fracture or something really serious). Just know I will work with you and figure out a plan for you and with you for YOUR body.
I continued to run with injuries stopping me, and me still trying to fix myself. Finally at 40, I hung up my running shoes. But I still continue to be very active, as I am definitely a “mover” and I love to move! Living in this hypermobile body has helped me really understand so many injuries, and how to help others with these injuries! This has given me a perspective that I have used as an advantage in treating my patients. I think it has taught me to really listen to people’s stories and figure out the puzzle of their bodies. I think if I could have seen someone like me or my colleagues when I was 12, I still would be running. But that’s OK, I’m using my knowledge and experiences to help others now and YOU!
Sometimes a curse can be a blessing:)
Cheers!
Margi
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