Last week of PT!

I am very happy to be in my final week of physical therapy for my ankle. Most of you know I sprained my ankle pretty badly back in October. The darn thing rolled to the outside and when I tried to stand, it buckled again and got STUCK that way. I proceeded to pop it back into place by hand, wish everyone a lovely Saturday afternoon, and drove myself to the ER, LOL!

While I certainly don't look forward to seeing the medical bills, I have to say that the experiences I've had with the folks at Athletico PT in Grayslake have been awesome. Every serious martial artist knows that injuries happen whether we like it or not, and I've certainly had my fair share. With those injuries came numerous experiences with different orthopedists, chiropractors, and physical therapists.

Let me tell you that not all orthos, chiros, and therapists are created equal! IT may take a little trial and error (or referrals from friends you trust, hint hint) to find one(s) that will give you the kind of care/service you want.

Here are a couple interesting things that came out of the mouths of some of the professionals I've encountered over the years:

#1 My Favorite Orthopedist:
After setting an appointment due to low back pain, I was instructed to sit, shirt off, in a freezing cold exam room, where I waited for over 20 minutes before the doc showed up. After about 30 seconds of "consultation" I was told:

"Low back pain? You probably just have weak abdominals."

If I wasn't so pissed off, I'd have laughed in his face.

#2 My First Chiropractor:
After getting my neck crunched in grappling class, I went to the closest in-network chiropractor to my house. Regardless of the severe amount of pain I was in, this guy decided to try and adjust me right off the bat without taking any x-rays or testing my ROM (range of motion) at all. Needless to say, the neck did NOT want to move, to which he replied...

"Yeah, your neck definitely seems a little tight."

YA THINK SO, DO YA?!! I'm so glad that your 5+ years of chiropractic school enabled you to make that brilliant diagnosis...your parents must be so proud.

#3 What a Darling Physical Therapist this Girl Was: Proof that just because some one's a physical therapist doesn't mean they know jack about exercise.
I was having some knee pain and, while the diagnosis from the ortho was dead on (not the ortho mentioned in #1), this lady wasn't quite the sharpest tool in the shed. When asked what type of workout routine I use (always a loaded question with me...), I said, "Well, yesterday I hit the heavy bag for about 20 minutes straight and then did some calisthenics and stretching."

She replied, "So then, you don't do any cardio?"

In all fairness, she was a marathon runner, so to her cardio probably isn't cardio unless it involves $200 running shoes, giving up 4+ hours of a Saturday afternoon, and hallucinations brought on by severe dehydration....me, I'd rather hit stuff.

What I will say that is positive about these experiences is that they definitely inspired me to take accountability for my own injuries and condition and learn as much as possible about why injuries happen, how they heal, and how to prevent them from occurring again....knowledge that I someday hope to parlay into a new career for myself!

On the positive side, I've had nothing but the best experiences with the following people, so if you live in Lake County, and want professional help from people who know how to treat athletes/martial artists, give one of these folks a try, and tell em who sent ya:

Orthopedist: Dr. Christopher Amann - Non-Surgical Orthopedic Specialist, Libertyville/Lake Forest, IL.

Chiropractor(s): Dr. Stuart Yoss (team chiro for the Bears!), Bannockburn/Northfield
Dr. Bill Fager - Palatine

Physical Therapy: Ryan LeFever, MS in Physical Therapy and Performance Enhancement Specialist - Athletico PT in Grayslake.

It's Alive!

Hello to all of my students, teachers, and friends!I'm very happy to finally launch this blog. I've been wanting to do something like this for a while. Here's a few things you can expect to find here going forward:

1. NSA Students - come here for tips, encouragement, and explanations for belt rank requirements, as well as announcements of upcoming school events and recaps of past events.
2. Reflections, observations, and "borrowed wisdom" on anything martial art related.
3. Recommendations and resources to help you improve your martial art practice, your health and fitness, and your life in general.
4. Whatever othernonsensical stuff is floating through my head at the moment.

Here's what you WON'T find:
1. Political statements
2. Bashing of other martial artists, their styles, or their schools.
3. Bragging about myself (I'll likely be too busy bragging about my students/friends and their accomplishments.)
4. Anything that will not in some way help you improve in some area of your life, even if it's just something to make you chuckle (laughter burns calories!)

Feel free to comment often and let me know if there's anything you want to see here!