personally, i don't care what studies say, i only care, selfishly what helps me.
physical therapy has given me my life back on a number of occassions.
its not just ice and heat and exercises.
ultrasound for about 2 years got the trigger point band to a point where it could be injected over the next year to make it so i could once again sit (for some period of time), travel (to a limited extent), not have daily excruciating pain, etc.
that plus traction, gentle massage, counter strain, etc helped my upper back,
my neck had been so weak that i couldn't talk on the phone without it going into spasm.
the occipital muscle was so inflamed that i had daily chronic headaches for about a year.
the SI was so bad, every little movement seemed to misalign it.
my left wrist was so bad on two separate occassions about 8 years apart that i could not type with it, could not turn pages (in books, etc), could not push myself up from a bath with that hand, couldn't prep food in the kitchen, etc......
hand therapists used ultrasound and light weights (bolts and washers on rubber bands) the first time and ultrasound and ionophoresis the second time to give me my hands back.
for me, the disease causes damage and the physical therapy helps undo that damage. it's like taking your medicine, it doesn't cure you, but it keeps it all in check.
and i can tell you that there are reports that say that PT isn't really of much value, i've read them. i can tell you that insurance thinks things should be "fixed" at a much quicker rate than they are, PTs always having to justify the therapy when it takes longer than its "supposed to".
a good physical therapist is definitely an important person to have on my "medical team".
and the therapists have taught me so much over the years that i can do a lot of it on my own now, but there are still times when i can't do it alone.
sue
