Sunday Story...More Recovery

It’s been a solid 4 months since total knee replacement surgery. There have been many wins over the last month, but the biggest was snowboarding in Colorado two weeks ago.

If you don’t know snowboarding, you may not realize the mobility required to get in and out of the board, as well as up and down. There were some challenges along the way, but most of them were easily met. The worst part of the experience was the “yard sale” I pulled in the parking lot. If you aren’t familiar with that term, it means you fall, and all your stuff goes everywhere like a yard sale. It’s embarrassing, especially when it happens in the parking lot at the end of the day!

Other than that experience, the trip was a tremendous success. And the knee did well and did no additional damage. I continue to do my performance physical therapy exercises as prescribed by Dr. Amanda Anderson with Raise the Barbell physical therapy. This is the most important thing. No matter what happens to you, if physical therapy is prescribed, you Must do it. All of it, as prescribed, every day.

You see, when you have an injury, your brain shuts off certain pathways to protect the injury. The problem is your brain doesn’t know when the problem has been fixed to turn those pathways back on. Physical therapy is designed to do just that. It is particularly important if you have had an injury for a long time as most of us with knee problems have had. My brain and body figured out how to get things done in the most efficient, efficacious way possible. Now that everything is fixed, I need to rebuild the proper pathways. That takes dedicated, consistent work to get all the pieces working together again.

Too many people neglect their physical therapy exercises. Don’t be that person. If you want an outstanding result, you are going to have to do the work. Remember, there is no magic pill!

John Mariotti              

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