Post Concussion Syndrome

This has been a story in the making for over a year now. I am now released from worker's compensation and feel able to share my story with Post Concussion Syndrome (PCS).

In 2015, I fell at work and hit my head due to my blood pressure bottoming out. I didn't have a concussion from that fall, and it wouldn't be until 2022 that I would come to understand how so many of my health changes stemmed from that single fall that caused me to develop Abdominal Migraine.

In early February 2023 I fell on the ice at work injuring my head and my right knee. I didn't even land on my knee but yet I twisted it in the process. At first, I didn't think anything about it really. I immediately hurt from my fall, as I would expect. I called my neurologist's office to let them know I had hit my head so that they were aware and that I was feeling alright except for the expected pain from a fall. However, within a few hours, things started to change. I started having pressure in my head, headache, my concentration and speech were off, I felt funny. There was such a remarkable difference in my speech alone that when I called my neurologist's office back, I was told that I definitely needed to go the ER for evaluation.

My mom took me to a small, local ER. In spite of being there for concussion symptoms, the ER doctor was only concerned if I was vomiting and if I had hurt my knee and neck. He ordered a knee x-ray and a neck CT scan - both were unremarkable. He said I scored a 15 on some scale (which was really good evidently), I wasn't vomiting, and I had hit the back of my head so he wasn't concerned about a severe concussion and therefore he wouldn't order any imaging of my head. I didn't realize until after I was released that I don't think he asked me if I was having any other symptoms other than pain and vomiting. The only reason that the ER doctor explained why he wasn't worried about a severe concussion and would even use the word "concussion" with me was because I kept asking every staff member that came into my room why I wasn't having any imaging tests of my head. Word got back to the doctor, and he decided then to say anything about a concussion to me. Even then, he would only say "you might have a mild concussion". Might my ass. And the only instructions I was given were by the nurse who warned me about increased symptoms if my heart rate increased over the next couple weeks and to take Tylenol or Ibuprofen. A day or two later, I realized that I hadn't advocated for myself at all like I normally would, and this wouldn't be the last time either when dealing with my concussion, unfortunately. 

To say that I have been completely confused and scared, unlike myself in so many ways, is an understatement. A friend told me to not look at any screens and to follow up with my PCP. I told her about it and asked about any precautions/restrictions I needed to take. The only thing I was told was to limit screens. 

The night of my fall, my entire body hurt - every single joint and major muscle group was flared. I hurt almost as badly as did following my gallbladder removal surgery when my nerve pain kept me bedbound for 4 months except for the time I went to work. Four days later and looking at screens still triggered or increased my headaches. Since my injury occurred while at work, I was followed by worker's comp and bound to their rules and recommendations. With my symptoms no better after the 4 days the ER doctor wrote for me to be off work, I was directed to 3-4 different nurse practitioners to manage my care at an urgent care contracted with my worker's comp. I wasn't assigned to one nurse practitioner, so I never knew who was going to be the one to manage my care that week when I would return for each follow up visit. The time I was allowed and restricted from screens changed every week. But by my 2nd visit back, there was concern about my knee that I twisted in my fall and was referred to physical therapy. There the physical therapist told me I likely had an injury to my outer meniscus and was allotted 6 sessions of physical therapy to strengthen it as it healed. 

In the meantime, I was still experiencing headaches, memory loss, loud noises bothering me, excessive crying at sometimes nothing at all and other times if I was overwhelmed in the slightest, misreading signals so I thought everyone was mad at me with absolutely no evidence, numbness, difficulty concentrating and forming sentences when my headaches were really bad. I differentiate between how noises bother me - usually when a noise bothers someone it hurts their ears but for me, noise hurts my brain. One day, I had the worst headache I've ever had in my entire life. My entire head hurt immensely and every few seconds it felt as though I was being forcefully struck on the top of my head repeatedly for about an hour. It took Tylenol 45 minutes to start to lessen the pain. I struggled with my short-term memory for a long time, and it was very upsetting to me. I couldn't remember things like where I had found a coffee I liked. One week, I bought a to-go drink from somewhere that I sipped on for several days. By the end of the week, I looked at this generic cup and realized I had no recollection of where I had obtained this cup from. While most of the things I couldn't remember weren't significant it was the mere fact that I couldn't remember that was extremely upsetting and would lead to crying spells.

There were so many days that I was completely convinced that Mike was ending our life partnership with absolutely no reason to think this. The most frustrating thing? I wasn't even feeling depressed and yet I was more emotional and crying more frequently than I think I usually do when I am depressed feeling. It literally was as though I suddenly lost all of my coping skills. I could only handle feeling overwhelmed, overstimulated, stressed for about 5 minutes max before I would break down into tears - and sometimes I couldn't stop crying for 2 hours or more. My neurologist told me that I needed to address this in my mental health counseling or as my brain heals from the injury "it will get stuck like that". Great, like that didn't add even more stress to me during this. My counseling had to be placed on hold though as my cognitive behavioral therapy was virtual so there were times I couldn't be on the computer, and it was unsafe to undergo EMDR therapy due to risk of seizure with a concussion. 

After a few weeks, with symptoms not improving and probably only because I had a crying spell with one of the nurse practitioners, a brain MRI was ordered but didn't show any explanation for my continued symptoms and then after a couple more weeks, I was finally referred to a neurologist. The majority of this process I felt completely confused, no idea what to expect, no idea if what I was experiencing was normal, and feeling terrified this would be how I'd be for the rest of my life. So, to finally be allowed to see a neurologist was a large relief...except though of course, my anxiety of providers I'm not familiar with and my fear of being dismissed and overlooked, misunderstood as a rare disease and medically complex patient. 

The earliest availability with the neurologist I was referred to was mid-July. My case manager and adjuster both agreed this was too long of a wait for me to be seen by a neurologist and asked if my neurologist would accept worker's comp and see me instead. My neurologist, a saint of a man, agreed as a favor to me because he knows me well and is aware of my mistrust and fear of new providers. 

With all the approvals in place, I was able to see my neurologist who advised my brain looked good and cautioned me to only use analgesics 2-3 times a week, not daily, as it could worsen my headaches. Instead, he wanted to focus on preventing my headaches and prescribed Topamax for me to try. It would take up to 6 weeks to become fully effective and has some bothersome side effects and so it's recommended to take it at night so that one sleeps through the side effects. This, of course, had to be approved by my worker's comp team before I could obtain the medication though. My neurologist also recommended that I discuss with my adjuster the logistics for me to have a reduced work schedule to allow time for my brain to heal. He told me that my brain hadn't been getting the time it needed to heal and jumping straight back into work and usual activities hinders the healing process following a concussion. Additionally, he advised me that my difficulty to remember words, using word salad, saying phrases backwards and even repeatedly saying the same thing over and over were all a signal that my brain was needing a break, it was working too hard. 

I indeed did experience side effects from the Topamax - namely numbness. Both of my arms became numb, and it was bothersome, but I was willing to withstand it if it would help my brain. However, by the 3rd night on the Topamax my legs became numb and were hurting. I could barely sleep that night from neuropathy like symptoms in my legs. I thought perhaps taking a hot shower would help my legs feel better. That was the wrong move though as I nearly fell more than once in the shower due to the severity of numbness in my legs and I couldn't feel how hot the water was, so when I got out of the shower my body looked like it had a severe sun burn. I called my neurologist that morning who immediately switched me to Candesartan. Migraine prevention is one of the off-label uses of Candesartan as it is actually a high blood pressure medication. Again, he instructed for me to take Candesartan at bedtime in case it made me drowsy, and it would take a while for it to build in my system. He also advised he wouldn't want to test if I no longer needed the Candesartan for at least 6 months and possibly not until a year. I also required worker's comp approval to try this medication and then again, each month to obtain a refill.

Let me tell you, I am in love with Candesartan. It is an old medication, and I don't have any negative side effects. It doesn't make me drowsy but if I take it at the right time, it allows me to actually sleep well throughout the night. I have never slept as well, especially continuously, as I do with the Candesartan. It doesn't leave me feeling groggy the next day either like all other sleep aids/medications do. And of course, the very best thing about it is it does help reduce my symptoms to a tolerable level. I have not recovered to how I was prior to my fall and am not anticipated to return to that baseline either. I did require my dose to be increased as one missed dose caused a several day flare of my symptoms and one missed dose shouldn't lead to such a long recovery. 

Loud noises, overstimulation, and the decreased frustration/stress tolerance levels have been extremely difficult to navigate as they feed off one another and would then trigger a Migraine headache. Loud noises start to overstimulate my brain, as I become more stimulated the less I can tolerate and the more emotional I become the more likely I am to cry and every one of these things trigger headaches for me. There are also times that the slightest noise is too much for me and I need complete silence. I have been unable to find headphones that cut out 100% of noise but I do have noise cancelling ear buds and headphones that Mike got me to help reduce this cycle. There are times that I require using both my earbuds and headphones simultaneously as the noise is too bothersome with just one. Certain sounds and frequencies are at times more bothersome than others and at times they're not, there is no 100% consistent predictability to what will trigger my Migraine headaches. To make it worse, when I can't escape noise, it has triggered a form of anxiety in my brain that has at its worst required me to use all my strength to not smash my head into something to try to make my brain stop hurting. There have been plenty of days that I come home from work, and I message Mike "I'm lying down, leave me alone until I get out of bed" and he knows that means my brain is requiring complete silence and darkness to recover to a functioning level again.

In the midst of all these events transpiring, I was crying at nearly every turn due to my anxiety and fears coupled with my loss of coping skills since my fall. Once I was able to resume counseling, my counselors started working on identifying the root cause of my emotional distress and loss of coping skills. And we came to the conclusion that while a symptom of PCS is a lower tolerance level for stress and frustration and increased emotionality, trauma was also contributing to my increased emotional state. It was as though I had been transported back in time to when I was 9 starting with my first surgery. As a 9-year-old, I didn't have any coping skills, everything was new, confusing, and scary. Which was exactly how I'd been feeling. I didn't have any providers I trusted then or in the beginning of my concussion. It'd been a week-by-week trial and error for me and Mike trying to fine tune the best things for me and him to do to help me. And it's during this that I realized I need Mike and I truly don't know how I would be navigating all of this emotionally without him. Perhaps that's why I was convinced he was leaving me even. I was letting him closer to me than I ever had before, something that is scary to me, something against the vow I made to myself following my divorce. It was all too much at once and I felt vulnerable on all fronts. 

Mike's been really great though throughout. He makes every effort to answer my calls or call me back as soon as he can because he knows that I'm calling because I'm spiraling, and I need him to help walk me through it into calmness. He pays attention to all the random, useless information I tell him so that when I forget something, he can help remind me and prevent a spiraling episode. When we're in person and I start to spiral, he physically makes me stop and just breathe with him. And it was working! Slowly, over time I've required less time to calm even by myself and lengthened my tolerance level for stress, frustration, and overstimulation. Over a year later and all my symptoms are still not at the level I had pre-PCS but it's much closer at least and much more tolerable. Sometimes I'm able to go almost two weeks without crying from my decreased stress or frustration tolerance level and increased emotionality. I no longer feel insecure about my relationships with others, and I can tolerate loud noises for longer periods before requiring noise cancelling headphones. 

Once my symptom improvement maintained but I was no longer seeing improvements, my neurologist and I agreed that I had achieved maximum medical improvement and not anticipated to ever return to my baseline. My worker's comp then scheduled an Independent Medical Exam by another neurologist at my 1-year mark of my injury to determine if I still required the Candesartan. 

I finally received the notice that my worker's comp case was being closed as the independent neurologist found that I have achieved maximum medical improvement and my medication and any other future claims related to my injury would no longer be covered under worker's comp. Simply put, my PCS won't get better and even though I have only improved as well as I have because I am taking Candesartan, worker's comp has cut me off and doesn't find that Candesartan is needed to maintain that improvement. However, I expected their ruling and while it does suck to have to pay for my medication for the rest of my life it also means that I don't have to jump through any of the hoops that's required by worker's comp to obtain the continued care I need for my PCS. 

I hope I never have another fall again. I am particularly careful now when walking as my brain can't handle continued injuries. This is my second fall as an adult with a head injury that caused a new life-long condition. 

If you or someone you know receives a head injury, I implore you to take it seriously. Concussions are no joke. Seek out the care of a neurologist for monitoring and possible treatment options. 

Comfytemp Weighted Heated Vest: AD - A Sponsored Review

 

Disclaimer: I have been given Comfytemp Heating Pad for Neck and Shoulder Pain Relief as part of a product review. Although the product was a gift, all opinions in this review remain my own and I was in no way influenced by the company.

Chronic pain is, unfortunately, not uncommon amongst those of us with chronic illness and with Familial Adenomatous Polyposis, we often have abdominal pain at the very least. However, part of my Abdominal Migraine is torso pain that extends to the top of my shoulders as well as neck pain due to degeneration in my cervical spine. It was with these thoughts that I looked forward to testing the 

Comfytemp Heating Pad for Neck and Shoulder Pain Relief.

This specific weighted heating pad by Comfytemp fits like a cropped jacket, zips in the front, and has adjustable straps for the sides and arms so that the vest is adjustable to fit sizes Small, Medium, and Large with the arms adjusting up to 16 inches and the chest adjusting up to 47 inches. There is heating in the neck, shoulders, arms, and full back and the heating pads of the vest in the shoulders and upper back are filled with micro-glass beads. This vest is electric; the electrical cord with control is detachable from the vest to allow for machine washing, although I did not test wash the vest.

I have never used a weighted blanket before and although weighted blankets have been shown to aid with anxiety reduction and other benefits, I have panic attacks when I feel confined by fabrics and when something is too near or too tight around my neck. For this reason, I don't believe I would like a weighted blanket as I have become anxious even when only using a heavy comforter. The first time I tried on this specific Comfytemp Heating Pad, straight out of its packaging, I experienced a panic attack upon fully zipping the vest as the collar was touching my neck too much for my comfort level. However, when I straightened out the vest while I regained my composure, I have been able tolerate the vest without experiencing anxiety since, even when napping with the vest on. 

Due to the attached electrical cord during use, it would not necessarily be easy to sleep for long periods while wearing the vest as the cord is attached to the left side of the vest. This would not necessarily be an issue for someone who does not move a lot in their sleep and is sleeping on the correct side to prevent from laying on the electrical cord. Lying on the cord does not impede the vest from functioning properly, however, I do not like to lie on cords when sleeping, I move a lot in my sleep, and I often require using the restroom during the night, sometimes urgently. When I wore the vest while napping, it was after a full day of work and my left shoulder blade was particularly hurting. I looked forward to wearing the vest in attempt to reduce my shoulder and back pain. While lying on my left side with the vest on, I adjusted the side straps to keep the vest's heated pads that are filled with micro-glass beads as close to my back as desired. I was able to fall asleep and when I awoke from my nap, my back and shoulder felt immensely better from the heat. I have worn the vest in this manner on more than one occasion for pain in the same shoulder/upper back area with similar results each time.

The vest has 9 levels for heat with a timer option that ranges from 30 minutes to 9 hours for automatically shutting off the heat. I tested all 9 heating levels and found that the vest heated rather quickly but was not a searing heat that would be considered painful even on bare skin. When reducing the heat level, it took a few minutes for my body to register the difference in temperature, but I was able to notice a difference as I increased and decreased the temperature through all 9 levels. 

What I don't like about the vest is the arm straps. I understand the reason for them to allow for a wide range of arm sizes to fit the vest arms and to secure them, but I found them cumbersome and awkward for putting on and off the vest - something my other family members who tested the vest also voiced. The Velcro straps felt uncomfortable if they weren't aligned properly to prevent touching the skin, I couldn't simply remove the vest as I had to unstrap the Velcro straps from one another and at times, I had difficulty putting on the vest because the Velcro straps were attached to different parts of the vest and kept reattaching before I could put the vest fully on. Instead, I would prefer a thin, soft, loose fabric on the underside of the arms of the vest to fit more naturally like an article of clothing.

My parents tested this vest as well. My mother often times is cold and thoroughly enjoyed wearing the vest. So much so, I believe my father is purchasing one for her. My parents both found it to be "fairly comfortable" and felt the warmth of the vest around their neck, upper chest and shoulders particularly. They found it a "bit confusing to put on initially" and reported "big gaps on the side when adjusted". My mother has chronic pain but was not experiencing any pain while testing the vest for a weekend. However, she stated she thought the vest would be helpful in reducing her pain had she been experiencing any pain in those areas of the body during her trial test. My father particularly thought the vest would be nice to wear if working a desk job or while lounging.

My partner, Mike, also tried the vest. He has chronic nerve pain in his neck that at times also radiates into his shoulders and upper back. Mike found the vest to be on the uncomfortable side as for him, he really needed a larger size. He was able to zip it up completely, although I was surprised by this. He said that it heated quickly, and the warmth felt nice. However, once he became too hot he did not want to turn the heat level down to allow the warmth to dissipate to a more comfortable level - he stated he was too hot to wait for that. His shoulders and back were not hurting when he tested the vest although I suspect the heat may have been helpful with pain there for him, had he been having any during his trial periods. He primarily has pain in the back of his neck and did not feel that the collar of the vest provided any pain relief for him. Part of this reason though was because the collar did not stay up against the back of his neck enough for the heat to be of any potential use. Mike said that he wished that the vest was battery operated so that he could wear it without being limited to one space and especially to be able to wear it outside. 

Oddly enough, I remember thinking several months ago about how I wished there was a heating pad product that was not just a regular heating pad but instead could stay close against my back and move with me in different body positions without having to readjust the heating pad placement. I did not think such a thing existed, it never even occurred to me to do a search for such a type of heating pad. But now I'm aware of such items available through Comfytemp and I am thoroughly impressed with the variety of heated items Comfytemp has available. Overall, I am very pleased with and would recommend the Comfytemp Heating Pad for Neck and Shoulder Pain Relief vest and will be wearing it regularly, in fact I am wearing it as I finish this review.

La Mémoire Noire

La Mémoire Noire or The Dark Memory is a letter series written to my first surgeon. The man who caused everything ultimately in my life to reach this point today. I was to have 2 surgeries beginning at the age of 9 and his surgical errors altered the course of my life. Ultimately, I instead would require 7 surgeries and experience repeated life-threatening complications resulting in medical PTSD, suicidal and homicidal ideation. This is trauma I am still trying to heal from nearly 30 years later that has touched every aspect of my life and how I react, view, and process the world. I have a lot of hate and anger for this man. As part of my therapeutic efforts to heal, I am writing this series to him. It is my raw, unedited thoughts and feelings towards this man and all that transpired following my first surgery that he performed. It will be a series that is periodically updated as I process each letter, my trauma, and continue inching towards healing embodying full love and forgiveness for myself and others.

Living My Best Life

I started this article as 2022 was coming to a close and I was reflecting on all that has transpired and what is presently at hand. I only now feel ready to publish it though as it has been a pretty intense 6 months of 2023 already! As I was reflecting on 2022, I had the following questions and answers and I find myself asking them again now in June of 2023.

Has this been the best year for me? No, absolutely not. Has my life changed for the better this year? Absolutely it has. This acknowledgement led me to the realization that I was and still am living my best life right now. And I'm celebrating it with immense gratitude.

As a result of my medical PTSD, I've struggled with periodic bouts of depression and intense anger with a longing for death that I've experienced since my first surgery at age 9. It didn't help in high school during one of my near-death experiences that I was overcome with the deepest sense of peace I've ever encountered. This peace has left me longing for death even more ever since. So, joy wasn't something I regularly experienced or even thought about, much less sought. To me, life has merely been a waiting period full of suffering. This isn't to say that I've lived an unhappy life. Rather, it's often a life overshadowed by fear - fears of losing my parents or other loved ones, fear of uncertainty, fear of emotional and physical pain, fear of the past repeating itself. 

2021 forced me to dedicate 2022 to focusing on my mental health, learning self-care and allowing self-growth. I started 2021 with emotional turmoil from reliving my own medical traumas while writing my own medical story and my children's book about FAP for publication. This was an intense, emotionally exhaustive and long process - much more than I had anticipated. I ended the year with my 8th abdominal surgery and new, unexplained debilitating chronic pain that would take over 6 months for a diagnosis of Abdominal Migraine. I also was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia around this time, a new diagnosis for me that I haven't even given any thought to until recently. 

I began 2022 with resuming anti-depressant medication and counseling. Shortly after, within the span of a month, two of my family members who had helped raise me, passed away. Not long after that, another family member who had helped raise me moved 2.5 hours away - she was no longer physically close to me in proximity, and it was as though I was losing her too as I was losing those that my childhood life was so firmly founded upon. I was taken back to the loss of previous family members in the early 2000's that shook me to my core. 

In 2022, I added metaphysics courses and EMDR therapy for trauma work to my CBT therapy. While life significantly improved upon appropriately managing the pain of Abdominal Migraine, the end of 2022 wasn't easy either. I started experiencing regular vomiting with the reason only just being determined in May 2023 as that of esophageal dysmotility. I lost another family member and am preparing for the loss of yet another family member. And my trauma work to process not only my past trauma but also my future fears is extremely emotionally difficult work. 

And yet, I'm at a place in my life that I can't deny is the happiest time of my life. I'm cherishing every moment with my parents. I have built a family and life with my life partner, his son and family. I've regained my quality of life after enduring a year of debilitating pain. I'm learning and practicing self-care and healing from my past trauma. I'm maintaining employment, serving in new advocacy roles for the cancer and rare disease communities and celebrated the 10th anniversary of LAP. 

In 2021, I attended my first Reiki session and was confronted by my lack of experiencing joy with a challenge to start finding joy. Through all of the hard work I'm doing for my self-care, self-healing, and self-growth - I can finally say that I do experience moments of joy now in life. And they are absolutely wonderful, and I want more of them. I want them so much so that I often am faced with moments of fear and anxiety to hold onto those moments as they're overshadowed at times by my fear of never having them again. This is becoming a lessening concern though as I am incredibly doing well maintaining self-care after a year of trial and error with how to maintain self-care practices. 

I'm also relieved and grateful to finally know the reason for my unexplained chronic vomiting after nearly a year of this issue only worsening and learning what my treatment options will be for it. It is something I've really been struggling with since July of 2022 that was only worsening and taking a heavier and heavier mental toll. With my esophageal dysmotility, I am faced with very limited options for treatment - a muscle relaxer or surgery - both of which my doctor doesn't like. Fortunately, I previously took Baclofen in 2014 following developing a bulging disc in my neck and didn't experience any side effects from the medication. My doctor agreed to allow me to trial it for my vomiting and so far, as long as I time my doses right and don't overeat, I'm able to keep food and drink down! I've decided to not pursue surgery for two reasons - not only because medication is working but also, my doctor confirmed I have another stricture around my small intestine. And as he reminded me, no one really wants to do surgery on me due to my long history of surgeries and excessive adhesions. I fully anticipate in the future it is likely that I will require surgery for the Whipple Procedure and/or to remove the adhesions creating my stricture. I'd much rather at this point, trade a surgery for esophageal dysmotility for one or both of these possibly needed surgeries in the future. There comes a point when a person becomes inoperable, and I don't want to hasten that time for myself any more than what's absolutely necessary. 

The mental toll I've been under this year has also been compounded by developing Post Concussion Syndrome following a fall in February 2023. This is a subject I will explore in a future post but do not presently feel comfortable publicly sharing the full details of what life has been like with PCS at this time except that PCS has been an extremely challenging and nightmarish experience that no one has been able to truly understand how it's affected me except for my partner, Mike. And that has also been a challenge as it has led me to feel isolated, misunderstood, and dismissed by the majority of people in my life because they don't see or grasp what it's like to have a brain injury that isn't healing at an expected or wanted rate. My brain is still healing with slow improvements, which is something I am also extremely grateful and relieved about and hope that when my brain fully heals that I won't have lifelong complications from the injury. 

It's a difficult process to accept when life changes with no guarantee or even signs of improvement to return to how life was previously. In spite of a multitude of changes occurring in the last 2 years with barely any time to adjust to one change before another arises, I can confidently say that presently I am living my best life and even though there are no cures for my conditions, I'm full of gratitude for where I'm at in my life and I eagerly anticipate a world of wonderful things to continue as time goes on. 

Chronic Pain and Physical Therapy

Chronic pain – it’s been my companion in life early on. It served as an early warning system that there was something wrong with my body. It was with this chronic abdominal pain that led to discovering my Familial Adenomatous Polyposis diagnosis at age 8. It was with this that my colon was able to be removed in time to prevent my already turning cancerous polyps from exploding into cancer at age 9.

I can’t say it has served a noble purpose since then though. Instead, it’s become a minefield for me to navigate; trying to find my way to balance it and enjoying life’s activities. Throughout the years, I've required physical or occupational therapy 4 times for the management of chronic pain - back pain, neck pain, tendinitis, and nerve pain.

My first year of surgeries, I remember the chronic pain I began to experience in my back. During my hospitalizations, I required my spine to be lined with what felt like an endless row of ice packs to merely numb the pain. I remember the smell of the powder that lined the inside of the ice packs. I remember how they felt in my hands and the coldness along my bare back. I remember the agony. Perhaps, if we had realized during that year that Morphine doesn’t have any effect on my pain it would have been different. We wouldn’t realize this though until my surgeries during my high school years. The chronic back pain would have been different too if my doctors had referred me to physical therapy after my surgeries to strengthen my severed abdominal muscles so that they would be able to support my back again – thereby reducing or alleviating my back pain.

The next few years I don’t remember much, and definitely not how I physically felt. This blocking out of memories is part of my coping mechanisms with the medical PTSD I developed from that first year of surgeries. I believe I must have been healthier during my middle school years – I didn’t have any hospitalizations during that time. I wouldn't have hospitalizations again until I underwent my ileostomy reversal in 2001. This would lead to chronic pain I haven’t been able to ignore or forget since; pain that changes over the years but has remained constant.

Following my ostomy reversal, due to adhesions I began having severe abdominal pain that worsened with ingestion of food or liquid. The severity of this pain has varied over the years. For the first 6 years following my ostomy reversal, it was at its peak in severity. I remember every time we’d go to a restaurant, I’d lie down on the bench at our tables, curled up in the fetal position trying to cope with my abdominal pain. Ethnic foods caused the most pain amongst the foods I ate – but there wasn’t any food that didn’t cause pain. My body finally began to adjust to its “new plumbing” I suppose, and the pain did decrease in severity after those first 6 years. It remained at this more manageable level until 2015.

In the meantime, I would develop tendinitis in both wrists and chronic neck pain. Due to malnourishment throughout the years, I developed tendinitis in my wrists and degeneration in my neck allowing for a bulging disc to occur. I underwent a few months of occupational therapy to manage the tendinitis pain and I required 6 months of physical therapy to manage my neck pain. I continue to have chronic pain in my wrists and neck at a tolerable level majority of the time, except for sporadic flare ups.

In 2015, I was malnourished and dehydrated from depression during the height of my marital issues. As a result, my blood pressure bottomed out while at work and I fell, hitting my head on hard tile. This event would lead to a spiral of new pains over the next several years. A spiral that wouldn’t be fully understood until 2022.

Since I fell at work, I was required to be evaluated at the ER – which led to my first hospitalization since my last one in 2007. During this hospitalization my pain would once again change, and it changed overnight. The night before I was discharged, I had a headache during the middle of the night – a rare occurrence at the time. It wouldn’t stop and I was only ordered Tylenol and Morphine for pain. I don’t like taking pain medication of any kind – so much so, I forget that OTC medications such as Tylenol, Ibuprofen, Aspirin, etc. even exist. I couldn’t sleep and the headache pain wouldn’t stop, so I asked for Tylenol. That didn’t make a difference and my only option was Morphine. I didn’t anticipate the Morphine to be effective – it never has been before, and it was in the middle of the night; I didn’t see any sense to have an on-call Hospitalist be contacted for a pain medication to be ordered for a headache, especially when I was to be discharged the following day. So, I tried the Morphine and as expected, it didn’t help my headache. Instead, it caused severe constipation that would in turn cause severe abdominal pain. Along with this pain came severe nausea – something I don’t recall experiencing since having my 7^th surgery to remove adhesions following my ostomy reversal. This new, severe duo has stayed with me ever since waking up that morning following accepting the Morphine. It was like a switch had been flipped and it would take months of trial and error with medications to find the right combination for me. I relied on Bentyl and Compazine three times a day. These were the only medications to manage my pain and nausea so that I could function more easily. Without them, it was difficult to get out of bed much less participate in life. My doctors couldn’t find any other reason for the new pain and nausea other than adhesions with gallstones contributing as well. And this is how it stayed until my 8^th surgery in 2021 to remove my gallbladder and adhesions for the 3^rd time.

Magically, the first 2 weeks after my 8^th surgery, my pain and nausea ceased. I stopped requiring the Bentyl and Compazine. However, at the 2.5 week mark my pain would once again change – and change to a level I had never experienced before. The new pain reduced me to becoming bedbound outside of the time I forced myself to go to work. I lived like this for 4 months following this surgery. Test after test was completed, medication changes were made; a cause couldn’t be found, nothing helped to provide even a glimpse of relief other than lying down. Any activity, even sitting up, worsened my pain. My GI was at a loss and didn’t know what else to do than to try Lyrica. Lyrica changed my life within a couple weeks my pain started to lessen to a tolerable level, and I could start venturing out of my bed outside of work hours. During this time, I was consulting with every specialist possible. After 6.5 months, I finally had an answer and treatment plan – it was Abdominal Migraine that started from my fall in 2015 and was exacerbated by my gallbladder surgery.

Fast forward to August 2022, my pain and nausea were well managed by my Neurologist treating the Abdominal Migraine, but I still had pain that worsened by too much activity. While I was able to maintain working and participating in activities of my choice again – I risked a 3-day pain flare anytime I exerted too much activity. What was too much activity? I didn’t know, especially because the pain flares wouldn’t hit until 2 days afterwards.

But my life would once again change in respect to my chronic pain when I asked for physical therapy. Within the course of 3 months, I've started to have days with barely any pain, days that I've felt better than I had in years.

My body had become severely deconditioned during those 4 months of being bedbound and while my medications are appropriately treating my nerve pain, my muscles were too weak and contributed to my pain. I required physical therapy twice a week for 2 months to focus on strengthening each of the 6 major muscle groups to better manage my pain. My progress deteriorated too fast when I decreased to once a week even with exercising at home. I had to slowly increase my exercises, incorporating new exercises and their frequency and level of difficulty to manage the pain flares that occurred after each milestone in my therapy. There were days that were emotionally difficult for me as I would be filled with frustration and hopelessness with each “setback” in the progress I was making. There were times I would quietly cry without control during my therapy sessions during a pain flare.

Over time, I went from not being able to tolerate 2 days of activity in a row to completing 10 consecutive days of exercise without a pain flare. I could have kept going too on that streak, a pain flare didn’t stop me from continuing on. I was feeling particularly emotionally and physically worn that I let myself have a day or two of rest – and really our bodies need a rest day after 6 consecutive exercise days.

The last month of physical therapy I was able to decrease to a session once every two weeks while maintaining exercises at home. Upon being able to accomplish this decrease without having a pain flare, I was ready to graduate from physical therapy.

I’ve learned I’m going to have to maintain exercising at home on a regular basis to manage the pain from my Abdominal Migraine in conjunction with my nerve medications or the pain will return to its previous level. This is a challenge for me. I haven’t required to maintain my physical therapy exercises in the past. Previously, I was able to maintain the gains I made in therapy, but not this time. My pain level increase once again with a mere break in exercises for 4 days or more.

I wouldn’t have been able to reach pain management without physical therapy. I required the professional guidance of not only what exercises to do but how to do them, the frequency, etc. to move past my plateau of activity and pain. Now I know what exercises to do to maintain pain management and what exercises to do during a pain flare. I went from experiencing difficulty watering my flower garden, sitting or crawling for a few moments on the floor, to being able to do army crawling – something I didn’t dream being able to do following surgery.

I’ve undergone physical therapy before and witnessed the miracles it provides but I didn’t realize the extent of those miracles until now. There are 2 main things I will always recommend now as part of managing chronic illness – counseling for mental health and physical therapy for physical health; they have repeatedly given me back my quality of life.

My New Diagnosis: Abdominal Migraine

After 6.5 months of chronic pain that was only improved but not cured by Lyrica, consults with 7 types of doctors, a multitude of tests and an absorbent toll physically, mentally, and financially - I finally have a diagnosis: Abdominal Migraine. 

All of my tests have come back normal from my various specialists except for my pancreas enzyme and platelets that were elevated. I underwent 2 CT scans, abdominal ultrasound, MRCP, 3 MRIs, EEG, sleep deprived EEG, EMG, nerve condition test, and a neuropsych test with all unremarkable results that provided no explanation for my new symptoms and pain. With these normal results, my neurologist came to the conclusion that I likely have abdominal migraine which is a type of migraine. 

My doctor explained that migraine is a chemical imbalance in the brain and depending where at in the brain determines what type of migraine and mine happen to be abdominal. He stated this would explain my trunk pain, chronic nausea, dizziness, scalp sensitivity, hearing sensitivity, headaches, lightheadedness, brain fog, appetite loss, and chest pain. Through our discussions and medical history review, we came to the conclusion that my abdominal migraine started in 2015 after I fell and hit my head. A couple days after the fall, I had a sudden, intense headache that pain medication was unable to treat and after that I've had chronic nausea ever since.

The only medication that's been able to manage my chronic nausea is Compazine, which is an abortive migraine medication to break through migraine symptoms. And Zofran can actually trigger a migraine and hasn't been effective in managing my nausea. To treat my abdominal migraine, he's started me on Amitriptyline which is a preventative migraine medication. 

My doctor explained that abdominal migraine is typically diagnosed among children and often forgotten about for adults often leading to other diagnoses such as IBS. Through our discussions though, this diagnosis makes sense considering all of my accompanying symptoms and the time frame of events. I'm relieved to finally have a diagnosis and a new treatment to pursue for my symptoms. 

It will take 6 weeks for the Amitriptyline to reach it's fully effective state and I've been taking it for 4 weeks now. During the 3rd week, I started noticing periods of time where I was pain free for the first time since these new pains started. I am still requiring the Lyrica in conjunction with the Amitriptyline presently to treat my pain but this may change over time as the Amitriptyline reaches full efficacy levels in my body and dosage may be adjusted. I haven't been experiencing nausea either. I will see my neurologist in another 4 weeks and any medication changes will then be decided upon as he didn't want to make any changes to my Lyrica or Compazine yet. I haven't had any changes to my appetite, although I'm not bothered by that. 

I look forward to my next neurology appointment to see what medication changes may be decided upon and continuing improvement to my symptoms now that a diagnosis has been reached. 

Seeking Consults to Obtain a Diagnosis

In the time since my last update in the beginning of November, I continue to have chronic pain since the 2.5 weeks after my 8th surgery to remove my gall bladder and adhesions for the third time. A lot and yet not enough has occurred during this span.

Carafate didn't affect my symptoms. My liver and pancreas enzymes were elevated. My GI started me on Lyrica in December and within a week, I started to notice an improvement to my pain. While I continue to have pain, it is far more tolerable now with the Lyrica. Afterwards, my liver enzymes decreased to the normal range however my pancreas enzyme continued to increase. This triggered a MRCP to be completed which didn't reveal any new findings or issues. With the GI system being cleared, it was recommended to see a neurologist.

This month I saw rheumatology and neurology for consults. Rheumatology completed labs and started me on a trial of Hydrocortisone. While he didn't believe I had any autoimmune diseases, he wanted to try these two things in order to help rule them out as a possibility. He reasoned that while lab work for autoimmune diseases is not as accurate at identifying an autoimmune issue, trying a steroid would further help identify if an issue existed. I agreed to try the Hydrocortisone as I am allergic to Prednisone - experiencing a combination of acidic stool and painful, fragile, rash like skin that creates an awful combination for using the restroom. The Hydrocortisone is more in line with the body's natural cortisol and typically doesn't have side effects. My labs were all normal. I tolerated a low dose of Hydrocortisone without issue although I also didn't notice an improvement to my pain either. Therefore, I was instructed to double my dose. Within a few hours of my first doubled dose, I experienced the same reaction I have to Prednisone and this side effect lasted for over 24 hours before finally resolving for my body to return to its status quo. I didn't try a second dose - doubled or not - after this. With these results, rheumatology released me advising he believes my pain is a nerve and muscle system issue.

Two days later, I was able to have my consult with neurology. He had me complete different physical tests in the office and poked my pain areas with a safety pin to evaluate how pain feels to me in these areas. I'm uncertain what my reactions and performances meant, although he said there were a lot of inconsistencies in my reaction to the safety pin test as the majority of my pain areas felt dull to the pricks. 

While Fibromyalgia was mentioned, it doesn't fit my pain symptoms. Fibromyalgia is explained as having wide spread dull pain. My pain is sharp, stabbing, crushing, and squeezing with very little dull pain. This is even with the Lyrica helping to reduce the severity and duration of pain episodes. My pain migrates around my torso - from my front, sides, and back and typically is not located within the mid range of my abdomen. At times I do have pain in my hips and sometimes even my knees, particularly if my hips are hurting. Fortunately, the mid range abdominal sensations that my insides were hanging outside of my body have ceased and my incisions are no longer feeling strained. I'm uncertain if these changes are due to the Lyrica or simply time. I have also noticed significant improvement to the balance issues I was experiencing following surgery until the end of December. I was randomly nearly falling over when simply standing or sitting still at least once a week, if not more frequently.

The neurologist explained that my pain may be caused by Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and ordered MRIs with and without contrast of my brain and spine to check for plaque on my brain and/or spinal cord caused by MS as well as tumors or other growths that may be caused by Central Nervous System Cancers (CNS) due to my higher risk for CNS cancers from the FAP. He explained, if my pain isn't caused by either of these two conditions, he doesn't know why I'm having nerve pain. I wasn't surprised by the mention of MS as my pain perfectly describes MS Hugs. 

I also had a follow up with my nephrologist this month who maintains that my pain is caused by severe dehydration and I that I simply need to increase my fluid and potassium intake. While these are not bad changes for me to make, I don't believe these steps will resolve my pain.

I'm continuing to await my MRIs and will have my neurology follow up in mid-February.

I am mentally prepared for the possibility of cancer as I have long anticipated a cancer diagnosis at some point in my life due to the FAP. I am not, however, prepared for a MS diagnosis although I truly anticipate this will be the finding.

I am also resuming counseling as the last year has taken a toll on my mental health.

Sensory Deprivation Tanks

I've wanted to try out a sensory deprivation tank for years now and this year, for my birthday, I finally went to one.

Sensory Deprivation is also known as Restricted Environmental Stimulation Therapy. A sensory deprivation tank is a float tank that contains Epsom salt (800 pounds or more) in a small amount of water to allow an individual to effortlessly float. Floating in salt concentrated water allows pressure to be removed from joints, muscles, and tendons. The tank is closed to eliminate all sensory tasks including light and sound thereby allowing the entire body to enter a deep level of relaxation and process information and thoughts in a new way without distraction or strain. The water and air are heated to skin temperature to reduce the sensation of water on the skin. Benefits can include reduced joint, muscle, and nerve pain, improved sleep, energy, creativity and mood with a reduction to depression and anxiety. Soaking in Epsom salts helps soothe sore muscles and irritated skin and reduce swelling thereby helping with minor aches and pains.

My boyfriend and I went to a local float spa. Each suite had it's own sensory deprivation tank and
private shower. We were instructed to shower, using their provided products, before and after entering the float tank. The reason to shower before is to remove any oils or body products that would enter the tank water and with hundreds of pounds of Epsom salts, one would want to wash again afterwards to remove the salt water. The tanks could be left open or be closed and offered a blue light that could be turned on or off as well as sounds. We both decided we wanted the full experience and so we turned off the light and any sounds and kept the tank closed. We were offered ear plugs to further reduce sound and help prevent water from entering our ears. The suite and tank weren't completely sound proof but the float spa was kept quiet and soothing music was quietly played in varying areas of the spa. A head flotation device and spray bottle to rinse your eyes of salt water were also available.

We laid with our heads at the end with the blue light and quickly discovered just how buoyant we were in the saturated salt water. We both kept floating around the tank until the water settled from our entering the tank and disturbing the water. Any movement inside the tank would disturb the water resulting in floating around the tank once again. The water felt silky when touching my skin due to the high level of salt. The salt water could cause slight burning to any open skin that was cut or irritated. Protective ointment was offered to help reduce any stinging from the salt water. We started floating with our arms down by our sides, however, we both felt tension in our shoulders and neck in this position. I found stretching my arms above me to be comfortable and my boyfriend remained with his arms down by his sides and stated that eventually his shoulders and neck relaxed after a period of time. We both have neck problems so I'm not sure if the shoulder and neck tension we both experienced was related to our neck conditions or if others would have the same experience. My boyfriend also has chronic nerve pain in his back and lately his knee has been bothersome as well (we've since learned he had a meniscus tear so no wonder his knee was hurting). I noticed completing a full body stretch in the tank was very pleasurable and felt better than typical stretching outside of the tank. My boyfriend reported reduction in pain after the float but was experiencing pain again by the evening time.

I had a difficult time shutting my mind off in the beginning of the float by towards the middle of my float time I was able to experience a meditative state. My boyfriend became so relaxed he almost fell asleep during his float. There are many benefits to meditation and a sensory deprivation float helps to reach a deep meditative state by relieving the body of sensations. Some of the benefits of meditation include to reduce stress, anxiety, pain, and improve sleep. Meditation becomes easier and more effective with practice. I would conclude that this would be the same for sensory deprivation floats as well. Visit here for a list of relaxation techniques you can complete at home.

Overall, we both enjoyed our float experience and would recommend it to others.

Physical Therapy After Abdominal Surgery

I had my first abdominal surgeries were in grade school from 1995-1996 and endured severe back pain particularly during this time. By the time I was in high school, I started noticing increased back issues as I was unable to sit up from a forward bend position. My doctor referred me to physical therapy where I learned my back issues stemmed from weak abdominal muscles from my abdominal surgeries. After completion of a physical therapy program, my back issues significantly improved. That's why I thought it would be beneficial to learn about physical therapy after abdominal surgeries and so I requested this blog post from a local physical therapist.

This is a guest post by Christine Poteet, a Physical Therapist

 A guiding principle of physical therapy is “proximal stability before distal mobility.” In physical therapy school, my sports professor said this phrase more times than I care to remember, but it got the point across! Basically, it means that if your core (proximal) is not strong enough to handle what you’re doing with the rest of your body (distal), that function or performance will likely be less than optimal and may lead to a breakdown, injury, or pain at or beyond the area of weakness. I liken this to the biblical story of building your house on a rock versus sand. If you don’t build your house on a solid foundation, then, as the story goes, “the rain falls, the floods come, and the winds blow and beat against your house, and it will fall.” Similarly, if your body’s foundation (your core) isn’t strong, it won’t be able to stand up to everything that life throws at you. This may manifest as increased local pain (such as back pain) or pain in other places along with, or due to, the breakdown of muscles, joints, tendons, or ligaments. When your core isn’t doing its job, those other parts are taking on additional stress, and while our bodies are pretty resilient, those other parts can only take that increase in usage for a limited time. Depending on the part, a breakdown could result in a cascade of additional faulty movement patterns and injuries. 

The core is made up of several muscle groups including the abdominals (most famous), gluteals (booty!), pelvic girdle (lots of small hip and pelvic floor muscles), paraspinal muscles (back muscles along the spine), and a few more. These muscles form the walls of a box that surround our internal organs, with the abdominals in the front and sides, paraspinal and glute muscles in the back, diaphragm on top, and the pelvic floor and hip muscles creating the bottom of the box. These muscles stabilize the spine and pelvis, reduce compression forces at the spine, and allow for appropriate force distribution and generation so the body can move with the most optimal efficiency and strength to get the job done with as little stress, compression, shear, etc. as possible (Akuthota, 2008). In other words, these muscles give lift and decompression to the spine, reducing the stress of gravity and the incumbent weight of the body pressing on the vertebrae and intervertebral discs which can cause nerve compression, pain, and dysfunction.

Our core and postural muscles are “on” whenever we are in any position other than lying down, which is typically 16-18 hours per day. Certain core muscles have been found to fire before limb movements in order to stabilize the spine, which is further evidence of the “proximal stability before distal mobility” principal. However, these muscle reactions can be delayed in folks with certain maladies, such as low back pain. So you can see how important they are for everything we do.

Personally, I didn’t have the opportunity to see many folks following abdominal surgery in my outpatient orthopedic practice, but I did see many with low back pain and post back or hip surgeries. Most tend to have an excellent recovery whenever they are consistent with their exercise program. Since my transition to the home health setting, I’ve seen several people, mainly women, who did not have physical therapy immediately following surgery and now have other complications, injuries, or difficulties.  Many of them have required a walker as they were unable to fully stand due to a combination of back pain and core weakness. Keep in mind that my average patient is now about 70 years old. I always include a balance component with my treatments, so I have patients practice proprioceptive exercises at their kitchen counter by standing without holding on. Many of them slowly droop down toward the countertop because their core musculature is so weak that it can’t hold their torso erect for more than a few seconds. After several visits of supine core and lower extremity exercises, not only were these patients able to stand upright for the full 30-second goal, they were also able to maintain a more erect posture with static standing and walking. They also reported feeling stronger and more stable, which translated to observable functional improvements in their everyday lives. 

Physical therapy seeks to reduce post-op complications, including pneumonia, deep vein thrombosis (blood clots), and to improve range of motion, strength, endurance, stability, and restore normal movement patterns. Surgery can disturb the skin, underlying tissues, and nerves, which can result in a lack of coordinated muscle activation. So ,even if the muscles are strong, the nerves aren’t able to communicate with the muscles appropriately, resulting in an inability to contract those muscles in a full and coordinated manner. This is referred to as neuromuscular dysfunction. I tell my patients that the nerve is hacked off about the surgery because it was cut on, moved, or otherwise interrupted. And though the surgery was “for a good cause,” the nerve doesn’t know that and needs time to simmer down.

Physical therapy following abdominal surgery can help restore that nerve-muscle communication, allowing for a more coordinated and efficient muscle contraction. This can manifest as stronger muscle contractions due to increased muscle fiber recruitment and more support of the spine, more efficient movements with fewer substitutions. Meaning you’re using the right muscle for the job, and depending less on random other parts to do the work, which can initiate the cascade of breakdown at or beyond that weak link. Physical therapy can also play an important role in the restoration of overall physical function including muscular strength, cardiovascular endurance, and balance and proprioception. All of these aspects of function are essential to optimal performance of daily life tasks, especially if you have any kind of strenuous demands on your life (i.e. children, sports, job activities, sex, etc.).

Thankfully, many abdominal surgeries are now performed laparoscopically, reducing the invasiveness of the procedures. Minimally invasive procedures have been shown to decrease recovery time, complication rates, and length of hospital stay. (Reeve, 2016) This translates to less disruption of muscle, nerve, connective, and other body tissues improving post-surgical rehabilitation.

EXERCISES

This is by no means meant to replace the professional opinions of your personal physician or physical therapist who can actually lay eyes on and evaluate you, and recommend an individualized program based on what you actually need. But here are some of my favorite basic core exercises to prescribe (and that I do in my own workouts):

The Abdominal Draw In (DI) is one of my favorites because it recruits the deepest of your core muscles - the Transversus Abdominis. This muscle has horizontal fibers that, when activated, function like a girdle around your abdomen giving your spine support and decompression. The DI also simultaneously recruits your pelvic floor muscles which, if you remember from previously in the article, are the bottom of the “box,” and strengthening them can help if you have any sort of urinary incontinence problems (though that’s a whole other topic that I could spend some significant time on). For this exercise, I usually instruct my patient to lay down on their back with knees bent, feet flat on the bed, and tell them, “bring your belly button down toward your spine, like you’re trying to fit into a tight pair of jeans.” Another way of thinking of it is “hollowing out” your belly. Make sure you keep breathing during the exercise - don’t hold your breath. Also, make sure to keep your head relaxed on the pillow or the floor if you aren’t using one - don’t try to lift your head up toward the ceiling. (Pro tip: you might get a cramp in your hamstrings - that’s pretty normal in my experience - just stretch it out and you should be alright.) Depending on the person’s strength, I’ll have them hold the contraction for anywhere between 3 and 10 seconds, and have them do about 10 repetitions. I love this exercise because there are so many variations and progressions that you can add in once they have the basic part down. For example:

 Posterior Pelvic Tilt: This one is much more difficult in concept but easy to execute once you understand. I’m including several links on this one so that you can see it in various ways. Just remember that it’s all about the TILT so that your back presses into the bed or the floor (I recommend doing this on the floor because a bed is very soft and the floor gives you a bit more feedback, so that when you feel your back pressing into the floor, you know you’re doing it right).  

Glute Squeezer:  It’s like you’re trying to pinch a penny between your cheeks. 

 Adductor Squeeze with a ball or pillow between the knees

 Dead Bug: This one is more difficult than it looks and is a progression in itself. I always have a patient start by adding just the arms to the DI and do several reps. Then, when they become proficient with that, I’ll have them switch to just the legs. Then, when they get that down, I’ll have them add arms and legs together - opposite arm moving toward opposite leg. If I see that they can’t keep the back in contact with the floor at any time, the exercise is stopped because the core muscles either aren’t functioning properly or are fatigued. 

 Hip External Rotation:  I generally have the person lay with legs bent, feet flat. While keeping one knee stable, the other knee drops out to the side. Then I progress to bands when they are show good stability and strength with this exercise. The photo shows moving both knees at the same time but I always have them move just one at a time until they show they can control it. 

Bridges are a great exercise for basically all the large muscle groups from core to lower legs. For this exercise, lay on your back in the same position as the DI. Squeeze your belly and glutes and raise that booty up off the ground. Try to make a straight line between your shoulders and your knees. Progressions included in the notes at the end. Start with 5-10 reps and progress to a few sets of 10-15 with breaks in between.

Bridges: 
Progressions:

-       Single leg: (Keep your knees together) 

-       Glute bridge

-       Bridge walkout: Essentially you want to maintain a bridge while walking your feet slowly away from your bottom and then walk them back toward your bottom. 

So many of us have no idea (and neither did I until I became a Physical Therapist) just how much weak glutes affect our everyday lives, especially as we age! Your glutes are not only part of your core, they help stabilize your back and pelvis, especially during strenuous activities such as lifting, squatting, running, or even walking. They’re important in general propulsion during walking and running, and keep hips stabilized during single leg stance (which we do with every step we take as we are at least momentarily standing on one leg). They help the knee track appropriately and when strong, reduce the risk of knee and back injury associated with lifting, running, etc. That’s why maintaining those strong booty muscles is so important. My basic, go-to exercise is the Clam (or clamshell - the internet seems to like this term better for some reason). Lying on your side, bring your knees and feet together and bend at the hip and the knee such that your knees are slightly in front of the rest of your body. Torso should be on the floor and you can rest your head on your hand, a pillow, or your outstretched arm. Raise the top knee up and out (like a clamshell opening). Keep your feet together and don’t allow your top hip to rotate backwards - it’ll have a tendency to do this so you have to fight against it. Put a hand on your top hip so you can feel if it’s moving posteriorly. Again, start with 5-10 reps and progress to sets of 10 with breaks in between. 

 Clams: 

This is a great little video explaining the importance of the glutes, especially for women, and demonstration of the clam exercise. (Even though he was doing a mild backwards rotation of the top hip) Video
Progressions:

-       With resistance band

-       With ball between feet. And a resistance band if you want. I couldn’t find a picture of this but you can just use a medicine ball or a kid’s toy ball (~8-10 inches in diameter) between your ankles.

Another fantastic glute exercise is hip abduction. Abduction just means any motion that moves a body part away from your midline in the frontal plane. Lying on your side again, legs out straight this time, and hips stacked one on the other with a hand on the top hip to keep yourself from dropping that top hip backwards, raise the top leg out to the side. Make sure to keep your knee and toes point straight toward the wall in front of you, not toward the ceiling. This is how you know you’re activating the correct muscle, otherwise you will get another muscle trying to take over (called substitution). Same starting reps as the previous ones, progressing to 2-3 sets of 10-15 and then adding a weight or band.

Hip Abduction:  Her toes are turned downward in this photo, which is fine, but will be more difficult. You don’t have to do this, just make sure your toes are pointed straight forward.
This video shows this and a couple other exercises.  Video
Progression:

-       With band

-       With ankle weight

Christine Poteet is a Home Health Physical Therapist working in the Oklahoma City Metro area. She graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a Doctor of Physical Therapy and has been a practicing physical therapist for 5 years. She has worked in home health for 2 years but began her career practicing and studying orthopedics in the outpatient setting where she became an Orthopedic Certified Specialist. She truly enjoys helping people reach and restore their physical and health potential. She also has 2 giant fur children who pretty much run (circles around) her life. When she is not physical theraping or dog wrangling, she enjoys road cycling, hiking, and various other outdoor activities with friends and family.

 References

 

1. Akuthota V,  Ferreiro A, Moore T, Fredericson M (2008). Core Stability Exercise Principles. Spine Conditions: Section Articles. Current Sports Medicine Reports (7) 1, 39-44. doi: 10.1097/01.CSMR.0000308663.13278.69

2. Reeve J, Boden I (2016). The Physiotherapy Management of Patients undergoing Abdominal Surgery. New Zealand Journal of Physiotherapy 44(1): 33-49. doi: 10.15619/NZJP/44.1.05