November 13, 2018 - Last day of Physical Therapy

Today is my last day of physical therapy. We finished our work contract and we're moving away tomorrow. We've been doing lots of lifting and moving of boxes and so far my hip has been doing well. I've also been able to push gurneys around the hospital this last week without pain as long as I'm conscientious about my body mechanics. My hip has improved again since the last update and I've been able to increase my PT exercises. My therapist has to dig deeper during massage to trigger pain and break up scar tissue. Not only am I able to do side steps with the yellow resistance band, but I'll also be moving up to side steps with the red resistance band. My therapist gave me a green and blue band so I can increase my resistance exercises on my own. I'm nervous about leaving PT, mostly because I'm worried that I'll overdo it and reinjure myself. I need the weekly pep talks from my therapist to slow me down; that I will get back to normal as long as I don't overdo myself! But she gave me the tools to increase my strength, the knowledge of the stretches I need to be doing, and great advice on how to advance myself on my quest for normal thru-hiking. 

She said there are three elements I need to regain before reaching my normal thru-hike capabilities: increase distance, increase speed/stride, and elevation changes. She said the best thing to do is to advance one at a time. For example, if I want to try elevation, she recommends a short hike that I walk slowly. If I want to hike a longer distance, I should find one that is not too hilly and walk it slowly. If I'm going on a short walk on flat terrain, then I can increase my speed/stride. Don't include too many advances at one time (i.e. hiking fast on a 6-mile hike or hiking 6 miles with a lot of elevation change). She said if I irritate the injury, back down from whatever I was doing for a few weeks before advancing again. If I'm not having any progress by January I should see a doc again for further investigation. With these tips in hand, I feel a lot more confident advancing on my own.

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