Physical Therapy for a Dx of Chiari?

[gmaldonado]

Has anyone ever been referred to physical therapy for your chiari symptoms? If so, why does it consist of?

[*Stormy*]

When it comes to exercising....please listen to your body!! So very important!! If you are feeling that it is dragging you down and causing more pain..STOP!! I wish I had listened, I made things much worse for myself.

I had that feeling that something else was wrong with me too...I have been spending these 8 months after surgery looking for the answer but it keeps coming back to the same thing..Chiari. It can throw your whole body out of wack..it affects muscles, ligaments which in turn can affect bone structure and how you move. That is exactly where I am right now. So you don't want to do any damage to your body. To me walking for 30 min 3x's a week would be pure torture. The BEST thing you can do is to do some exercises in a pool where there is no stress on your body.

I get the heart palpitation thing when I overexert and I think that is what your body is telling you....

Carolyn

[chiarigirl11]

hi,
    I went to PT for my chiari symptoms...i only went twice cuz it hurt too much and it was pointlesss..i dont know, it didnt work for me but i dont know if it works for other people,






~~elle~~

[gmaldonado]

thank you for your input. I went to my actual therapy this past tues. she had me "warm up" only upper body on a bike type thing w/no pressure on it. then we worked on stretching my upper body and then the massage...which was very very painful but it felt good afterwards. She insists in having me do exercise 3 x a wk for 30mins..I bearly have time to take a shower before i got to go to bed...and this past weekend i was loading things into my car cause my friend moved out and i had to sit down because the palpitation got really strong and i felt like iw as going to faint. I'm scared of exercising period. I think there are other things going on in my body that i need a diagnosis for...either that or Chiari is throwing my whole body out of whack. I dont believe its a coinsidence that many of us experience the same symptoms and doctors dont make that connection.

[linnielou232]

I went to a deep tissue massage therapist for at least 2 year's before my surgery and she was my savior.  After the Chairi got worse I stopped it because of fear of hurting my chairi more.  I am glad that the massage is working.  I went to my PT appt 1st time and was sent to Dr right away because they think it is a CSF leak.  I have MRI on tues, Dr. Wed.  he is sure it is a CSF but has to find out where.  So my journey will start all over again.  I was looking forward to PT because I know it will help the healing.  Also when she was looking at my incision.  The cold hands massaging it felt good. LOL.  ready to get back to recovery

[survivor08]

PT was the first place I was sent YEARS ago when my back/spine pain started becoming chronic.

Now let me give you a bit of background as to what I was doing when I was sent to a PT:  I was teaching aerobic classes, lifting weights and personal training clients.  Guess what the PT wanted to do with me.........."strength my back".  Well needless to say after my first session, PT didnt know what to do beings I was ALREADY strong as a freaking ox....... so he did massage therapy....which I LOVED, but it didn't help :(

My opinion?  It is a first alternative, standard therapy for just about EVERYTHING.

[Sweetpea32]

I have been going to PT for the last 5 months post op surgery 9/09 and 10/09 surgeries. This helps relieve the muscle tension around my neck muscles and the section above my bra strap. They do a lot of massage therapy. Never really going to much near my neck or anywhere around my incision. I was going 2 times a week. now slowed down to every other week to see how it goes. If it wasnt for PT after surgery I would be a mess. They do a lot of cranial manipulation which relieves so much tension in my head. They have me doing some strength training. I do in moderation. I work on daily stretches that help get me through the work day. I feel this is something I will have to rely on for the rest of my life. But its a blessing to be able to have PT and they understand all my aches and pains and always willing and able to relieve my pain when I see them. They have given me so many ideas on shoes to wear, bras to wear (because I cannot stand the straps on my shoulders), they have helped with directions for NL around the area that I am looking into now for follow up care. I just pray my insurance keeps covering my PT for the year. I am coming up on my year anniversary of my first surgery, So I also pray PT will not be needed as much as now. Hope everyone is able to find some kind of relief. PT/massage therapy was a blessing for me!