Physiotherapy 3

So on Sunday, I had my third physiotherapy session.

Yes, it was bloody painful again!! 

This time we focused on my arms and chest. Of course the therapist worked on my legs but this time I told her that I had a lot of pain between my shoulder blades. So, we checked my back and she yelped when she felt how cold it was. This, apparently, is not normal. It's proof that I have very poor blood circulation there and that's why it's cold and painful...

So, we started off with an essential oil massage of my entire back and focusing on my spine. She dropped different mixtures of essential oils along my spine and then massaged it as if flushing out the impurities that tend to collect there. She also focused on the area between my shoulder blades and said how rock hard my back was. It was beyond stiff... Basically, she says, my shoulder blades are embedded in my muscles when they should be able to move more freely... Yikes!! After the massage, she put a hot towel on my back to help the essential oils penetrate into my skin. Did it every feel good!! 

Then she worked on my the back of my feet and then the entire legs. This was painful... But we focused on my legs last time so this time she didn't spend too much time on them. Not that they have improved at all. Just shifting the focus to the upper half of my body this time around.

She focused on my upper arms and shoulder area so that my shoulders can naturally roll back to their proper position and that will lead to my chest opening up more so I can breathe more easily. If my arms and shoulders  are in the correct position, I'll be able to lower my rib cage more and create more distance between my chin and chest so I don't get so congested.

Now moving the shifted muscles in the upper arm and shoulders was extremely painful!! It's amazing how twisted the muscles can become. What I mean is, your muscles from the shoulders rotate towards your chest and to balance that, your muscles in your lower arms rotate backwards. This should normally be the other way around.

The way to check to see if your muscles have twisted is to hold your arm straight out to your side horizontal to the floor with palm facing forward. Now see which direction the groove that forms at the elbow joint on the insider of your arm faces. If it faces the same direction as your palm you are safe. Your muscles are in the correct position. If it faces an angle or straight up, that means your shoulder muscles have twisted forward into an incorrect position. For women, this means their breasts have sagged as well... If the shoulder muscles rotate back to their original position, the chest muscles will pull up and so will the breasts.

So, the therapist worked to rotate the muscles back to the original position but they were very stubborn so it's gonna take some more time!!

After that, we worked on breathing properly and lowering my rib cage again. I lied flat on my back and practice breathing using my diaphragm. Basically sucking in air to fill up my lungs and expelling the air by expanding the stomach area. So when I inhale, my torso stretches (becomes longer) and when I exhale my torso compresses (body curls a bit).

I had no idea how difficult it is to do this!!  I never thought about how to breathe...

So my "homework" for the next month is to practice this breathing whenever I can. To make it more effective, I am to lie on the ground face up, put my legs on a balance ball and breathe. Then move my legs so that the balance ball rolls back and forth as I continue the breathing method (body contracts and expands as I breathe). In addition, I will continue the pelvis exercise from last time. I do this either before going to bed or in the morning.

Slowly but surely!!