Physical Therapy First

A little over a month ago I woke up with a terrible back pain. It was one of those, “what did I do to myself in my sleep?” situations. Unfortunately it did not go away with my next night’s sleep,or the next or, you get the picture. I went to see my massage therapist who is more like a miracle worker. She spent the entire hour on my back and shoulder, but one hour was not enough. I went back the next week. Still no real relief. She suggested I go to see a physical therapist.
On her recommendation I went to see the people at NC center for physical therapy. The nice part about it is they are not so busy that they couldn’t see me right away and my insurance covered it without a doctor’s visit first.  
I told a friend about my back and she jumped right to, “You should go to the doctor first, you could have cancer.” I was fairly certain this was a muscle issue so I chose to ignore her.  
Two visits to PT and doing about ten minutes of exercises three times a day and my back is practically better. It is not perfect yet, so I am going to keep up the PT regime for a bit, but I am thrilled to not have the terrible pain I have endured for a month.
Sometimes you just don’t need to go to the doctor and look for something bigger. As my friend Stephanie always says, “When you hear hooves on the bridge don’t think zebras.”  
While I was at PT I mentioned that my right knee also hurt so we have been solving that problem at the same time. It was not such a bad pain, like my back, but one I had been enduring just because I thought I was getting old. Turns out that I needed to strengthen my inner and outer thighs. Huh, who would have thought that my biggest part was my weakest.
My new motto is, “don’t suffer pain.” If it hurts try a physical therapist. It is cheaper and easier than anything else you can do for yourself.