I got referred to physiotherapy this fall to deal with some knee pain. I had tweaked my knee playing soccer in June. It seemed to get better than the pain started moving around.
I asked around and my cycling friend Marc recommended Emily at Ginger’s Physiotherapy. It’s near my home & my work. Emily is also a cyclist and very cool human so I booked time.
Under Emily’s guidance I was able to quickly recover functionality of my knee. The exercises seemed almost too simple but I couldn’t argue with the results. It was about cajoling my knee to do all the things. First not under load and then eventually working up to one legged negative squats.
Through it all, I confessed I had serious balance issues and all exercises were designed with that challenge in mind.
Once my knee was sorted, Emily assessed my vestibular system. Folks. It is seriously effed and Emily was able to dial in on exactly what I struggle with.
I get vertigo in stairwells. I also feel like I’m bobbing on the ocean in loud crowds. When loud noises, like trains, move past my left side I tilt to the right. I had thought these were anxiety attacks.
So now I am awaiting a referral to an ENT. Hopefully that leads to some imaging. Quite possibly there is a procedure to fix what is damaged in my left ear. WHAT?????
It’s been nearly 30 years since I blew my eardrum flying. Since then I’ve complained of fullness on my left side and vertigo but my concerns were dismissed.
Remember this gem of an experience?
Nat gets her hearing checked and encounters unfettered sexism
But now, now I have vestibular assessment results that show my balance is very impaired due to my vestibular system.
I’m working on what is under my control. Like learning to use my peripheral vision when walking rather than staring down at the ground.
I’m walking heel-toe and toppling hilariously sideways at home and in public.
I’m standing heel-toe and watching optokinetic training videos. This one made me and my whole family very wobbly!
I’m so grateful for Emily’s curiosity and expertise. I have hope that I can actually do stairs with stuff in my hands one day. Already I’m more steady on my feet on icy sidewalks and on my bicycle. Yay!!
I’m mourning a bit about some wasted time. I’ve shed tears and frustration because I didn’t have insight into what situations are more challenging to me than most people.
One example is riding in a peloton. Moving while having a relative fixed point in front of me, like the next cyclist’s butt, is really hard for me to maintain my balance. I always complained I felt very wobbly and that translated to nervous/anxious. Now I understand why that felt challenging.
I’m hopeful that I’ll keep seeing gains under expert guidance.
This experience has reminded me to not have a fixed mindset and just accept challenges as part of some kind of inevitable decrepitude. My good friend Jessica says to complain about your problems to as many people as possible because someone may have a solution. She’s right. If something doesn’t feel right, keep telling people!
It could take 3 decades, but maybe, just maybe there’s something that can be done.
