Published: 2009-08-25 22:24:57
Author: Lisa Strandberg | Post-Crescent | August 1, 2009
Amy Boocher sleeps soundly at night thanks to physical therapist Connie Strey. And that's saying a lot, given that hip pain had made good shut-eye a distant dream for the Pine River woman throughout the 27 weeks of her pregnancy.
"All of a sudden I couldn't sit cross-legged, and it started causing problems at night," said Boocher, who would wake at 1 a.m. and pace the house trying to relieve the pain and release cramps.
After she saw a chiropractor for three months to no avail, her doctor recommended she see Strey, a physical therapist at Appleton's PT Center for Women — a suggestion that initially caught her off-guard.
"I had no idea physical therapy would be the answer for this," Boocher said. "I actually just assumed it was for older people or people who had had surgery."
She quickly learned otherwise, with Strey teaching her exercises, stretches and posture improvement and performing massage to alleviate her pain.
"It's amazing because I'll leave physical therapy and go several nights with no Charlie horses in my hips," she said.
Just as valuable, she said, are the lifelong lessons she is learning in keeping her muscles and joints healthy.
"I'm really impressed with the results I'm seeing."
So are many other women who pursue physical therapy for pain or pelvic issues during and after pregnancy. While the specialty can't address every prenatal or postpartum issue that arises, it often restores mobility and comfort women had assumed were lost for the duration of the pregnancy — or perhaps forever.
Said Strey, "If you're not pain-free (after therapy) … you can at least continue to work. You can sleep at night. These kinds of things are my goals. It's all about function in my world."Full story