Medical Checkups & Therapy.

It's finally the holidays, and although I haven't gotten down to writing an overview of how brilliant my internship went (which I promise I will get started on soon). I've spent my time working at my old part-time job serving and selling tea, and most of the other free time sleeping. The amount of sleep I've been administering to my body is way off the charts it's surprising me. Haha! 

Besides that, I've also finally went for a review of my squeaky knee. 

I don't think it's actually funny when people laugh and joke about, insisting that knee problems only occur in the elderly, clusturing it as an "old person" problem. 

Upon referral, I went to the Island Orthopaedic clinic located at Mount Elizabeth's medical center - also the hospital I was born at! 

I spent quite some time waiting for my consultation, which was rather frustrating for me. However, when I met my doctor, Dr. Oh. Everything went smoothly as he did the regular checks before deciding to send me for an X-ray. 

It wasn't a full body scan thus I wasn't required to change into a gown but as it was only an X-ray of my knee I was placed on the same moveable table as when I did my first X-ray, of my suspectedly broken toe. It was pretty cool and they took three shots of my knee at different angles and points. My doctor was away during lunch thus I had a one and a half hour gap for lunch. 

My mom specially took an off day to accompany me and thank God the hospital is at town! I can't imagine going for a review at one of the other hospitals that are near almost no where? We headed to Wild Honey for lunch :-)

Spanish Breakfast Set, $26

As we both have small stomachs, we decided on sharing the Spanish breakfast set which consisted of two poached eggs with hollandaise sauce, a mixture of potatoes and sausages as well some really thick toast. I definitely want to try making this at home cause it looks really simple! (And it wasn't really worth the $26 at Wild Honey)

My Mom saw the other table taking pictures of each other so she thought it would be nice to try to snap some naturals of me. 

(Obviously not cut out for shots like these haha)

Wild Honey have really adorable napkins by the way! 

After the long lunch, we rushed back to get a look at my X-ray scans! 

The doctor then proceeded to explain that my patella (kneecap) has been pulled out of place, however it's not of a extremely serious degree. It's a problem that is common in working women in their mid-twenties due to an inactive lifestyle. As we grow older and find lesser time to workout, our muscle strength slowly become weaker and limp. This can cause a variety of problems which results in the shift of the patella.

My Patella being out of place and all.

My two other scans that proved all my other bones around the area were fine!

L: My X-Ray Scan, R: How it is supposed to look like

Besides the patella, he told me that I had a really tight ITB band (ITBS). What is an ITBS? Known as the Iliotibial Band Syndrome, it happens when the Iliotibial Band - the ligament that runs down the outside of the thigh from the hip to the shine is tight, or inflamed. In my case, it is extremely tight so it hurts when you press really hard against it. The only cure he had was for me to visit a Physiologist to strengthen my core muscles in hopes of allowing my muscles to pull my patella back into it's original position. So off he sent me with a referral letter and an appointment for yet another review six weeks after physiotherapy treatments. 

The next day, I headed off to Tampines for my first physiotherapy session at Steps & Providence. I was pretty excited as I really wanted to learn some stuff that will make my knee better. I met Dr. Joan, the head therapist there. She struck me as a really nice lady as she led my mother - who kindly took yet another off day to accompany me, to a consultation room. 

She laid me down on the bed and observed my knee and thigh muscle movements, particularly on my left knee. 

Dr. Joan then asked me questions such as if I experienced pain anywhere else besides my knee as a back pain could have led to the knee pain. She also asked about the shoes I wore and I got a little worried then. 

What if she doesn't let me wear heels anymore? 

I first told her that I wore Adidas track shoes to run and she shook her head. 

"Adidas is known for soccer so it isn't advisable to wear them for running."

Well then, what is recommended?

New Balance, Skechers and Asics! What about Nike you ask? Dr. Joan says that even Nike isn't really good for your posture and your feet when it comes to sports that are heavy on running and feet movement but they're more for fashion statements.

Thankfully, she didn't say no to heels! She said that since I'm at an age of exploration, she doesn't want to limit my choices but hopes that I will save my feet/rest it well the day before and after I decide to wear heels. 

She also does not recommend slippers to be worn frequently! Slippers are deceiving footwear as they're super comfortable to roam about thus one would think that it's okay to be in slippers all the time. However, slippers in fact do not provide your feet with any support at all! Therefore it is not healthy for you to be wearing slippers for a full day of walking as nothing really supports your feet and could lead to health problems in the future.

I haven't asked her about sandals though but I have a feeling that she'll have to review my whole shoe collection. And now I totally understand why you should never spend your money on cheap shoes. So please, save up for some shoes that are healthy for your feet! They are important!

She then decided to conduct a pain test on my knee/thigh as she rubbed hard on a nerve or a muscle on my left knee which left me in tears. 

She massaged it for a while as she explained to my mom that everyone hurts  here and it is extremely painful but the only way to curb it is to massage it. Thus after a while it wasn't as painful as the first touch as she advised me that I should rub the thigh muscle area - where my ITB band was located daily to help loosen the muscles. 

Dr. Joan then decided on heat therapy for me where she brought me to another room and places me on a bed, before placing an electrical heat pillow plugged in to a machine under my knee. 

"All I want you to do now, is relax and sleep," she said before switching the lights off as I dozed off. 

After the heat therapy she then explained that the heat will allow and improve circulation around the muscles thus helpful in my situation. She then advised me to do the same religiously at home during bed time, but with a heat pack. 

As I had the yellow ribbon run a few days after the appointment, I asked if it was okay for me to run and her response? 

"Well you just go run, and have fun and we'll see you next week to check if all is okay!"

I have definitely learnt quite a bit after my first physiotherapy and I can't wait to learn more on how to make my left thigh stronger and my left patella better! I can't wait for the next session and that reminds me, I should set an appointment for it soon!