Physio

I went to my first physiotherapy appointment this morning. I got in touch with an old Kinesiology classmate named Dave Kwan. He works at SEVA Physiotherapy on West Broadway in Vancouver. He has always had an interest in sports-repated injuries and he is working with the Canadian Rythmic Gymnastics team.

He spent a lot of time with me assessing my posture and figuring out what is wrong. For those interested in anatomy and biomechanics, here is a summary of Dave's assessment. My gluteus medius muscle is weak. It serves to stabilize my right hip but it is not doing its job very well. As a result, when I put load on my right pedal, my iliotibial band compensates. The IT band is not meant to take that kind of load so it tightens up and pulls on the outside of my knee causing pain.

Dave got me on some exercises to build strength in my glut. med. and he did some passive massage to work out some of the tightness. It wasn't nearly as painful as Glenn's massage yesterday but it was still very uncomfortable.

The other thing Dave recommended was to see about getting new pedals that can adjust my foot angle relative to the bike. If I adjust my toe outward a little, it will pull my knee out which will rotate my hip into a better alignment. This should prevent any future injury. So, I'm going to go shopping and see what's out there.

As with Glenn, I have clearance to ride. I hope to get on my bike Thursday or Friday for an easy trip.